Q&A: Epic shred in Japan, Italy and AK? See it all in “Blank.TheMovie”

Blank.TheMovie—what is it?

In a nutshell: KC Deane, Alexi Godbout, Max Morello, Vincent Gagnier and Josh Daiek have teamed up to produce a ski film, slated for fall ’15 release. With talent like that on the roster, the flick is sure to create a splash in this year’s project pool. The gents have been globetrotting all season long (albeit on different schedules) and they’ve been stacking shots left and right—they frequently tease us with snippets of footage via Instagram.

How did the idea come about? What can we expect to see this fall? I’ve been conversing with the gang via email, receiving updates from Japan, Italy, AK and everywhere in between. Here’s the sitch’…

The Q&A…

Q: We’ll start with those of you who are in Japan right now—I believe that’s KC and Alexi? Guys, everyone and their mother is shredding Japow right now. Knowing that there will be a great deal of Japan-related content appearing in films this fall, are you trying to differentiate your game plan and content production strategy over there? — Boulder, Colorado, 2.11.15 @ 8:57 a.m. MT

KC Deane: I’m currently over here with Alexi and Morello. It is kind of hard to say, because you don’t really know what everyone else is doing. But we are just doing what we want to do and I think that our skiing and our styles will create different content from everyone else in Japan. I mean, some of the features and tricks that Max and Alexi are doing are different from what I’m looking at. For instance, Max has done some urban while we have been over here, and I’m not doing any of that. — Japan, 2.13.14 @ 8:21 a.m.

Alexi Godbout: As KC said, it’s kind of hard to know how hard the other crews are getting after it, but on our side we are pretty satisfied about how things are going so far. We’ve been hitting all kinds of different features, and built a jump to the moon called “Tokyo Banana.” Game plan-wise, we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, just trying to make it spin better. — Japan, 2.13.15 @ 8:42 a.m.

Q for Vinnie Cash: You’re at the Frostgun Invitational right now. Do you feel like you have a target on your back after winning X Games big air gold? Has anything changed for you after this victory? — Boulder, Colorado, 2.11.15 @ 8:57 a.m. MT

Vincent Gagnier: No, not really. I still have to ski the best I can and hope to get a good score. I’m not changed, still the same Vin. Still hungry. Still watching ski movies every day, still thinking of new tricks. — Val D’isere, France, 2.12.15 @ 10:23 a.m. CET

Q for Daiek: Are you so pitted right now at Last Frontier Heli? Where else have you been rocking this season? — Boulder, Colorado, 2.11.15 @ 8:57 a.m. MT

Hey Henrik, sorry for the late reply. The Internet connection up here is touchy and it’s hard to even open emails.

Things were looking really epic coming up here. Terrace received record snowfall of two meters in 48 hours right before we arrived. Due to lack of visibility, our first day was only a half-day, but we were able to work a couple small tree lines and we were rewarded with epic, waist deep blower. Unfortunately, it began raining that night and hasn’t let up over the last two days… We’re kind of choked right now sitting in the lodge waiting for a clearing in the weather. Right now I’m just hoping wind and rain hasn’t completely hammered the alpine.

As KC mentioned, conditions are tough in North America this year. Definitely not ideal for filming, but at least there is snow and we’re skiing. It could be worse. I was lucky enough to be in Cham last week for the two meter dump that came through there, so I can’t complain at all. Other than that, I’ve been traveling from eastern Nevada, to Utah, to Jackson, exploring new areas and skiing new zones. New to me, at least… It’s been awesome. Skiing new terrain is the best. Overall, it’s been a kick ass season thus far! Stoked to be working on this project with such a versatile group of skiers. I’m really looking forward to filming with the boys and getting after it this spring. — Last Frontier Heli, 2.13.15 @ 1:53 p.m. MT

Q for Morello: Have you been crushing the streets? Where are you? — Boulder, Colorado, 2.11.15 @ 8:57 a.m. MT

No response…

Q for Vinnie: Which ski films have inspired you the most in your life, and which ski films have you enjoyed recently? Obviously film is a big inspiration for you—how do you hope to inspire people through Blank. TheMovie?

P.s. How’s Frostgun?? See you at Air & Style, yes?— Boulder, Colorado, 2.12.15 @ 9:42 a.m. MT

Frostgun was aiiiight, the jump kinda sucked and was overly huge and scary for no reason… my body is over-sore! See u in LA next week. — Bad Gastein, Austria, 2.13.15 @ 22:45 CET

Q: Can one (or a few) of you chime in on how the idea for this project came about? It’s a fairly diverse group of skiers—how’d you wind up with the five of you? — Boulder, Colorado, 2.12.15 @ 4:30 p.m. MT

KC Deane: Well, I filmed with PBP last year as well as Morello and Vinnie, and with [PBP] not making a movie this year, that is what made us want to get this going. I already had an idea of making a movie with five or six guys and getting a filmer, putting it together then getting it on iTunes, etc; then, in the end, splitting any and all profits evenly between all the athletes. In the past, or even now, for many athletes, if you film with a big film company the only thing you can really hope to get out of filming is more recognition. Then hopefully from that maybe you get paid more?

I thought four backcountry guys and two urban guys would be nice. I asked Alexi about doing it first and mentioned it to him maybe last spring or summer. I put the feeler out to Morello to see what he had going on, too. In November, I talked to Morello again—asked him if he was down to do it. He was. Alexi was in, as well, and I just needed to fill in a few other people. Daiek was one candidate because he is such a solid skier and I have been friends with him for a while now. Alexi and [Daiek] talked about it at some Salomon meetings, and Daiek called me the next day. Alexi talked to Vinnie about what we were doing and he was a go. In the end, it was all guys that we would have fun skiing with, all super motivated to film and create the best footage/segments possible. — Japan, 2.13.15 @ 9:20 a.m. — 4:20 West Coast time

Q: DIY filmmaking is trending among skiing’s top-tier athletes. Most recently, we’ve seen the likes of Good Company, Super Proof, etc. Many are finding success via this platform, and the appeal is clear—more creative direction, direct revenue, etc. Are you facing any challenges in the early stages? Do you foresee challenges down the road as you continue with production?

