The NEPSA / Meeting in Aspen weekend kicked off with an absolutely packed house for the 5th Annual NEPSA Awards. The show was comprised of "ten short films created by local athletes." When the results were announced, we realized NossaTV filmmakers had done very well. Two of the top four already had videos on NossaTV. Not a bad start to the weekend. We also meet with several new filmmakers whose work impressed us. But trying to get a few words in with Matt Hobbs while he and his athletes divied up the $3500 grand prize ($100 dollar bills) wasn't easy!
NEPSA Results:
1. "Unnamed" - produced by Matt Hobbs (Vital Films, Every Day is Saturday and Smooth Denali)
2. "Transition of Life" - Chris Anthony
3. "64 Frames" - Aaron Hooper
4. "More Lucky Than Cool" - edited by Mike Cuseo (CuseoMovingMedia, Winter Gone Weird and More Lucky Than Cool)
After the NEPSA Awards, it was straight over to the Belly Up for the Opening Party and D&E Ski & Snowboard Fashion Show. Half expecting a bunch of ski shop employees just walking around in this season's outerwear, it was quite the opposite. The models were clearly professional, the well-rehearsed "catwalk" a dead give-away, not to mention the small crew of their friends from New York (or LA) who arrived just before the show. And there must have been a quota for showing tight white t-shirts and booty shorts for each manufacturer. Having left the camera in the car, I quickly realized the opportunity lost. Fortunately there were about 25 professional cameras flashing away, so we hope to find and add some photos to this post.
We were really happy to meet some of our other filmmakers and get some good feedback on the site. Mike Martin from WZ-TV / Steamboat Mountain Film Festival was more than happy to tell us what was on his mind. But seriously, listening to our filmmakers and users is time well spent.
The Meeting officially began on Friday with the first of three "sessions" NossaTV got to participate in. It was a fairly routine presentation on Music Licensing in Action Sports featuring Richard Jankovich from Rumblefish, followed by a Q&A. Richard basically concentrated on the basics and the law in "laymen's terms." But he added his opinion on some very recent events in the world of music licensing and the "harsh reality" of being sued for not having the proper licenses.
It was cool to meet up with some key ski/snowboard media at the reception (re: free alcohol) immediately following the licensing session. This ended up being some of the most rewarding one-on-one conversations of the entire weekend, as the pace picked up considerably afterwards and worthwhile meetings were pretty much outta the question.
Friday night was basically six straight ski and snowboard videos. Four showed at Wheeler Opera House, and two at the Belly Up. Let the blur begin...
Saturday The Meeting managed to squeeze two industry sessions, go-cart races, and six more ski & snowboard films into the day. The sessions included a very insightful look into Sponsorship by Issa Sawabini from Fuse Marketing, and a lively Competition Forum featuring Calum Clark (USSA Grand Prix), Zach Christ (The Ski Tour / Jeep King of the Mountain), and Chris Stiepock (ESPN X Games). The scheduling challenges facing professional athletes are becoming a real issue, with filmmakers competing for time with the growing slate of high-paying events. How do you maintain the balance between giving casual fans what they want (via network TV ratings) and what core fans want (progression of the sport via films)?
The Q&A portion of the Competition Forum actually wound up with a fairly spirited back-and-forth between Tanner Hall (backed by other attendees) and Mr. Clark. More statement than question, athletes wanted it noted the failure to get skiing halfpipe in the 2010 Winter Games was unacceptable. Others went on to argue that including ski cross and not ski pipe was indicative of the division in alpine skiing. For those keeping score: snowboard halfpipe (in the Olympics), snowboard cross (Olympics), ski cross (2010), ski halfpipe (still on the outside looking in). Say what you want about Tanner, he's smarter and cares more about the sport than most people give him credit for. And USSA is on report for not representing freeskiing.
Six more videos and we were done. It should be noted that temps dropped steadily over the weekend, winding up with some snow flurries Saturday night. As we left the Roaring Fork Valley on Sunday morning, the mountains were frosted and we could see our breath. Watch those movies, but get ready for the real thing.
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