With their new film Wild Life, two top filmmakers focused on the outdoor world — Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, the directors of well-regarded climbing docs Meru and the Oscar-winning Free Solo — decided to make a film about icons of that very culture. And it felt a little messy at first, as they explain.
“I was really hesitant to make this film,” says Vasarhelyi, noting that her husband and co-director Chin — himself a world-class climber — deeply respected the film’s core subjects, former Patagonia CEO and conservationist Kris Tompkins and climbers and entrepreneurs Doug Tompkins, Yvon Chouinard and Rick Ridgeway. Moreover, as then-former and current company owners, the subjects were “used to making the decisions,” Vasarhelyi says, while the couple’s stringent filmmaking process would require them to cede control over the telling of their story.
Ultimately, though, the filmmakers overcame their misgivings (and the subjects of the film agreed to take part, with all the opening up that entailed). After Doug died in a tragic kayaking accident in 2015, his wife, Kris, “picked herself up for the second time, reinvented herself once,” says Vasarhelyi, “it became one of those things you can’t ignore.”
The final film, which releases in theaters in Los Angeles on Friday and on Disney+ on May 26, focuses on Kris’ quest to realize her and Doug’s shared dream of creating multiple national parks in Chile and Argentina. Starting in the 1990s, the couple began purchasing millions of acres in the region for the purposes of conservation and, ultimately, national parks. Though they were treated with skepticism and were initially very controversial locally (Tompkins claims in the film that she and her late husband received death threats and their phones were tapped), by 2018, former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and Kris had signed deals to create a network of national parks in Chile, 10 million acres in all, with land donated by Kris and the Chilean government. Wild Life shows how Kris worked through her devastation over her husband’s death to achieve their joint goal.
Prior to the film’s theatrical release, Chin and Vasarhelyi discussed making a film about “icons of the outdoor industry,” tackling the controversies that the Tompkinses sparked in Chile and how the directors are experiencing the current “profound contraction” in the documentary market.
How did this film begin for you?
Jimmy Chin: I had known of Doug, Yvon [Chouinard] and Rick [Ridgeway] because they were pioneers in the climbing world, and I came up reading about their adventures. Obviously over the years, I was aware of them also being pioneers in the entrepreneurial world, and in their next chapter pioneers in conservation, all three of them. I met Kris through Yvon and Rick and Doug. And when I first met them [Kris and Rick], I was struck by this kind of amazing marriage, and the kind of love that you read about. But [I was struck by] also beginning to understand what they were trying to undertake, this dream of building these national parks.
Later, as my career developed as a filmmaker along with Chai, we’re always looking for stories of people kind of trying to achieve the impossible — stories about human potential and the human spirit. And it was really inspiring, this group of friends and what they had achieved. When Doug died in the accident, we understood what Kris was going through, and as she was moving forward during that time with the national parks, we found a deeply moving story with what she was doing and what she eventually achieved. So it was just such an inspiring story for us and a story that we felt was important to tell. Here was an incredible love story, a story about these adventurous lives, but ultimately a story that gave us hope around the environmental crisis.
Before you began following her around, how well did you know Kris?
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi: That’s kind of an essential question of the whole film, where Yvon, Kris and Doug are these icons of the outdoor industry: Between them, they’d founded Patagonia, The North Face, ESPRIT, etc. I’m not a climber, but we made [the climbing films] Free Solo, we made Meru, and I was really hesitant to make this film because these are people that Jimmy respects deeply who are incredibly private, from a different generation, right? And they’re owners of their own companies and they’re used to making the decisions. And I also very much understand where we are in our careers and also the sort of types of filmmakers we are, where it’s pretty exacting, it’s exacting of the truth, it’s exacting of triple-checking things, it’s exacting of the craft. To take on a film, it’s like getting married again: You know how much work is going to be entailed, you know that you’re committing years of your life and you know that you’re not going to stop until it’s done. And for us, we were kind of inspired by the story, we had this wonderful access, but I think it was only after Doug passed and Kris emerged as this woman who’s like picked herself up for the second time, you know, reinvented herself once more despite the pain and found her own voice that it became one of those things you can’t ignore.
So then you have to make the movie, which is how we always make our movies. Her story of regeneration, of finding a second chance and of finding her own voice, having supported these two very powerful men to create these major initiatives, from Patagonia to conservation, and only in her grief getting the support of Argentina and Chile, that that was inspiring. And I think additionally it was the idea that our kids were getting a little bit older and we understood their great fear of climate change in a very visceral way, where kids today are worried and they’re young. This film, it’s a hopeful message about putting one foot in front of the other and just doing something. Even if it seems insurmountable, you can actually do something.
So was Kris like, “yes, let’s go,” or did it take some convincing to follow her around?
Chin: I mean, I think it took some convincing in the sense that this is a group of friends [where] they have their public-facing personas, right? She was the head of this company, Yvon founded this company, Doug obviously for a period was part of the launch of these iconic brands. But they’re also very private in their personal lives. And they’re of a generation where I mean, clearly very different from now (laughs) with social media, but they’re very private and they’re more interested in taking action and walking the walk as opposed to talking the talk. And so I think there was a bit of a transition, you could call it, where it took some time for them to really open up. But I think they understood in the end, if we were going tell this story, that they really needed to kind of show up for us. And we’re used to that. I mean, that’s a process in every film that we make with the participants. Because you’re really bringing up all the vulnerabilities, all of the stories, to be able to tell a holistic narrative of what they’ve done and what they’ve been through to be where they’re at. But they did show up.
