“It amazes me that people don’t appreciate how much athleticism is involved in bull riding.  It’s not just hanging on for dear life.  Bull riding requires agility, balance, strength, and reaction time.”
—Ty Murray, Seven Time world champion All-Around Cowboy

"I was channel surfing one day and came across a bull riding competition and it just completely grabbed me,” recounts BULLRIDER producer Maureen Holmes when asked about the origins of the film.  “I was very taken with the guys themselves, how genuine they seemed—how uncomplicated in their way—and what amazing athletes they are and what they’re willing to do.  I began thinking there was a world there that would be wonderful to explore.”

Prior to initiating the project with her producing partner, William Cheeseman, Holmes had never been to a live bull riding competition before, had never heard of the PBR (the Professional Bull Riders, Inc., the athletic organization founded in 1992), or the series of athletic events culminating in the PBR Championships in Las Vegas, replete with one million dollar purse.  “I hope my experience as a producer and filmmaker will be comparable to what audiences will feel: that here’s a subject I didn’t know about, but the more you look at it and think about it, the more fascinating it becomes, and the more revealing it becomes.”

To direct the project, Holmes brought in Josh Aronson, the versatile and gifted filmmaker behind the Academy AwardÒ-nominated documentary feature Sound And Fury, with whom Holmes had collaborated on two Showtime projects.  “Josh is tireless, he’ll do anything for the shot, for the moment.  There was a lot of working till midnight, and getting up at sunrise to get what we needed,” says Holmes of Aronson, who, like most of the crew, had no prior knowledge of professional bull riding.

The production shoot, which began in May of 2004 lasted six months, followed the PBR tour as it moved from places like Cheyenne, Wyoming to Oklahoma City to Dallas, Texas, throughout the South and onto Las Vegas for the finals.  BULLRIDER was shot primarily with 24P Panasonic cameras on DV, with several gorgeous high-speed, slow motion sequences shot on 16MM film by special photographer Allen Dewey.   

“They don’t want to see somebody get killed, but if they do, they don’t want to miss it.”
—Jim Shoulder, 16 Time World Champion

"The First Extreme Sport”

“Bull riding is the first extreme sport,” says Holmes.  Indeed, with arenas full of electric guitars, pyrotechnics, screaming fans, and American flags, viewers can be forgiven for thinking they’ve wandered into a WWE smackdown.  Professional Bull Riding has been refashioned from the days of dusty rodeo shows to commercial sporting events that fill huge arenas in America’s major cities.

“The PBR has remade this sport into a major business and its growth has paralleled America’s interest in show biz, danger, star power, and media,” explains Aronson.  What BULLRIDER asks is how does the classic image of the cowboy—the loner figure, the man of few words—might coexist with the show biz fantasia firecracking around commercial bull riding events?

“The roots of the cowboy run deep—it’s both real and mythical—and yet this sport is very, very modern,” says Holmes.  “And that contrast is really interesting, partly because the cowboys don’t have to buy into it.  They don’t have to become rock stars, they can remain the cowboy, the loner, they’re what keeps the theatricality of the presentation real.”

“We’re modern-day gladiators.  There’s a crowd, an arena,  a beast, and a man.  Every time we do good, they love it.  Everytime the bull does good, they love it.  The crowd always wins.”
—Adriano Moraes, Two-time PBR World Champion

Professional Bull Riding Basics

The PBR season last ten months long, involves 45 riders, and stretches across 28 cities.  Each ride is scored on points; riders who have accumulated the most points over the course of the season make it to the PBR World Championship held each November in Las Vegas and compete for a one million dollar prize.

In order to receive a score, a bull rider must stay aboard the 2,000-pound beast for eight seconds as it violently bucks, kicks, and spins around the arena floor.  During the eight-second ride, if the rider touches either the bull or himself with his free hand he is automatically disqualified.  Throughout the ride, the rider tries to remain near the bull’s center of gravity, where the bull has little power.  As documented in BULLRIDER, should the rider get thrown from the bull’s shoulder toward the animal’s back, they’re usually safe, because the bull needs to change direction. This gives a bullfighter (never say rodeo clown!), the chance to distract the bull long enough for the rider to get away safely.  It’s when the rider is thrown from the bull’s shoulder forward that he’s is in the most danger.             

