Overview
- Genre: Short Film
- Run Time: 8-10 minutes
- Format: 4K Digital Video and other mixed media
- Produced By: Well Good Productions & Pangea Creatives
- Release: Fall 2024
Concept
Like many of us, Ross Tester has experienced ups and downs in life. From crashes and cruddy conditions to championship victories and champagne powder, every moment has its value. Throughout this, Ross has found his purpose by embracing skiing no matter what, and living by the mantra “There’s no bad snow, only bad attitudes”. If there’s snow on the ground, you can certainly bet he’ll be finding a way to ski it. Ross believes that maintaining a positive outlook and making the most of every situation in skiing has been crucial to his success as an athlete. By translating this mindset outside of skiing, he has found a deeper appreciation for embracing life’s highs and lows.
“I want to highlight making the most of difficult situations. It sometimes feels like all I see is perfection on social media and in other ski projects. I want people to find perfection in their daily lives and whatever situation they may be dealing with. You can ski beautifully in ugly snow, and that's what I want to showcase. I also want to demonstrate those beautiful days when nearly everything goes to plan and all the factors align. My goal for this film is to show the beauty in the good, the terrible, and everything in between.” - Ross Tester
About Ross
Ross Tester was born and raised in Lake Tahoe, California. He found his passion for skiing early in life and dominated the IFSA junior circuit growing up.
After high school, Ross moved out to Salt Lake City to further his ski career as well as attend the University of Utah. It was during this time that he competed in the Freeride World Qualifiers and started taking the next steps towards a professional skiing career.
In 2020, Ross' hard work paid off and he officially qualified for the Freeride World Tour - the apex competition for the sport of freeriding. In his 3 seasons on Tour, Ross has captured medals and hearts with his daring lines and jaw-dropping tricks.
While Ross has loved his time as a competitive skier, he is excited to take on a new challenge and focus on filming projects that he is passionate about.
Structure
Our goal is for the short film to serve as a standalone piece, while being able to pair alongside other ski films at collective screenings. The film will be uplifting, fun, and jam-packed with hard-charging skiing while leaving viewers with a simple yet poignant takeaway to make the most of every moment in life. Potential segments include:
- a cinematic sequence of skiing rainy crud and/or ice in Tahoe
- a call-back to Ross’s childhood building jumps off of his roof and DIY parks in backyards
- low-tide shredding in Utah
- a dreamy pow-filled payoff day in the backcountry
Our message of “making lemonade out of lemons” will be conveyed in a non-linear fashion through VO, verité, and motion graphics. The film will be centered around cinematic ski footage while incorporating brief interview bites throughout. Topics will range from why seizing every moment became so important to Ross, to background on his early days of skiing in a historic drought.
Components AND Shooting Style
To showcase the merit of skiing in variable conditions, we will prioritize a cinematic high-value shooting style while capturing action. The b-roll will be a stylized combination of verité and artistically framed textures to further support our concept of finding beauty in mundane situations. We will incorporate collage animation, hand-drawn graphics accents, text overlays, and handycam footage as tools to create a visual narrative for Ross’s thoughts. The project style will be fresh and modern, with notes of grunge and nostalgia.
CREATIVE TEAM
HADLEY MICHAELS
Hadley Michaels is a producer, animator, and director from Seattle, Washington, who currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. She graduated from University of Denver in 2020, with degrees in Emergent Digital Practices and Studio Art. Upon graduation, she moved to Utah with the goal of uniting her passions for storytelling in the great outdoors and motion design. She has since worked as an Associate Producer on Netflix’s docuseries “Muscles and Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators”, and on Peacock’s “Orlando Bloom: To The Edge”. She also works as an animator and designer, often creating 2D illustrative scenes for the likes of Platinum Musicbed award winner "Look Up, Ron", Gregory Packs, Save A Brain, and more. As a partner at Well Good Productions, Hadley is passionate about working on unscripted outdoor and adventure sports media. A lifelong skier and artist, she believes in sharing stories that make people want to get outside and explore the beauty in nature.
ETHAN HERMAN
Ethan Herman is a director, cinematographer, and editor from London, UK, who is currently living in Chicago, IL completing an MFA in documentary film at DePaul University. Ethan worked as an Assistant Editor at Fulwell 73 Productions in London, working on the Netflix series, 'Sunderland 'Til I Die', the Disney+ series, 'Among the Stars', and the feature-length documentary, 'Busby'. He then moved to Whistler, BC to pursue extreme sports filmmaking, founding Pangea Creatives in 2020 and releasing his first film, 'The Front Lines', in 2022 in association with the Freeride World Tour. Ethan believes in telling compelling stories about Pangea athletes, providing access to new audiences, and helping to grow action sports.
Marketing & Distribution
The film will be submitted to the following film festivals:
- iF3
- High Five
- VIMFF
- Banff Mountain
- Winter Park
- Wasatch Mountain
- Snowvision
The film will also be screened as part of the Pangea Film Tour 2024. Possible stops include:
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Denver, CO
- Bozeman, MT
- Seattle, WA
- Portland, OR
- Lake Tahoe, CA
- Burlington, VT
- Boston, MA
- Chicago, IL
- Madison, WI
- Minneapolis, MN
Possible online promotion/premiere includes:
- Newschoolers
- Level 1
- Freeride World Tour
Possible online licensing includes:
- Presenting sponsor's YouTube channel (first refusal)
- Pangea YouTube channel
- Airtime Streaming