Year of the Parks
Wild River: The Colorado
Follow the Colorado River from its headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park through Utah’s Westwater Canyon, the national parks of Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, and Zion, the fragile beauty and rapids of Grand Canyon, and into Mexico. Set to classical music by some of the world's greatest composers and narrated by Joseph Campanella.
The film is a visually stunning journey that follows the river from its headwaters to Westwater Canyon, Castle Valley, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Glen Canyon, Lake Powell, the Grand Canyon, Zion, Lake Mead, Havasu, and the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge.
Historically, the Colorado River ran to the Gulf of California. After serving the needs of the West, it now reaches the gulf only in the wettest years. Naturalist Aldo Leopold described the once marshy delta as a “milk and honey wilderness.”
Using landscape, time lapse and aerial photography, the film shows viewers hidden jewels and edens of the Colorado River as well as adventure on the rapids of Cataract Canyon and Grand Canyon.
KUED(now PBS Utah) has a long and successful history of national television productions. Its productions have received numerous prestigious national awards, including the George Foster Peabody Award, the Alfred I. Dupont Award, the CINE Golden Eagle, the National Headliner Award and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Award, among others.
John Howe, was the executive producer ofChristmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. His recent projects include Utah: The National Parks, Butch Cassidy and the Outlaw Trail(narrated by Hal Holbrook), Artists of the West and The Great Salt Lake: America’s Legacy of Wetlands (narrated by Academy Award winner Joanne Woodward). He is probably best known for his national PBS films, including The Snow Wolves, but also films for The Discovery Channel (River of Stone with Robert Redford), Turner, and National Geographic. His work has been recognized by many national film festivals including New York, Houston, San Francisco, U.S. International, Cindy, and Iris, as well as multiple prestigious CINE Golden Eagles and multiple regional Emmy awards.
Wild River: The Colorado is funded in partby the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, the Broadcasters Club, Director's Circle and the Sustaining members of KUED(now PBS Utah).
