This article first appeared in the winter edition of the Revelstoke TIMES magazine.
Hi, Revelstoke!
My name’s Logan, and I’m a 22-year-old professional filmmaker from Revelstoke, B.C.
Last winter, I produced a film called For the Youth. Rooted in the heart of the Revelstoke community, I created this project to shed some light on the insane antics (and achievements) of this town’s notorious ski groms. I’d like to think it has equal parts heart and huck, and the response it has garnered from the community is one of the most rewarding things I’ve experienced working in film. Before I get ahead of myself though, let me give you a little bit of backstory. I’ll set the scene.
It’s January of 2023, and I’ve just moved back to Revelstoke. If you’ve ever tried to find housing here, you understand that it’s no small feat. I managed to get lucky and snagged a room downtown living with a couple of boys and their mom. Sebby, Aleutian, and Jill (Chaney); thank you for having me, you’re the reason this film exists.
After a couple weeks of farting around, trying to figure out what sort of project I’d like to piece together over an already shortened season, Sebby and I hit the hill to mess around and see what we could come up with. At 15, Seb is effectively made of rubber and more than willing to send it in less than ideal conditions. He throws a corky on a sketchy windlip in the trees, we’re both fired up on the clip, and a week later we’ve assembled a rag-tag cast of groms who felt like ‘chucking it’ on camera. Egan Kelly (12), Sebastian Nava (15), Markus Tondl (17), Emerson Lussier (17), Loucious Cadieux (17), and Reed Kelly (18) all showed up and put in a huge amount of effort to bring this thing to life. Thank you for your hard work, boys.
That’s how it all started. I was planning to leave for Alaska at the beginning of March, so we spent nearly every day of February battling questionable snow conditions, filming, and hustling our project to local brands. On that note, thank you to Harrison Salisbury and Mike Gravelle from Skookum, as well as Ryan Cronsberry from Valley Retreat for believing in this unorthodox production. You guys are bringing dreams to life out here.
Shooting this film was a fresh experience. Each kid has a distinct approach to terrain, but across the board there was very little fear. One might see a cliff and go straight off the nose, while another one would see a crosscourt and say, “hey can you stand there, I want to jump over you.”
Local’s with a keen eye should have no problem picking out where the majority of this film was shot. There is some incredibly accessible terrain around town that I felt comfortable bringing minors into; and in fact,most of the time it was them guiding me. No sleds were used in the making of this film; everything was boot access. To not completely blow up the spots, I’ll leave it at that.
Past a certain point, I realized there was a definite element of chaos that I had to embrace if I wanted to get this thing shot. There were at least a few instances where six kids would be on six different features, all yelling down at me to see if I’m ready yet — all while I’m running around below, trying to come up with unique ways to shoot each one.
Sometimes in a run and gun setting like that, it can be tough to push yourself creatively beyond just ‘getting the shot’.
What gets me stoked these days is really being methodical about each angle, camera movement, frame rate, lighting, etc. to match the style of the athlete, and the trick that they want to throw.
Working with these kids was amazing for me as a creative, because it allowed me to just say “screw it, let’s try this. It might work, it might not, but let’s give it a go.”
No matter what, the kids are stoked to be in front of the camera, so it gives me a lot of flexibility to try new things. On Nov. 17th we premiered For the Youth in the Roxy theater (alongside Sammy Carlson, Sam Kuch and the Blondes), and I’m not kidding when I say that I have never seen that many people in the Roxy at once. Greg Rose had to turn away a whole line of people because the theater was fully sold out. Hearing the crowd cheer and seeing the kids’ faces light up really rocked me, and gave me an introspective push that I hadn’t really expected.
Creating videos used to be a selfish endeavor for me. I was doing it for me, solely because I just enjoyed the creative process. Now, I realize that projects like these have the potential to bring together a whole community, and inspire the next generation of athletes and filmmakers coming up behind us. As a creator, I think that might be the most satisfying outcome from any project — to know that someone will see it and think
“Wow, I want to do that.” Ultimately, that’s how it starts for everybody (me included).
Revelstoke, you absolute beauty of a town, thank you for making my life what it is today.
Contributed by Logan Williams
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