Nimbus - CONTRAST
The time has come to see the response to our new ski film, "Contrast." I'm always nervous because we are trying to do something different from the commercial norm. But what's life without a little risk now and again? I really like the film, it's the project I wanted to make so I'm happy with it. All I think I can do is produce something that I'm proud of and hope that others enjoy it as well. Things can always be better, but nobody knows the other possibilities except the people behind the scenes.
I have to give a lot of credit to my Nimbus partner, Eric Pollard. He works harder than anybody in the ski industry. I think we've worked together since I sponsored him at age 15 or 16 back in the day at Helly Hansen? He has always been one of my favorite people to work with.
So what is Contrast all about? Well, it's still a ski film. Basically it takes the viewer through a couple different stages of skiing: beginning, learning, creativity, crew and adventure. For me it's kind of the life cycle of skiing.
01. Beginning - How do people start skiing?
02. Learning - The process of learning to ski.
03. Creativity - Once you know how to ski, you then don't have to think about how to turn, but where to turn and what to do with the terrain you ride.
04. Crew - As skiers stop progressing in skill level, the enjoyment comes from the social aspect of skiing. Who is your crew or friends that you ride with at the local hill? One also has to rely on their crew for safety and support.
05. Adventure - Another aspect to the sport is the pure adventure and traveling associated with skiing.
One of the reasons why I like the film is because we have universal themes skiers of any age can relate to. As I'm older, the last two elements are more pertinent to me. When I was younger, the fun of skiing was getting better. The better I got the more fun it was. Now that I'm not in the park, hitting jumps or sliding rails, nor dropping big cliffs like I used to, the fun comes from being with my friends and the adventure of going into the mountains and nature. Just getting out of the city.
The film jumps from studio shots at Nemo Design in Portland to individual action segments of the main athletes. We wanted to engage the viewer fully in what was being said, then totally dive into the action. Contrasting segments… Get it?
This project is more of a collectors edition than a normal DVD. It's a six panel digi-pack, double-disc set. One DVD has all our "Hunting Yeti" and "En Route" episodes, which is literally eight half hour shows while the second disc has the feature film with a ton of fun extras. We put more resources into the second film to make it a premium piece.
I'm also excited because I did a TV deal for Nimbus. All of the Hunting Yeti and En Route episodes will be featured this winter on The Ski Channel and Resort Sports Network. The Ski Channel is a VOD service with 30 million households while RSN is shown at 114 resorts in North America with an additional 60 million potential viewers. Should help build the brand.
Here's the trailer, which we also wanted to do totally different from the norm. You know, most teasers are total jump-cuts, tons of the best action cutaways, fast and and heavy hitting. We decided to kind of make fun of the typical trailer format, do a lot of narrative, use lots of shots reflecting other aspects of the sport and just having fun. Check it out:
Contrast Trailer from Gary Winberg on Vimeo.