Proudly shot in the mountains of British Columbia, Out of the Shadows features the finest athletes who have been in the shadows for too long. This is their shot and their opportunity to break out on film. They bring their lives with them and shred the mountains with un-inhibited passion on a daily basis. We bring you their stories.

Featuring the return of PY Leblanc, the forgotten legend Chris Turpin, World Champion Brett Crabtree, Swedish sensation Jon Larsson, and a giant swarm of new comers including Maxim Arsenault, Eliel Hindert, Christian Boucher, Dave Treadway, Mathieu Gagnon Theirault, Ian Cheddar Watson, Dave Gheriani, Adam Topshee, Alex Blais, Athan Merrick, Jake Cohn, Matt Elliot, and Matty Richard.

Arriving in the fall of 2010…

Sponsored by:
Selkirk Wilderness Skiing
The Ski Journal
Russell Beer
Surface Skis
Joystick Skiing
PM Gear
Swany Gloves
Smith Optics
Surefoot
Intuition Liners
Doglotion.com
Indisystem
Point of View Cameras
Lightcraft Workshop
Lowepro
Pelican
Corknine web design

Produced, Directed, Shot, and Edited by Nicolas Teichrob and Athan Merrick of Dendrite Studios.

If you are a sponsor looking to back something with a high production value, unique storytelling, and something that hasn’t been seen in ski films before, give us a shout at info (at) dendritestudios.com
Thanks
-Nic

Danville, The Monaco of Virginia

Arriving in the paddock on Friday morning, it was nice to see so many of my adoring fans. After my victory in Round 2 of the TDI Cup at VIR last year, my popularity in Virginia sky-rocketed, and it was good to see that thousands of my fans had made the drive to cheer me on this year. In the garage I got fitted to my #19/Red Bull/ Right To Play/ Odkarts.com Volkswagen TDI. Although the official TDI Cup policy is that cars are randomly assigned, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I was put in the Red Bull car considering my Rock Star persona, and devilish good looks.

In first practice, Ryan Ellis set the tone for the weekend, by laying down a lightning fast time of 2min13.3 seconds. For those of you who don’t know Ryan is actually a dual sport athlete having been selected 11^th overall in the 2009 NHL entry draft by the Nashville Predators. This makes it a little suspicious that Ryan was driving the #6 “Rock The Red” Washington Capitals car this weekend. Is there a trade in the works? Could the diminutive offensive defenseman Ellis be on his way to the Capitals with Mike Green possibly going the other way? Time will tell.

Race Winner Ryan Ellis

Qualifying proved more of the same, as Ellis took pole for both races, with Mexican racing legend Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle qualifying 2^nd both times. JP is one of the biggest superstars in his country, and his name Sierra Lendle literally translates to “ridiculously fast” in English so there was no shame qualifying behind these two. I managed to put the #19 in the third spot for Race 1, and fourth on the grid for Race 2, much to the delight of my adoring fans. Our guest driver, current Indy Lights points leader, JK Vernay, who some are already calling the next Alan Prost, was able to just squeak by me into 3^rd during the second qualifying session.

Prior to Saturday’s Race 1, I stopped by the “Jake Thompson Fanzone” that had been constructed by my fan club on the hill above Turn 4. I spent a few hours signing autographs and posing for pictures before belting into the car. The start of the race went off exactly as planned, as I was able to slot into 3^rd in the early going, and hang with the leaders throughout the 14 lap race. On the final lap I made my move, as JP ran wide in turn 1 and I was able to grab 2^nd. However, seconds later, disaster would strike. At 170km/h the left front tire exploded, probably due to debris, leaving me stranded in turn 10, as the rest of the field sped by to take the chequered flag. This handed 3^rd place to the deserving AJ Nealey, much to the excitement of his legion of fans who had taken over the south end of VIR (Editor’s note: Unlike the “Jake Thompson Fanzone”, the AJ Nealey fan club is very real, and his rowdy followers actually did take over the south end of VIR).

The Jake Thompson Fanzone

To make matters worse, as I tried to climb out of my wounded car, I re-aggravated an old injury and dislocated my shoulder. For those of you not educated in medical terminology, a dislocated shoulder refers to when your arm actually falls off, and needs to be surgically reattached. I originally suffered this injury while taking part in an intense and barbaric game of ice hockey (Editors Note: This injury actually dates back to being tripped by his little sister while playing pond hockey).