Another danger facing the rider is getting “hung up,” which means that one’s riding hand is stuck in the rope and won’t come free.  This can lead to getting pulled “down in the well,” an expression used by bull riders to describe a situation in which a bull is spinning in one direction and the force pulls the rider down the side of the animal.

A good rope, a set of spurs, sticky resin, and a protective vest (which helps dilute the impact if the rider is stepped on) are the tools of the bull rider’s trade.  Helmets are not mandatory in professional bull riding, and their use in the sport has become the subject of a good deal of controversy.  Some riders, like Mike Lee have never ridden without one, while others, like legendary Adriano Moraes—often described as the Wayne Gretzky or Michael Jordan of the sport—have tried wearing a helmet and feels it adds too much weight and throws off their center of gravity.  While some riders feel that wearing a helmet is a psychological admission of defeat, more and more younger riders have grown accustomed to it.

When the rider sits atop the bull in the pen just prior to their ride, they punch their gloved fist over the rope, attempting to get as much gripping and holding power as possible.  “I think you basically ride bulls with your fingers,” says professional rope maker Jess Gourley.  During the ride, the riders are essentially sitting on their hand (called “packing your seats”), clamping down with their pelvis above their riding hand. (For more information about the nomenclature of the sport, see the glossary of terms on page 20)

No matter what, every professional bull rider knows that, in the words 1995 PBR World Champion Tuff Hedeman, “You’re gonna end up with scars.”  And Hedeman knows of what he speaks: BULLRIDER documents the rider’s infamous duel with Bodacious, one of the most famed, feared, and ferocious bulls in PBR history.  In the final rounds of the 1995 World Championships, Hedeman’s face collided with the back of Bodacious’s head, shattering dozens of Hedeman’s facial bones. 

While it is difficult if not impossible for professional bull riders to attain health insurance, the PBR helps provide for injured riders, a sports medicine team remains on-site at every event, and the Resistol Relief Fund, a non-profit organization established in 1999, provides financial aid to bull riders who sustain injuries during competition.

Certain myths and lore have sprung up around the sport over the years that BULLRIDER attempts to explode, perhaps the most popular one being that prior to each rider the flank rope is pulled tight around the bull’s testicles, enraging the bull and causing him to buck more violently.  As several commentators make clear in BULLRIDER, this makes no sense.  “If someone were to do that to you the last thing you’re going to do is stand and kick!” says OLN Sideline Reporter, Leah Garcia.  “You’re going to stand very, very still.”

“When I nod my head, I gotta be ready to die that day. You gotta be that free, that’s the way I look at it.”
—PBR bull rider, Mike Lee

Raging Bulls, Quiet Men

“The cowboys themselves are such genuinely nice guys, and just terrific human beings,” says Holmes when asked what she came to appreciate most during the making of the film.  “They’re mythic and everyday nice guys at the same time.  They’re athletes, and they’re out there in the limelight, but we found none of them to be at all self-absorbed.  They were as big-hearted and caring and supportive as we hope we’ve presented them and that’s one of the most beautiful things about the movie.”

One aspect of the PBR scene the filmmakers weren’t expecting is the deep faith and devout religious lives of most of the riders.  The PBR has its own minister, Todd Pierce, and holds regular services, complete with a “Cowboy Bible.” 

“Their religious lives are very prevalent,” says Holmes.  “I tend to go into projects without a lot of preconceived ideas, but we didn’t expect the cowboy ministry and weekly services.  And it’s all done so inconspicuously, there’s nothing about that’s meant for show.  It’s all very heartfelt.”  In the film, the PBR minister speaks eloquently about how people look for inspiration in their everyday lives, and inspiration is what bull riders provide.

Something else that surprised and delighted Holmes is the bull riders’ dedicated female fan base.  “After screenings, women will come up to me gushing about how they absolutely love these guys.  Someone like Adriano Moraes—who competes with so much integrity, and is such a good father and husband, and is so forthright with his emotions—women just fall-head-over-heels for him.  He’s the kind of man you want your husband to be.”

As the final third of BULLRIDER culminates at the World Finals—and 34-year-old Adriano Moraes continues to compete after tearing a bicep on his riding arm, and Mike Lee decides to ride the very same day he dislocates a shoulder—the film becomes a moving testament to the heart and endeavor of these athletes and men.  “That’s what causes people to walk away loving our movie,” says Holmes.  “Even people who had never given the sport a second thought before.”