Also, what do you think the future holds for the mainstream production houses? Will the traditional ski film model ultimately become obsolete? — Boulder, Colorado, 2.12.15 @ 5:30 p.m.

KC Deane: I think the main issue we are having right now is the fact that it hasn’t really snowed in North America. It’s pretty bad all over the West Coast, so I’ve been in Japan for over a month now, and Alexi and Morello came over to film. Other than that things have been good. For me, I feel like the tricky part will be dealing with music rights, iTunes and that sort of post production stuff. We have all filmed and we all know what it takes to put together a segment. And on the editing side, Morello edits and we will all be involved in that side of things before handing it off for finishing touches. But the music rights, etc, will be something that will be interesting to deal with.

[Regarding the second question] it’s hard to say, really. If it doesn’t start snowing, skiing might become obsolete. I think that as long as there is creative direction to mainstream productions, they are fine. — Japan, 2.12.15 @ 10:02 a.m.

Q’s for KC: You mention “creative direction.” What are some of the production houses—skiing or non-skiing related—that you look to for inspiration? Can you cite some specific films that have hit the mark, in your eyes?

Also, will you act as “creative director” on this project? How’s the Tinder game in Japan? Have you seen any Pokémon? What’s your go-to Karaoke song? — Vail, Colorado, 2.15.15 @ 9:22 a.m.

KC Deane: Answers below…

[Re: inspiration] Yeah, I think a lot of it comes from surfing and skateboarding. A few movies that are an inspiration for us would be Strange Rumblings in Shangri La, Done from John John [Florence], the DC movie, Electric Blue Heaven and a lot of the stuff Dion [Agius] and the Epokhe crew are putting out.

[Re: Creative Director] Yeah, I guess so. I mean we all have input in the movie and everyone’s segment will reflect their skiing, but the “B footage” and intros will all have a similar style. So yeah, I guess I will be [acting in this role], but I’ll have help from the crew, as well as guys like Luke Jacobson from Moment, who did our titling, and a few other people that helped get this project going.

[Re: Tinder] Our Tinder game is pretty on point. We have a Blank.TheMovie Tinder profile that has all of our pictures, so you can choose all of us or just one, haha. But not really. It could be a good way to hype our Instagram and Facebook page though!

[Re: Pokémon] What is Pokémon? I don’t think we’ve see any of those to be honest. We’ve seen lots of pillows and we hit a jump that we dubbed the “Tokyo Banana 747 Super Sender.”

[Re: Karaoke] Well for D-Watt, our filmer, he will get down for any karaoke song as long as his shirt’s off. (Let me know if you need a photo, because I got that). For Morello, it would be R-Kelly’s “Ignition” remix. And for myself and Alexi it’s fair game. We suck at such a high level we can make any song sound like shit. — Japan, 2.16.15 @ Beer O’Clock p.m.

Q’s for Deane: You’re in Italy now. How’s that? Who’s there? What’s the plan? How are the babes? — Tignes, France, 3.15.15 @ 7:00 a.m.

KC Deane: Yeah, it’s pretty Italian over here, I guess. Haha. It’s awesome being back in Europe and the crew is currently me, Daiek, Alexi and Vinnie Cash. The plan is to try and ski powder. This winter [continues to be] tough in North America, so we made a last minute call to all meet up over here. I haven’t seen any babes or anything yet. I spent the first 18 of 24 hours sleeping off a cold.

Q: What’s next, after Italy? How’s the footage stacking?

KC Deane: Oh man, after Italy and Europe we aren’t too sure. It depends on where it snows. D-Watt and [Riley] Leboe headed north and are in BC/AK for the next few weeks. So, maybe go meet them and then sled and heli out of northern BC and AK ’til end of April.

We’re gettin’ that footy! Filming has been going good. Really stoked Daiek and Vinnie are here filming. — Italy, 3.17.15 @ 3:21 p.m.

One month later…

Q’s for KC: How’s Haines? There’s some serious pro skier talent up there lately, eh? — Breckenridge, Colorado, 4.17.15 @ 8:43 a.m.

KC Deane: Haines has been good. Me, Alexi, Vinnie and Daiek got back from Italy and got three good days of filming in Whistler before we headed up here. We are staying outside of Haines, about 40 miles, just sledding from the RV so it’s been awesome. Good sunny days and deep snow. There are definitely some crews in town but where we have been going we’ve been by ourselves.

The season is drawing to a close in North America. How’re you feeling about the footage you’ve compiled?

It’s looking pretty good. If we were shooting for an hour-long movie it would be tough, but since we are looking at a shorter film length to begin with, we will be just fine. And shots are looking good—I’m stoked to start editing and putting things together.

Highlight of the season?

Man, it’s hard to say. This trip has been awesome for sure, and having [Mike] Henitiuk here filming with us is rad. Also watching Vinnie slay urban in Italy was nuts. Also, some of the sessions I had with Morello and Alexi in Japan. Watching Daiek send it… I don’t know, I guess the whole season has been rad because we’ve been able to travel all season with a good crew. We have been real fortunate to be able to do that.

What’s the timetable looking like on the film release?

It’s going to be ready to premiere at iF3 Montreal, and ready for the tour after that. We will be releasing it via iTunes in October. — Haines, Alaska, 4.19.15 @ 4:46 p.m.

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