Remarkably, after having my arm re-attached, I decided to still drive on Sunday, not wanting to let down the tens of thousands of Jake Thompson supporters on hand. Race 2 went off without any of Saturday’s bad luck, and I was able to bring the # 19 Redbull / Right To Play / Odkarts.com Volkswagen TDI home in 3^rd place, for my first podium of the season. With the podium, we were able to raise over $1000 for Right To Play.

The #19 Redbull / Right To Play / ODkarts.com VW TDI

The next race on the TDI Cup schedule is May 8^th at New Jersey Motorsports Park, another track where I have gained Schumacher-like popularity so expect the Jake Thompson faithful to be out in force once again. After the DNF in race 1, and the extremely impressive performance of Hockey superstar Ryan Ellis, I will definitely need a big weekend to get back in title contention. In the meantime make sure to click on my profile at driverdb.com, as I’ve now cracked the top 4000 in popularity, tied with the immortal Aki Ajo, and follow me at twitter.com/jakethompson19, because having only 7 followers is downright embarrassing. Also, feel free to leave a comment as it’s nice knowing someone other than my mom is reading this. Thanks again to all my mechanics and the great people at VW for kicking the season off on such a great note!

Until then….

JT

Perspectives #7 – Traveling to the Ski Salt Lake Shootout

This Perspectives provides a look at travelling with ski gear, as Nicolas Teichrob leaves the Sunshine Coast and heads to Salt Lake City, Utah, to compete in the Ski Salt Lake Shootout. During the photo competition, he worked with a number of athletes, each of them represented in this webisode. All of the travel footage was shot on the GoProHD.

For all your helmet cam and accessory needs, visit pointofviewcameras.ca
To see more photos by Nicolas, visit nicolasteichrob.com and stayed tuned to dendritestudios.com for the next webisode.

Perspectives #8 – Unsponsored Cheddar

This is a short and sweet little vid of Ian “Cheddar” Watson. Cheddar is a ripper who is as passionate as they come. His gear has holes and patches and insulation falling out. He has a 12,000 dollar sled to get him to the goods and a 500 dollar truck. He’s broke as can be, but always with a smile on his face. This vid hopefully helps him win some new gear in the doglotion.com Big Mountain Freeskier Search. 

Music is by BoomBaptist of Archivist Records.
Track is Albert Jones Lost My Love.
myspace.com/boombaptist
archivistrecords.com

To see Cheddar’s full segment look for the debut full length release from Dendrite Studios coming soon.
dendritestudios.com

By the way…Cheddar won. Congrats to him!

Or just read it below…

Get to Know Dendrite Studios
Interview by Reed Purvis
Photos by Nicolas Teichrob

While Spanglish is a commonly-known term referring to the mixture of Spanish and English in an attempt to speak Spanish, its lesser known cousin, Frenglish, is beginning to make waves in the southwestern mountainous region of British Columbia. Although many French Canadians living in this region constantly bitch about how much better things are in Quebec, there are a few who actually sort of try to speak English. A new film project from Dendrite Studios is already documenting this sudden rise of Frenglish. The current leader of this linguistic movement is Christian Boucher, aka “little c”. A man of very few and very confusing words, little c’s dialogue is set against the musings of other non-French speaking Canadians in order to make it stand out even more. In a brash move by Dendrite Studios’ Athan Merrick and Nicolas Teichrob, they have been putting to use other non-conventional techniques to bring out the characters behind the skiing. Among these are some sort of high tech camera equipment that elevates their production quality way above porn, a focus on big mountain skiing, a camera mounted to a miniature blimp operated by midgets, and a Bollywood-style musical segment featuring the hit single, Hara Rama Kushboo, from ski mountaineer Amar Andalkar. Even though Dendrite Studios has only been on the scene for this season, revealing words such as gnar, mind blowing, and awesome are already being used to describe this project. An article in the Hollywood Star commented that the film was “a titilating masterpiece that leaves steam on the inside of car windows, and will strip the last shreds of innocence from your 16-year-old daughter.” We here at Newschoolers wiped the steam off the windows, so to speak, so that our readers could see the soul of this project, opened up to the world like a young flower spreading its pedals in the morning sunlight.

