cover the Mr. Universe Championship inspired Butler to make a theatrical documentary on the subject of bodybuilding; this proved to be a challenging undertaking, as he had difficulty convincing potential investors that bodybuilders and their Austrian-accented star performer could hold the screen. The eventual movie Pumping Iron launched Arnold Schwarzenegger, put bodybuilding and the gym business on the map, and became a film classic. With Pumping Iron, George Butler established White Mountain Films, named for the White Mountains of New Hampshire, where he made his home. White Mountain Films has gone on to create some of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed documentaries made. Butler's films have screened at festivals such as Sundance, Telluride, Toronto, Leningrad and Full Frame, and won honors ranging from National Board of Review Best Documentary of the Year (2001, The Endurance), IDA Best Documentary finalist (1990, In the Blood), the Whitney Biennial (2006, Going Upriver), National Academy of Science Best Science Film of the Year (2008, Roving Mars) to the Warner Prize for Best Director, Environmental Film Festival (2015, Tiger Tiger). Photography Butler's photographs have appeared in many major publications including Time, Smithsonian, Vogue, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Vanity Fair and The New York Times. His work has been showcased in a one-man show at the International Center of Photography in New York, and exhibited in the Detroit collection, among other galleries around the country. Additionally, Butler is known for his life-size portraits of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Unfinished projects A lifelong conservationist (The Lord God Bird, In the Blood), Butler was working on a two-film project—a feature documentary and an IMAX film—about the imperiled tiger. Both films follow world-renowned big cat biologist Dr. Alan Rabinowitz as he travels deep into the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, searching for its legendary royal Bengal tigers—one of the world's largest remaining tiger populations, and last hopes for the species' survival. The IMAX film is scheduled for release in 2021. Reportedly, White Mountain Films is also developing a medical thriller probing the mystery of how "shell shock" affects the brains of soldiers and veterans. The project is based on author Caroline Alexander's National Geographic cover story. Personal life Butler died from pneumonia in Holderness, New Hampshire, on 21 October 2021, at the age of 78. Filmography Pumping Iron (1977) Pumping Iron II: The Women (1985) In the Blood (1989) The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition (2000) Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure (2001)