American TV series or program
White Mile is a 1994 American made-for-television thriller-drama film directed by Robert Butler and starring Alan Alda, Peter Gallagher and Robert Loggia. It originally premiered on HBO on May 21, 1994.
Plot summary
Dan Cutler, the head of an advertising agency, invites his colleagues to a whitewater rafting trip. The invitation feels more like an order to some, Cutler considering the outing a test of his employees' confidence, courage and skills. Retired agency executive Nick Karas is a last minute addition, wanting to help Cutler secure some clients and believing that it is a simple fishing trip.
Tragedy occurs along Canada's "White Mile," when the inflatable carrying the large group capsizes, and all are swept away by the raging current. Two agency executives, retiree Karas and two clients die. Later, Cutler becomes at odds with Jack Robbins, one of his top executives, over how the aftermath should be portrayed to authorities and to relatives who are suing the company.
Background
The film is loosely based on a rafting accident, on August 1, 1987, on the White Mile rapids in the Bidwell Canyon section of the Chilko River, in the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada.[1] Current and retired executives of Chicago agency DDB Needham (DDB), along with clients from Kraft, Clorox, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Drug Free America Foundation (DFAF) and other major companies, were involved in the incident.[2] Like the film, five men died that day—two current and one retired DDB executives, and one executive each from P&G and DFAF.[2] As in the film, the court assigned a payout of $1.1 million to the family of the retired DDB executive who died that day.[2]