What inspired you guys to make a ski film of your own?

Athan: It has always been a dream of mine. I was just waiting until I had the proper knowledge and people around me to tackle a project of this magnitude. I’ve been trying to be successful as an athlete and it is a hard road. I thought long and hard after last season about the decision to give up a bit of my athletic endeavors in skiing for the dream project. The dream won.

Nic: I have always tried to use my passions for the outdoors in a creative manner, and finally the chance came to do a film with a strong working relationship with Athan. I saw a need for something different in the ski film industry and I was in a position in my life to help use this time to create a new type of ski film.

Athan Merrick

Favorite ski films? Mine is Better off Dead (it’s actually a feature film starring John Cusack but it’s focused around skiing rather than high school football).

Athan: There are too many to count. My first ski film, MSP’s Pura Vida, was a gift from my Uncle, when I was probably around 12 years old. The VHS for Global Storming got completely worn out. From there I have pretty much seen every ski film out there, except Better off Dead, I guess I should get on that one. I go to all the premieres and buy too many DVD’s or back in the day VHS’s. It’s hard on a ski bum budget to afford the ski film fix though. I have also always been a supporter of the new guys when they come on the scene. Rage, Team 13, Wink Inc, Level 1, etc. It’s great to see a new perspective. I bought Heavy Hitting’s and Pimpin Frogz Whistler classics on VHS when I lived in New Mexico in high school. Those film’s convinced me to move up to Vancouver and Whistler to go to film school at UBC and ski as much as possible at Whistler.

Nic: Yeah, too many to list. As a kid I loved watching ski films whether it was featuring footage of pro skiers or of my cousins. I have always worked at creating moving imagery in a way that was enjoyable, and the ideas I have are inevitably shaped by everything I have seen in the past…or haven’t seen.

Favorite ski film segment or scene or both?

Nic: Todd Ligare’s unreleased self edit of unused TGR footage…it’s all about super deep pow.

What other types of films have you guys made or worked on?

Athan: My real job is a lighting technician in the film industry. So I have worked on countless feature films and TV shows from small indepedents to mega budget studio releases. I have been a Director of Photography on many short films with nice festival runs and helped produce some as well. Being a DP is my ultimate career aspirations once the ski world has had enough of me.

Nic: A couple years back I entered the Telus Filmmaker Showdown and we managed to make it into the finals on our first try, with a film about ‘Creeking’. I come from a photography background and as such I look at things in an artistic way. My brother and I have created films since we were 10 years old and recording on VHS’s, so I am stoked to finally be in a position to create something that a larger audience can appreciate.

Who is involved in the project?

Nic: Athan Merrick and I are the two main producers of the project, although there are many people helping us out along the way.

Did you see an untapped opportunity to do something different than the status quo of ski films?

Athan: I think we see a balance. We want to try to find untapped audiences and bring the ski film to a larger world, but most importantly you can’t forget about the core and dedicated audience that expects a certain amount of pure stoke and ski porn. We want to blend those ideas into an evolved type of ski film.

Can you give some insights as to how your project is different than the standard ski flick?

Nic: You’ll have to watch the film to find out…although we will say that the film won’t just be about the most well-known shredders killing it via heli access zones that the average skier cannot relate to.

Have athletes, potential sponsors, people involved in the industry, etc. been receptive to your ideas or have they been more skeptical, wanting to stick with what is safe?

Athan: All of our athletes have never really had their “shot” at a ski film segment. So they are amped and willing to put the time in. The potential sponsors/industry folk have been much more skeptical. Some people believed in us and we can’t thank them enough. Everyone we have talked to is super excited about the Perspectives clips we have put out so far. The tide is changing for sure. I was talking to an athlete the other day about money in the ski industry. He was on one of the major companies ski teams for around five years and got cut recently. The first year he was one of 143 athletes receiving gear and money. The next year those athletes receiving payment got cut to 70. It has been declining ever since and this year they are down to only six paid athletes. I think that speaks volumes to the current state of the ski industry. All we have is gear to help offset our costs, and our budget is out of our own pockets. Hopefully we can change that.

Nic: It has been interesting, but somewhat what we expected. The skiers have been so willing to input their ideas and time and I think some of the guys that will have killer segments have really been lacking the attention within the ski industry that they deserve. As Athan mentioned, the ski industry has been less receptive and everything is out of our own pocket.

