A Bradley Dunn Film

The Next Move

Sometimes you have to fall, to find your way up.

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Runtime
23 min
Genre
Documentary
Country
USA
Year
2025

Climbing nearly ended his life. Then it gave him a new one.

Andrea's hand moving a pawn across a chessboard. Film still.

In chess, one wrong move costs you the game.

A climber falling through open sky past the edge of a cliff. Film still.

On the wall, it costs you your life.

July 17, 2013 · Acadia National Park, Maine

The fall

  • 40ftfall, the height of a five-story building
  • 6days in a coma
  • 9broken ribs, five of them through his right lung
  • 130job applications afterward, with no replies

Paramedics told his wife not to come. They didn't think he would live.

Andrea Campanella woke up alone in a hospital in Bangor with a collapsed lung, four fractured vertebrae, a split collarbone and five bleeds in his brain. His left leg was paralyzed. His Black Diamond helmet had taken the impact and kept him alive.

Then his family walked away. His wife left while he was still recovering, and he was left with no wife, no son and a stack of debt. With 20 years of experience and a master's degree, he sent out 130 job applications and heard nothing back.

With nothing left, he sank into a depression so heavy he couldn't see a way out. He calls it a black hole.

The way out turned out to be the wall. Climbing, the thing that nearly killed him, became the thing that pulled him back, one hold and one move at a time.

Ten months after the fall, he was climbing again.

Andrea Campanella in a hospital bed in 2013, with chest tubes and monitors attached, days after his fall.
St. Joseph Hospital, Bangor, Maine. July 2013.
A white Black Diamond climbing helmet hitting the ground in a burst of dust. Film still.

His helmet took the impact. It saved his life.

Trailer

1:01

Short synopsis

A 40-foot fall left climber Andrea Campanella in a coma, broke, and alone. Years later, he returns to the cliff that nearly killed him to face the one move that changed everything.

Long synopsis

Left with devastating injuries and abandoned in the aftermath, Andrea faced years of pain, depression, and rebuilding. But climbing, the very thing that almost killed him, became the force that saved him. Blending the quiet strategy of chess with the high-stakes intensity of the wall, the film explores his transformation through resilience, presence, and purpose. In its most powerful moment, Andrea returns to Acadia National Park for the first time since his fall to confront the cliff that changed everything.

At its core, The Next Move is about survival, redemption, and the choices we make to rise again.

Andrea Campanella looking up toward the wall. Film still.

The subject

Andrea Campanella

Andrea is 58 and still climbing. Before the fall, he says, he had little compassion for other people. Surviving it, and the years that followed, changed that. He came out of it more empathetic, more present, and by his own account more successful than before.

He doesn't remember the accident. He thinks that's part of why he can still tie in. On the wall his ADHD goes quiet, and the only thing in his head is the next move.

“Climbing is a form of art. Don't ask a painter to drop the brush.”

“I like the quiet mind of climbing. I don't think about falling, I'm completely present.”

Director

Bradley Dunn

Bradley Dunn is a self-taught, award-winning director from Utah with 15 years behind the camera. His commercial work spans ESPN, Ford, SpaceX, Red Bull and X Games. He is drawn to gritty, character-driven stories about people who rebuild after loss. The Next Move is his latest documentary.

Director's statement

I was hungry for a new passion project and started making calls to find a powerful story to tell. On the very first day, my friend Alex Andino told me about Andrea, and I was sold. When I got on the phone with Andrea, he told me how he nearly died so casually and matter-of-factly, because that's just who he is. It was a blessing that he trusted me to tell his story, and I'm incredibly proud of what we created together. My hope is that anyone who has hit rock bottom sees in Andrea that no matter how far we fall, the next move can always lead us forward.

Bradley Dunn

Black and white portrait of director Bradley Dunn.

Stills & behind the scenes

Download all (40 MB)

Film stills

  • Andrea silhouetted against the sun, coiling his rope. Film still.
  • Andrea's hand on a pawn mid-game. Film still.
  • A climber falling through open sky. Film still.
  • Andrea looking up at the wall. Film still.
  • Andrea's hand pressed to granite. Film still.
  • A chest X-ray tucked into a coil of rope. Film still.
  • Aerial view of the granite cliffs at Acadia. Film still.
  • Andrea in the interview chair at home. Film still.
  • Andrea smiling in late golden light. Film still.
  • Old photos of Andrea in a coil of rope. Film still.
  • Andrea alone on a ridgeline at blue hour. Film still.
  • Andrea reaching for a hold in silhouette at sunset. Film still.
  • A climber on a summit as the sun sets. Film still.
  • Andrea deep in thought at home. Film still.
  • Andrea outside the hospital where he recovered. Film still.
  • Andrea checking his figure-eight knot. Film still.
  • A chessboard in a pool of window light. Film still.
  • A hospital photo of Andrea in a coil of rope. Film still.
  • Andrea in low light during the interview. Film still.
  • The helmet hitting the ground in a burst of dust. Film still.
  • The helmet tumbling through dust. Film still.
  • Andrea on the rock at sunset. Film still.

Behind the scenes

  • Andrea on a cliff edge over the ocean at sunset, Acadia.
  • Andrea smiling on the Acadia coastline with cameras behind him.
  • Bradley Dunn filming Andrea at the base of the wall.
  • Camera monitor showing the sunset silhouette shot.
  • Andrea among granite boulders at night, lit by a single light.
  • The crew and Andrea on the Acadia coast.
  • Rigging at the base of a granite wall.
  • Looking up a granite wall through the trees.
  • Andrea standing on a rocky summit with a walking stick.
  • Black and white portrait of Andrea in his climbing helmet.

Credits

Directed by
Bradley Dunn
Executive Producer
Alex Andino
Producer
Bradley Dunn
Featuring
Andrea Campanella
Director of Photography
Alex Andino
Camera
Ben Wilson, Ryan Pavone, Drew Glickman, Clayton Lindley, Bradley Dunn
Editor
Bradley Dunn
Sound Design
Bradley Dunn
Color
Bradley Dunn
Music
Musicbed, Bradley Dunn

Specs

Type
Documentary short
Genre
Adventure, outdoors, mental health
Runtime
23:38
Completed
August 2025
Country
United States
Language
English
Subtitles
To be added
Shot on
RED, Sony
Aspect ratio
16:9
Sound
Stereo
Locations
Acadia National Park, ME · Joshua Tree, CA
Premiere status
Unreleased

For programmers

Request a screener

A private, password-protected screener of the full film is available to festivals and press.

Email for screener Download press stills Press kit (PDF, 5 MB)
Contact
Bradley Dunn
Email
bradley@dunnriteproductions.com
Studio
Dunnrite Productions