Leading sports lifestyle brand Oakley and Bebo, the global social media network, today announced bold plans to innovate in the field of documentary film making.

During production of “Conquering Demons”, a new film documentary about the extreme sport of snowboarding, behind the scenes footage will be made available exclusively to Bebo’s worldwide audience of 40 million to view. The raw footage will be available at www.bebo.com/conqueringdemons and then clips will be posted daily over the 2-week filming period (until March 26th).

“Conquering Demons”, which goes into production this week, will follow British champion snowboarders and Oakley team riders Scott McMorris and Tyler Chorlton on a journey of discovery as Italian filmmaker Carlo Mancini investigates the “psychology of fear” in extreme sports athletes.

Bebo users will be transported into the inner circle of professional snowboarding for the first time through daily broadcasts from the athletes’ training base in the French alpine resort of Morzine, near Geneva.

The film will show the unedited reality of life as a pro snowboarder and give viewers a unique perspective from ‘inside’ the film production, whilst introducing two top snowboarders to an alternative style of filming and psychological examination.

The production will also utilise the tools of social networking to interact with viewers in other innovative ways. For instance, fans will be able to email the snowboarders and the filmmakers and interact with other fans during the filming process.

First-time filmmaker Mancini will attempt to psychoanalyze the athletes, both pre- and post-performance. Meantime, all ‘on the slope’ action footage for “Conquering Demons” will be provided by Tim Warwood and Adam Gendle of Lockdown Projects, snowboarding and freesports production specialists, based in London.

Bebo’s move into documentary production follows the success of its foray into scripted drama. The first series of online drama KateModern attracted 35.6 million episode views across its run, while series two has had 5 million views to date. A second online drama, Sofia’s Diary, premieres on Bebo next month.