Chris Turpin

To what degree does music serve as an inspiration in dreaming up sequences or ideas?

Nic: I am a strong advocate of music, but I think music adds to a segment vs creates a segment. I always have music ideas in my head, but it is the footage and athletes’ styles that create the vibe of a segment. We just try and put music with the footage that compliments it.

The people involved in Dendrite Studios come from different backgrounds don´t they? Does this give you a more diversified look at skiing or making a ski film?

Athan: We are from very different backgrounds. I think it is essential to have different minds involved to look at all the different possibilities. The right people and the right talent have come into place. Nicolas and I worked as a photographer and athlete very seriously all of last winter and a fair bit the winter before that. We were both so drawn to the visual aspect of playing in the mountains that the idea for a ski film incubated and was discussed for a long time. It was a natural evolution in my mind. Without Nic I wouldn’t be making this film, plain and simple. There are so many other great minds who have contributed to this project so far and there will be many more to come.

Nic: Athan has been instrumental to helping this project see fruition. Like he said, we have worked together creatively for a couple of years and it was a common vision for something new and original that is allowing this to happen. As a photographer I naturally enter this project with a different perspective than Athan and that is very important. We also have a number of other people that are helping to make our ideas come to life and we are very thankful for that.

How has coming from a real background in filmmaking outside action sports helped you take a different approach to ski filmmaking?

Athan: I guess it has allowed me to see that there is major room for aesthetic, creative, and narrative growth in the ski film arena. We are trying to push the boundaries of all three.

Any interesting or funny obstacles that have come up?

Athan: Time. Can’t I have more time, please. I feel like this in pretty much all aspects of life though. Brett Crabtree, the 2008 Freeskiing World Champion, has been crashing a lot this year as well as stomping a lot, partly because he always seems to choose rather large airs in not the greatest conditions. Sickbird winner Christian “Little C” Boucher has been looking on a lot of those times. Christian is kind of a dark individual who is pretty quiet. He has been laughing a lot at Brett’s decisions and crashes. Hearing him laugh is so unexpected that it makes everyone else laugh. Then Christian mumbles on and on in a mixture of English and French while he is laughing. It is already hard enough to understand him, so it’s pretty hilarious. Now even if Brett isn’t there one day and we pull up to a new zone the guys will say, “I will ski the straight line. I will ski the double. Those turns look nice.” Then they all point up at an unjumpable 500 foot cliff and say, “And there is a cliff for Brett.” It always gets a chuckle out of everyone. Brett takes the ridicule like a champ though and always bounces back.

Nic: So many moments of unpredictability all the time. Like hiding in a zone for two hours until sundown to get a shot of a line, only to be skunked out by deteriorating avy conditions and skiing home with no footage at all.

You’re trying to achieve a high production value aren’t you? What types of equipment are you using to achieve this?

Athan: Shhhhh. It’s a secret. Some of our production value is in our Perspectives clips. Watch them and figure it out for yourself. This question would require way too long of an answer.

Is there an overall message or purpose that you want to portray other than showing exciting ski footage?

Athan: There is no “cause” behind the film. The Fine Line was in my mind the best ski film of the last few years and it had a great purpose behind it. There will be underlying tonal messages throughout the film though. We are excited to bring it to the people and the skiers everywhere.

Nic: As Athan put it, there is an underlying message we want to present, but basically we want to portray the age old sport of sliding downhill on skis to as broad of an audience as possible, while maintaining a high level of skiing action and awesome footage.

For more information on Dendrite Studios, check out dendritestudios.com

Hopefully PMGear will be stoked as it is one of the first shots published of me that really shows the skis I am riding, the incredible lhasa pows!

I haven’t really heard of any of my hard work from last winter being published through the actual photographer, just through friends who happen to see it. Perhaps there are more out there and I will never know.

Still busy as can be shooting for Dendrite Studios debut ski film. I believe we have a title as well after a brainstorming session in the hot tub at Selkirk Wilderness Skiing.

