Allen Lam got his start filming his friends skiing in high school. When another friend suggested a state-wide collaboration on a Minnesota-themed ski film, “Nice” was born. This fall, “Too Nice” releases, and the crew plans to show it all across the state. We talked with Lam about Minnesota culture, paying the bills, and if there’s a third film on the way.

–Sally Francklyn

How did the idea to produce a “Minnesota Only” film begin?

The idea about a statewide collaboration movie in Minnesota has been kickin’ around for a quite a while, since maybe 2005. After tossing around the idea on Newschoolers, some friends and I decided to throw a couple movie premieres with all our flicks. It’s always a good time to get the whole community together and watch each other ski on the big screen. That’s where the idea for Nice grew- out of that collaboration. We wanted it to be Minnesota from the inside out, the skiers, the locations, the music, everything. We made a hundred DVDs, some stickers, and a few dozen shirts with our own cash. We did three premieres of it, two in Minnesota and one in Milwaukee at the Midwest Ski Film Festival. After the last premiere, we were basically cleaned out, but Nice did something special for our scene- it was unlike any local movie we’d had around before. We didn’t slide as many handrails as we probably should have, but we created this unity that brought the state together. I’m really proud of what we accomplished. I still have kids asking me for stickers.

For the rest of the interview, head to Buzz.Snow.com.

Here’s the trailer:

TOO NICE Teaser from Parimaj Media on Vimeo.