Just watching the trailer above will give any snowboarder the chills, that much is pretty much a given. But what is the motivation behind a project like this? With the involvement of an energy drink company, I was a bit sceptical about the motivations involved so I contacted Grain Media, the UK production house executing for creating this project for Burn, and tried to get a bit more info out of them.
33MAG: How did this project come about?
GRAIN: We were asked to pitch for the project by Burn. They had come up with the idea of making a history of snowboarding film, and asked us how we would approach it. We gave them our thoughts, told them that we would make a cinematic film that would have appeal beyond the core snowboard market. We basically told them how great we are and we got the gig.
Why is the history of snowboarding important to talk about?
It's an interesting and seldom discussed topic. The industry is huge now, and has come a long way in a short time with some fascinating characters pushing it forward. I don't know if it's 'important' to talk about the history of the sport, but it's certainly a good story, it's got passion, betrayal, honour, life, death, glory and everything in between; all the building blocks of a great narrative,
You guys seem like a pretty big production company, working on a wide range of projects across a broad spectrum of topics - why is it important to work on action-sport (forgive the term!) related projects when you could most likely be making more money working on more commercial subjects and projects?
Well, you're certainly right that we're not making any money out of this project! Grain Media works on a lot of projects and for a lot of different brands, but we came from core action sports. Orlando was a pro snowboarder and filmmaker and Jon cut his teeth making skate films in the UK. Grain has spent enough time in ditches to know the value of action sports. These sports have shaped our business. Neither Jon nor Orlando went to film school, instead they learnt their trade the hard way; by making snowboard and skateboard films. The fact that the business has grown and we now work on pretty big projects is testament to how positive and creative these sports are. Without skating or snowboarding, Grain Media wouldn't exist.
Where will we be able to see the movie in Canada?
The movie will be premiering online on burn.com shortly after the global premiere in Innsbruck on Thursday 31st January. Keep an eye on burn for further announcements!
The production crew
Sounds good to me! I personally think that knowing the roots of your sport is extremely important. There is something very unique and special about the sport of snowboarding - just look at how many people have "given up" their lives for it - and even if you're never gonna come to some grand realization about it's place in the universe it's still crucial to just sit back and appreciate it for all it's glory once in a while.
Thankfully there are photographers, writers and filmmakers who will always be interested in this aspect, continually bringing it back to the surface just as it starts to fade away from the last round of inner-soul searching. It really looks like the crew at Grain Media have not only the right priorities, but have a deep love for our dear sport - and it seems like that is going to translate into a really nice film that not only hard-core shredders can watch, but maybe something I can sit down with my mom to watch together.
Looking forward to the release, 33MAG will bring it to you as soon as it is available to watch!
