BY TAYLOR OWENS

BeAlive is an aggregator of all things meaningful, and builder of curated platforms for the outdoor-obsessed culture. Through a range of media formats, BeAlive dives deep into stories, experiences, and adventures that resonate with audiences looking for purposeful content in the outdoor adventure, sustainability, and environmental spaces.

BeAlive Studios, BeAlive’s visual production arm, recently made the move to Bozeman to be a part of the growing film industry in the state of Montana.

“We are connected to the outdoors and rooted in the outdoors. And as we looked at all the different locations, Bozeman fit the bill as an incredible town on the rise with incredible companies and brands that are associated with the outdoors, much like ourselves,” Chris Keefer, CEO of BeAlive, said.

With backgrounds in long-form television, the members of BeAlive Studios have been able to craft some of the most cutting-edge short films, docu-series, digital shorts and episodic content that share stories of people at the forefront of their field, whether that be those involved with sustainability efforts, conservation or inspiring outdoor pursuits.

“BeAlive as a whole, we create platforms for niche audiences,” Keefer said. “As we continue to build these kind of purpose-driven communities—Rivers are Life is one of them, BeAlive is another one—we continue to expand in the space and amazing partners are coming on to tell their stories with an authentic audience that we have curated.”

Under the larger umbrella of BeAlive is BeAlive Studios and Rivers are Life. Rivers Are Life is a brand that aims to bring inspirational, ecosystem-saving stories from river heroes all around the globe. This brand gives an inside look at individuals and organizations that are healing our world’s vital rivers.

“The goal is to do for rivers what’s already been done for oceans,” Zach Green, president of BeAlive, said. “Both from an entertainment perspective and a global network of conservationists. And nobody is highlighting the work in a way that can activate an audience. So the goal is to both entertain, educate and activate the viewer.”

Some of Rivers are Life’s recent films include Gifts of the Nile, Life Afloat, Mr. Trash Wheel, Study Abroad, and Toxic Art. Each of these films include a focus on real people who are making a difference facing environmental challenges at different rivers. These stories span the gamut of locations from southeastern Ohio, Tennessee, Cambodia, Baltimore and Egypt.

“Our expertise in telling stories helps bring awareness to the plight of our rivers. There’s great work, hopeful work happening all over the world to that end as well,” Green said.

The most recent episodic series, River Heroes, highlights a special set of individuals and organizations working on the ground, and on the water, committed to preserving and protecting the waterways they love.

“In today’s society, negativity outweighs positivity, and we’ve got to be a voice for hope and the amazing things that are happening,” Green said. “The River Heroes series really brings light to the incredible individuals that are stepping up and making a change. One of our initiatives is to continue the positive perspective of everything and look at the things that are actually happening.”

BeAlive also offers a variety of other films and series under the BeAlive Studios umbrella such as the films Frenchy, which follows 82-year old French snow/ski racer and mountain biker, Jacques Houot; Waves of Purpose, which follows Anthony Walsh, a top pro surfer and GoPro athlete as he shares his personal journey in life; and Maddie, which follows Rocky Mountain fly fishing guide and conservationist Maddie Brenneman.

“Part of the problem is that no one is telling stories with a neutral ground,” Keefer said. “It’s either for certain corporate reasons, or it’s for an NGO perspective. I think Rivers of Life is a neutral party and saying that we all have to take action, whether it’s climate change or protecting our rivers or wildlife, we need to tell those stories. When you see a story of hope, it takes 15 stories of hope to outweigh one negative story. We’ve got to keep telling them.”

BeAlive has gone on to win several accolades for their character-driven storytelling over the years, including the Sanctuary Selections Winner at Thunderbay International Film Festival in 2024 for Toxic Art; 4x Official Selections in 2023 and 2024 and Honorable Mention Winner at Wild and Scenic Film Festival in 2024 for Toxic Art; a Gold Addy Award in 2023 for Keepers of the North; and first place at Elgin Short Film Festival for Watershed Warriors.

“We specialize in telling stories and building communities,” Kate Richter Green, vice president of current programming at BeAlive, said. “Telling stories in the hardest to reach places on the planet and coming back with something amazing and worthwhile and epic and being able to turn that hardship and that adventure into something incredibly entertaining.”

The spirit of the West is quintessential to the core of what BeAlive’s mission is, and the spirit of the West is created by those who live, play, and make meaningful change here in the Rocky Mountains.

“BeAlive is an ever-present energy and it’s enabling the pursuit of moments that matter,” Keefer said. “So it’s a palpable energy. To explain BeAlive in one word, it’s an energy and it’s felt in Montana.”

Check out BeAlive’s films and other content at gobealive.com.

Taylor Owens is a writer who spends her days running in the sun, playing in the snow, or on the hunt for the best breakfast across the West. She is based in Bozeman and is the content marketing lead at Outlaw Partners.