Member Spotlight: Josh Rollins
From Left: Josh Rollins, Naomi Watts (plays Pam Bales), Malgorzata Szumowska (Director), Pam Bales, Michal Englert (Director of Photography), Peter Sobiloff (Producer)
Josh Rollins, a CrossFit Sanitas member since 2013, is a screenwriter whose first major movie – Infinite Storm, starring Naomi Watts – was just released in theaters. Josh (who has a past life as an actor) also plays a small role in the film. He recently answered 10 questions for us:
1. What made you want to be a screenwriter?
I’ve wanted to be involved with movies ever since I saw ET as a kid. Movies showed me a bigger world outside of my small town in West Virginia, and they are the reason I managed to get out, graduate college, and have this career.
2. What inspired you about this particular story?
First off, the locale. I spent a lot of time in the White Mountains, including hiking in winter. But also the overall theme. Pam is an extraordinary woman who faced extreme hardship and loss in her life, but she refused to give up on this stranger– and he’s alive because of it.
3. You filmed it in Slovenia last winter, in the middle of a pandemic. Any crazy stories from that experience?
Too many to recount here: the COVID officer named Scuba. The extreme cold. Being evacuated from the mountain numerous times in a hurry, The local alcohol being made from distilled pine needles and strong enough to strip paint. Having to specify "no horse meat” when you ordered a burger.
4. This is a true story, about an older woman who performs a pretty amazing mountain rescue, in really difficult circumstances. Tell us about the real Pam Bales.
Pam is selfless. She’s in her 70s now and still hikes 10+ miles a day, often helping people on the trail. It could just be giving them an extra pair of socks or a granola bar, or evacuating them off the mountain. She has dedicated her entire life to helping others.
5. What are you working on next?
I’m developing two TV shows with Amblin and Skydance, and feature films with Bad Robot, Atomic Monster and Warner Brothers, and Amasia. I’m keeping busy.
6. What’s your favorite genre to write?
I love all kinds of films, but I never really got into horror. Then I tried my hand at writing a horror script and sold it to Warner Brothers and have really gotten to a place where I appreciate the genre. But I think drama will always be my favorite.
7. Let’s switch to CrossFit. How long have you been doing it?
9 years.
8. What’s kept you doing it for so many years?
The people. the skill set. the trackable progress. My basecamp included a pull-up exercise, and I needed two bands. I had never done a handstand, much less turned it into a push-up.
9. What’s your favorite CrossFit movement? Any that you can’t stand?
I love gymnastics: handstands, muscle-ups, pull-ups.
I hate thrusters and not just because I shattered my wrist doing them in a workout.
10. What do you like to do when you’re not writing movies?
Hiking, CrossFit, watching movies, reading, travel, hanging with my family (including my two kids) and friends.
Josh Rollins and wife Amanda Paulson