ROCKCRAWLER.com - Ford and Ziff Davis Custom Media to Launch No Boundaries Magazine

NEW YORK - Ziff Davis Custom Media, the custom and contract media solutions unit of Ziff Davis Media Inc., and Apache Ridge Productions, the Santa Fe, New Mexico-based creative shop, announced today a partnership with Ford Motor Company to launch No Boundaries, a quarterly magazine that will debut in September with 84-pages and distribution to 100,000 recent Ford S.U.V. purchasers. The announcement was made by Cameron Brown, Publisher of No Boundaries and Ziff Davis Custom Media, and Chris Czmyrid of Apache Ridge Productions.

[Editor's Note: Find out all about the Ford No Boundaries Experience Tour at www.noboundariesexperience.com ]

"Our new relationship with Ford Motor Company and our unique partnership with Apache Ridge demonstrate market confidence in Ziff Davis Media as an authority on consumer content," said Brown. "This project allows Ford to benefit from Ziff Davis Media's publishing expertise and reunites the motor company with Apache Ridge, who developed Ford's No Boundaries television program."

No Boundaries magazine will explore the lifestyle of choice of Ford S.U.V. owners. It will serve as a fresh new way for outdoor-lifestyle enthusiasts to get closer to the world they love. The magazine is an extension of Apache Ridge's No Boundaries campaign created as a platform for Ford Motor Company. Featuring stirring photography and illustration, and evocative prose, the magazine will be a testament to the active, adventurous, hit-the-road lifestyle. The magazine will provide service edit on travel and gear, news of importance to S.U.V. owners, as well as travel features that span countless regions of the United States.

"We're taking the natural beauty, constant challenges, and infinite possibilities for outdoor action and leisure and bringing them to the print medium," said Chris Czmyrid of Apache Ridge. "To bring this adventurous spirit to life on the printed page, No Boundaries will showcase the work of today's most celebrated visual artists and writers."

The editorial leadership of No Boundaries magazine, includes:

· Mike Kessler (Editor-in-Chief), a former staff editor of Outside magazine, a contributor to many national publications such as Men's Journal , Sports Afield, and The Los Angeles Times, and co-head-writer of FOX Network's No Boundaries television.
· Mike Steere (Creative Consultant), a frequent writer for Men's Journal, Outside, Worth, and many other national magazines. He also served as co-head-writer with Mike Kessler on No Boundaries' TV program.

No Boundaries magazine will feature articles by:

· Hampton Sides, the author, most recently, of Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission (Doubleday) which is already #2 on the New York Times "Best Seller" list.
· Bob Shacochis, winner of the 1985 National Book Award for Fiction for his collection of short stories, Easy in the Islands. He is the author of the National Book Award-nominated novel Swimming in the Volcano, among many other works of both fiction and journalism.
· Allison Glock, a writer at large for GQ.
· Zev Borow, a contributing editor of Spin and writer for New York and The New Yorker. He was a founding editor of the satirical pop-culture magazine, Might.

The magazine will bring together a number of high-profile photographers and illustrators:

· Mark Compton, a San Francisco-based photographer, who has shot for S aveur, Food & Wine, and Ziff Davis Smart Business. Previously, he trained under world-renowned photographer Mary Ellen Mark.
· Michael Llewellyn, a photographer whose location work has sent him to Africa, Belize, and deep into the swamplands of Florida. His images have appeared in National Geographic Adventure, eCompany Now, Outside, and Wired, as well as in many gallery exhibits. Currently he is compiling his first retrospective.
· Jason Holley, an illustrator working in Pasadena, California. He was recently chosen to create posters for The Society of Publication Designers and the prestigious American Illustration Annual. His work has consistently been showcased in these volumes, as well as in Fast Company, Entertainment Weekly, and Travel & Leisure.
· Polly Becker, an illustrator whose work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and Men's Journal. Most recently, her work appeared in a retrospective collection published in Graphis.

Scheduled to debut in September 2001, the premiere issue of No Boundaries will feature an 84-page oversized folio for distribution to 100,000 individuals. With a controlled circulation plan unparalleled in the adventure-lifestyle category, the magazine will increase its circulation to 450,000 over eight issues, representing a growth of 50,000 readers per issue. It will be distributed to recent purchasers of Ford S.U.V. products, a group of known, proven consumers with a medium HHI of $72,2444 vs. $46,354 for all other SUV owner. The average HHI for Ford S.U.V. owners, those that are defined as recent purchasers of Ford Explorers and/or Ford Expeditions, is $81,313 versus $55,512 for all other SUV owners.

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