The Film

"Paddle to Seattle: Journey through the Inside Passage" is an independent documentary chronicling the progress of two intrepid adventurers paddling handmade wooden Pygmy kayaks from Alaska to Seattle.

They navigated the 1,300-mile Inside Passage. From Alaska to Seattle, it's North America's only rainforest. There, brown bears own the shores. Rain falls for weeks without rest. What's most unexpected are the surreal encounters with unexpected marine life. The film presents these interactions in addition to interviews from peoples of the region all threaded together by the adventurer's friendship and unusual sense of humor.

Filmmaker Biographies

Ben Gottfried | Editor/Co-Producer

Ben is an independent filmmaker who started out by producing his first feature documentary "Only the Good" while a film student in Texas, which he later finished while earning a Master's degree in Film Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. From Wisconsin, Gottfried returned to his native Minnesota where he met J.J. and began work on the group's first film, "Pedal to the Midnight Sun." Since then, Ben has divided his time between teaching filmmaking and producing/editing J.J. and Josh's two feature documentaries. A documentarian at heart, Ben enjoys taking these trips vicariously through J.J. and Josh and then being able to help shape the story as it's edited. He currently lives in Minneapolis, MN.