The Tompkinses have been at the center of multiple local controversies in Chile over the years as they bought up vast tracts of land. Can you explain how you approached dealing with those controversies and how you found the process of getting Chilean politicians on board to appear on camera and discuss that relationship?
Vasarhelyi: The most strife happened in the 2000s, before we were on the scene where their [the Tompkinses’] phones were tapped [and] they were accused of everything under the sun. And that makes sense, right? Like, I mean, this was like an extraction economy and as Yvon says in the film… What is it?
Chin: Yeah, [like], “You’re gonna buy this land, build national parks and then give it back to the people? Yeah, right.” No one does that, right?
Vasarhelyi: I think the one thing that really cannot be overstated is that for every one acre that Tompkins Conservation donated, they needed nine acres from the government. And that amount of footwork, just sheer relationships, community building that was required to do this ethically and do it politically, it’s huge. That’s why it took them 25 years. And, you know, in terms of the controversy, it was tricky. We included a bunch of these voices like [Chilean politician Claudio] Alvarado who had been the main naysayer in the community.
I do think a lot of the attention should really be paid to these two women. You had finally a president of Chile [former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet] who was a woman, and you had Kris who had just experienced this terrible loss, and they realized this is something they could do together to help not just Chile and Argentina, but also the world.
Chin: The film really traverses a long period of time and you can kind of see how public opinion shifted over the course of that time. The thing I find remarkable is that despite all the setbacks and obstacles and challenges on the day-to-day basis, they had this long-term vision and they knew that they just had to, through grit and perseverance, move through all of these conflicts because they knew that they were doing something for the planet and that they were playing the long game. And I think in the end, in some ways, it was Doug being buried in a simple grave behind the headquarters of Patagonia National Park where people understood — in the film they say, “he’s not just visiting.” This new point of view, after realizing the loss of this person, really changed the public opinion. And it allowed Bachelet to move forward on these national parks.
Kris says at the end of the film of the parks, “We want the government to keep them on, but who knows what will happen.” Based on your interviews with Chilean officials, what was your read on the situation?
Vasarhelyi: They [the Tompkinses] wanted national parks because a national park is protected under the constitution, but it is a leap of faith because governments change. People work to change constitutions — apparently we can’t in this country — so she’s being very realistic and mindful. And I think it just underlines the lengths they went to to try to make this official, so now they are national parks, they’re protected by the constitution. They also have a very, very strong buy-in from both the government because of the leverage, as well as the communities. And they’re working on making them more accessible, only because it was just such a remote, rugged place, it was very hard to get to and like they’ve now built this infrastructure. So I think it’s a modesty thing and I think it’s also just being very humble and cautious. Because if the constitution changes, that’s possible, if there’s a coup d’état, that’s possible, and we’ve seen a lot of crazy things happen in the past, in the 20th century and 21st century.
Chin: But I think what they did that’s really incredible beyond having this protected by the constitution is the actual buy-in from Chileans truly being proud of their natural resources and these landscapes and the awareness that they brought to those places and how much people that didn’t necessarily appreciate the Southern Cone, the southern half of parts of Patagonia and Chile, there’s like this national pride around what they have. And of course the economic boom for bringing in tourists to visit these national parks.
Your film Free Solo was one of several documentaries that did quite well at the box office in 2018 before COVID-19 changed the theatrical landscape. Now, Wild Life will premiere theatrically before it ends up on streaming. How important is the theatrical experience to you as documentarians and what are your hopes for how documentaries can fare in theaters in this new landscape?
Vasarhelyi: I can tell you our thoughts on it, which is, you know, a lot of our films are four-quadrant films, right? Like, you can watch it with your parents and your kids and then everyone can talk about [it] for a few days because it’s just this thing that you experience with a community. But I think we’re kind of old, like the way my kids watch content is totally different from the way I do. I do think there’s still value in community-watching experiences. And I think at the end of the day, Jimmy does such a gorgeous job with these visuals and I think Wild Life showcases this amazing landscape and that, seen on a big screen, is very powerful. And also, this [film] is about a second chance, it’s about what happens later in life, and I think if people can be together for it, that’s a special thing. At the same time, you can do that on your HD screen or on your laptop. I mean, more people saw Free Solo on an airplane, like, literally. And yet when if you saw it in Imax, it’s a really moving moment.
Chin: I found that people had a very different experience just watching it in Imax [versus] a normal theater (laughs). I did get that sense. Of course we love the theatrical experience for the reasons that Chai mentioned, but we’re also very realistic about how content is consumed now. But a great story is always at the heart of what we look for in our films, [one] that has a point of view and has an emotional core to it.
How are you finding the documentary market at this interesting moment in the business when many major companies are in cost-cutting mode?
Vasarhelyi: I think we’re experiencing a profound contraction in the market, Netflix being our most concerning [example] because they were such a leader in the market in nonfiction. What I will say is that Nat Geo is here to stay. They’re more committed than ever for both nonfiction doc features as well as series. And I’m particularly concerned about like the whole AI thing that’s happening and the idea of making content that is artificial but looks like truth. And I think that nonfiction will really have a very important role to play. And so we’re trying everything on our side to try to promote and support other filmmakers, like we have this great series at National Geographic called Photographer and we work with amazing directors who are our colleagues or people who are coming up.
Documentary has never been the easy fight, it’s always been like the horrible slog, hence we don’t want to make any of them, but they’re meaningful. I think what we saw, where nonfiction documentary features have taken over from very long print features that used to be around, now there’s even more pressure on them. I think there’s a chutzpah [in documentary] that will always exist, but at the same time, I’m really encouraging everybody to kind of recommit and find ways of supporting the community, giving back to the community, no matter what. Because nonfiction film is incredibly important.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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