July 9th, 1999

SAN JOSE, CA -- Production began this month on Tall Ship Adventures, a series of one-hour specials created by San Jose-based Tam Communications. Shot using Sony’s HD camcorder, Tall Ship Adventures will be one of the first documentary series to be taped on high-definition media. The project is ideally suited for the HD format, as it features breathtaking footage of the most majestic tall ships in the world.

Any sailing vessel with high masts is considered a “tall ship,” and though rare today, active duty tall ships are still used for a wide variety of purposes, including training missions, adventure cruises, and races. Each episode of Tall Ship Adventures follows a different tall ship expedition, featuring interviews with crewmembers and exploring the history of the vessel.

In early July, a crew led by Executive Producers Tam Fraser and Susan O’Connor Fraser began taping the pilot episode of the adventure series, The Eagle. The 295-foot Coast Guard barque Eagle is a classroom on the seas, teaching students from the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut how to apply their training in an actual seafaring environment. Aboard the Eagle, the Tam crew collected footage and interviews with the students and instructors as they completed a week-long voyage from Portland to San Francisco.

"The Eagle expedition was every bit as exciting and visually stunning as we’d hoped it would be,” said Fraser, director of Tall Ship Adventures. “This footage is going to make a phenomenal pilot episode for the series."

Later episodes highlight other tall ships, such as racing schooners and holiday adventure craft.

Tam Communications is also in production and post-production on a number of other entertainment programs. In addition, four of Tam’s original one-hour documentaries will premiere on the Discovery Channel this summer and fall, and Travel Channel is currently airing Vacation S.O.S., a reedited version of Tam’s original series, Coast Guard.

Tam Communications is a leading digital media company, servicing corporate and entertainment clients by combining technical, creative, and communications expertise in the realms of video, interactive multimedia, and web. The company's expanding spectrum of original entertainment programming—developed for broadcast, cable, syndication, and other venues—airs worldwide. Tam Communications is a privately held company located in Scotts Valley, CA. Please visit our web site at www.tamcom.com.