After 4 years of distributing the DVD to over 100 countries around the world I decided to make Running to the Limits available online for FREE. The documentary will be released over 5 months through the Facebook Page and Running to the Limits YouTube channel. The documentary has been on Runners World TV for 6 months, Italian TV and Channel 4oD for 90 days so it’s not like the documentary has not be available, but there is something about distributing from the source that it so satisfying.

When I started the documentary, social media was in it’s infancy, Facebook had not even been born and tweeting was something birds did to wake you up in the morning. YouTube was a mash up of random vomited content but everything has changed now. Our aim was to get the documentary broadcast on national TV, which we finally achieved. This was every filmmakers aim but today YouTube can gain more viewers and more importantly specific and loyal followings.

Today the way people have digest content has changed to, not just where people are watching content but how they are watching it. Looking at the analytics on http://www.runningtothelimits.com 76% of people are now viewing the site on their mobile. I suspect on 2006 when I first started posting updates that percentage would have been less then 1%.

As a Producer at creative film agency Pendragon we are continually being ask how to engage with our clients customers. Today making a nice looking film is not enough, yes there is a place but audiences expect more, they want to be delighted. Although Running to the Limits might look a little dated now, it did delight and engaged audience, it sparked debate and consequently generated over 3 million engagement points. The question is should brands be looking to invest more strategically in lots of organic projects like Running to the Limits or continue on with high profile mega stars like Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong and Oscar Pistorius?

Check out part 1 below.