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“Traveling thousands of miles on the roads with nothing but a few dollars in your pocket, trying to avoid injuries and swallowing the dust … Searching for these 8 seconds of “grace”. Such is the magic of Bareback Riding Rodeo.”

Amidst the great plains of Texas a man is dreaming. His name : Yvan Jayne. His particularity : being a professional French cowboy in the American rodeo championship. His goal : becoming the world champion, and the first non-American to do so.

From the valleys of Utah to the mountains of New Mexico and the deserts of Arizona we will be following the daily life of this gladiator in search of the ultimate title. Through the eyes of a cowboy we will discover the art of Rodeo, and the world revolving around this unique discipline. Set in the great landscapes of an America like no other, we offer you a certain vision of the American Dream’s hidden side, a stetson screwed onto a head full of dreams.

Project introduction

After an exceptional season in 2015 where Yvan Jayne reached the Rodeo National Finals for the first time in Las Vegas, the “frenchie” tackles 2016 with a keen appetite. Why not aim for the title ? He would, then, become the first non-American rodeo World Champion ever.

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Last year Yvan had already excelled by intermittently placing 1st in the PRCA Bareback riding championship’s regular season. His overall rankings got him into the finals last December. The title chase was on, but the French cowboy left the competition in 10th place. A beautiful experience nonetheless, one that further whetted his appetite for 2016.

Through his periods/moments of doubt Yvan can rely on the experience of his friend and former road partner : Clint Cannon, former world vice-champion and icon of the discipline, who recently retired to his ranch.

We are going to team up with him, and dive into his universe to find out about his life, his friends, his wife in Texas and his family in France. We will travel alongside Yvan on the great roads of Western America, where we will learn more about the daily life of this somewhat crazy athlete, his victories, his failures, the passion and incredible solidarity between cowboys. A sport where, even injured, men will ride their horse just so they can pay for the next competition. A place where men put their lives at risk for a mere 8 seconds of glory.

And down this long journey, why not the finals in Las Vegas and the World Champion title?...

Yvan Jayne - Biography

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Raised in the world of horses, Yvan’s discovery of Rodeo was no accident. At the age of 12, Yvan Jayne witnesses a rodeo show in Marseilles. He wants to become a cowboy. Thanks to an exchange program he enters a school in Houston, Texas, 4 years later. He won’t be coming back.

However life is not easy and Yvan has to teach French to children, works on construction sites and only flies home in the summer to be a guide for American tourists. His objective, however, remains unchanged : becoming a professional cowboy.

The boy from Marseilles trains for many years, muscles up, enters competitions one after the other, observes the best cowboys’ technique and learns. Fear, failure and injuries lie on the path to glory. His back, shoulders and legs have already suffered injuries… Yvan often clenches his teeth, and hangs on to his horse as he does to his dreams. “Be realistic, desire the impossible”, as Orson Welles once said.

Once his career and dreams are fulfilled Yvan will get off his horse. He will then be able to retire with his family to his own ranch and -who knows?- maybe train future champions.

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Why fund our project ?

Because this is a unique story.

Because a French cowboy can become a rodeo world champion.

Because Yvan Jayne’s journey/career is exceptional.

Because the great landscapes of Western America are no less exceptional.

This film is an immersion inside the unrecognized world of cowboys, an unpredictable world stuck between hardship and grace, brutality and poetry. You are about to embark on a quest for a man’s destiny that may lead him towards the Las Vegas finals and the world champion title.

TEAM PRESENTATION

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Romain de l'Ecotais is a filmaker. Damien Miloch is a journalist.

The duo recently performed "Crazy about volcanoes" (32mn) aired in Great emission reports, on TF1 in 2015.

Passionate adventure and sports, they encounter Yvan Jayne last year. This cheerful Marseille trio immediately decided to work together to discover the fate of this crazy cowboy like no other.

Major films : The documentary "Au pied du mur" (France 5), "The ride of your life", BMW World campaign, a series of interviews with international artists at Jazz in Marciac (Gilberto Gil, Maceo Parker, George Benson ...), the docu-clip "We Are One" award at international festival clip Protoclip 2011 (Special Jury Prize), the short film, "The Quest" fiction about the shortage of water or writing in 2009 of the book "Tony Parker biography of a champion" (City edition).

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