Horse in a Hole

My neighbor Victor just dug a huge pit for a septic tank. He usually has three horses. I heard a lot of horse noises yesterday and noticed one of them was missing. Somehow the pregnant female horse, Ruby, had fallen into the hole. She was freaking out and covered in blood from trying to escape. The neighbors were not home… and I was at a loss for a plan to help this poor horse.

How the hell do you get a thousand pound beast out of a nine foot deep hole?

Ruby was trying to get out by the lowest wall but there was a barbed wire fence at the top that she kept getting tangled up in. I ran to my other neighbor’s trailer and told them, “We have a horse situation.” Neither of us had Victor’s number, so he drove down to where his wife works.

I was standing by the pit trying to calm the horse when Victor pulled up in his pickup truck. He said his wife had called him then said a bunch of things in Spanish that I couldn’t understand and drove away. He returned a few minutes later con un caballero amigo, that is a cowboy friend.

The plan was to stack hay bails and make some steps for Ruby to climb out. We got a ladder and a fifteen year old kid climbed down and cautiously approached Ruby. “Brave kid.”, I said. Unfortunately we only had four hay bails and that wasn’t quite enough.

Victor decided to go buy more hay but when he got in his truck it wouldn’t start. “You’re having quite a day.” I said. “I need a drink.” said Victor. We got in my truck and went on a mission to find alfalfa hay to make horse steps. A few miles down the road I got a call that the horse had been rescued somehow, so we stopped at la tienda and Victor bought a bottle of mezcal and some beer. Most of the rest of the day was spent working on that.

Mount Hood Mountain Bike Video

I finally got around to editing this mini-doc that I shot last year in Oregon.

I caught up with my old friend Cedar at his house on Mount Hood where he took me on an incredible 18 mile downhill trail. He even set me up with a top of the line Esker Elkat carbon fiber full suspension mountain bike for the day. We sat down on his porch and discussed his philosophy for living the good life on the mountain.

Rolling Stone Article

Well I got my name mentioned in Rolling Stone Magazine, I guess I can retire now.

I wish I had said something slightly more profound. What did I do with my 2 seconds of fame? Basically I said, “His wife is hot.”. Real classy move Niles. But I’ll take it. It’s part of a long running joke I’ve had with my friend Jeremy. He used to video conference with his girlfriend when we shared a room in Africa while filming a project long ago. I’d usually come stumbling in late at night and he’d be on his laptop chatting away with an attractive woman. I’d mumble something about her being hot as I crashed into my single bed that was about 2 feet away from his.

Eventually they got married and I kept the joke going by always yelling in the background when he was talking to her, “Your wife is hot!”. It’s pretty funny that of all the things I said while sharing an RV in the desert outside of Area 51 with Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone’s embedded journalist, that’s the one that made it into print. It’s a cool article, you should read it and learn about the Yeti.

“I call her Yeti because most people have never met her and doubt she exists,” says Corbell. Niles, his cameraman, chimes in, “I just call her ‘hot.’”

– Rolling Stone Magazine

Pound for Pound – LA Times


Here is the first episode of a five part series I recently shot with award-winning boxing writer Lance Pugmire for The Los Angeles Times. Canelo Alvarez is the young superstar and pride of Mexican boxing, versus Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, the unified middleweight world champion who hails from Kazakhstan.

It was an exciting fight, expected to end with a K.O. but it turned out to be a draw. Fortunately for me that was the bet I had placed at the sports book and it paid 25 to 1…

You can watch the rest of the episodes here:
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-sp-pound-for-pound/

You Get Me

Netflix / Awesomeness Films / Dreamworks

Starring Bella Thorne / Taylor John Smith / Halston Sage / Nash Grier

Directed by Brent Bonacorso

Cinematography by Magdalena Gorka

I was B-camera operator and also shot all the drone footage.

L.A. – Barstow to Vegas


Here’s a dusty post for my dusty blog.
LA-B-to-V is the most famous and longest two-day dual sport ride in the world. This was the 32nd year for the best 400 mile-plus dual sport ride.
http://labarstowvegas.com/

Music: Old Man Gloom – The Ape of God (I) “Eden’s Gates”

Baja Moto Trip

Two Harley Davidsons, one Triumph Bonneville, and a 1986 Honda XL600R set out on an epic journey from Los Angeles to Mexico and back.

Music: JFA – “Baja” from Valley of the Yakes 12″ – 1983

Filmed on a GoPro 4 Black and a Sony A7s with a Zeiss 50mm f/1.4