-Athan

Canadian race car driver Jake Thompson announces “Racing for the Right To Play” to raise money for children around the world

Calgary, AB, March 30, 2010 – For the 2010 season, Canadian race car driver Jake Thompson will partner with Right To Play to raise money and awareness for children in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world. Corporations and individuals will have the opportunity to pledge donations for each lap Jake completes this summer in his #19 car, as well as bonuses for each time he scores a victory or podium finish. Right To Play will receive 100% of the proceeds from ‘Racing for the Right To Play’ which will support the work they do in 23 countries around the world and help them continue to reach over 688,000 children each week with their sport and play programs.

In addition to the pledges, Thompson will put 25% of the prize money he wins during the 2010 season towards the final donation. “I have been lucky enough to be involved with sports my whole life, playing hockey growing up, and now with racing, so I’m excited to be able to give back to such a great cause”.

The goal is to raise $10,000 in 2010, and over the course of the season progress will be tracked on the web at www.jakethompson.ca/righttoplay/. All of our donors will be listed on the website leading up to the season finale in Puebla, Mexico on September 26^th, where the name of every single contributor will be displayed on the hood of the race car. To find out more information on the pledge program or how you can get involved, please see the attached PDF file, or contact Jake Thompson at 403.629.2945 or jake@jakethompson.ca.

Right To Play

Right To Play is the leading international humanitarian and development organization using the transformative power of sport and play to build essential skills in children and thereby drive social change in communities affected by war, poverty and disease. Right To Play creates a safe place for children to learn and fosters the hope that is essential for children to envision and realize a better future. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child guides their work. Right To Play programs target the most marginalized individuals including girls, persons with disabilities, children affected by HIV and AIDS, street children, former child combatants and refugees. For more information please visit www.righttoplay.ca.

Jake Thompson

Jake Thompson, from Calgary, AB is one of Canada’s most promising young race car drivers. Shortly after graduating from the University of British Columbia with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Thompson was selected from a pool of over 1000 applicants to be one of 30 factory supported young drivers competing in the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, the world’s only “green” racing series. In his rookie season, Thompson was a standout, scoring two victories, before eventually finishing 5^th in the Championship. Returning for his sophomore season in 2010, he will be a strong contender for the title. In addition to raising money for Right To Play, Jake Thompson Motorsports is still looking for personal sponsors to help take his racing career to the next level. For more information please visit www.jakethompson.ca

Well, with the 2010 racing season under way, a bunch of new stuff is starting to hit the net. It appears both Corvette, and BMW are going to be chronicling their 2010 ALMS campaigns for youtube, so I’ve posted the first few installments below. This stuff is way more of a commercial, and hence not nearly as good as the Audi film, or Zach’s movies, but there’s still some pretty awesome footage so enjoy…

*For what its worth, I originally named this post, “racing porn” but facebook wouldn’t let me post that link… fail

BMW-Part 1: Joy is Racing

BMW-Part 2: 2010 Team Introduction

Corvette Racing Series: Episode 1

- Jake Thompson
Action Armada

Perspectives #6 introduces skiers Chris Turpin and Eliel Hindert. These two skiers both rip the mountains with a similar flair and style, even though they have a 10 year age gap. Stay tuned to Dendrite Studios’ debut film dropping in Fall 2010 to see Hindert’s and Turpin’s full segments.

For more about the tasty beverages coming from Russell Brewing, visit www.russellbeer.com. Local BC beer at its finest.

Filmed by Athan Merrick and Nicolas Teichrob
Edited by Nicolas Teichrob

Check out the athlete profiles for Chris Turpin and Eliel Hindert on the ‘People‘ page at Dendrite Studios

Music:
Unity on Plastic ft. DJ Epoch (Prod. Elaquent) by Thesaurus Rex of Archivists Records
www.myspace.com/boombaptist

Eliel Hindert’s blog

For more web videos from Dendrite Studios, head over to their video page here

Enjoy!
-n

Buy a brand new or a slightly used sled with a warranty. Don’t mess around. Spend the money up front at the beginning. I am very thankful I decided to go this route right from the beginning. I’ve had more than a couple buddies buy used sleds only to have the engines explode within a few days of riding them and they just lost the 3-5 grand they spent.

People say its easy. Sledding is not easy. The first week I had the thing I hated life. I cursed the idea of ever buying one as I constantly dug the 500lb machine out of giant snow trenches. After that week I felt like I got hit by a freight train. I don’t think my body had ever been so degraded. Not after back to back weeks of competing in icy conditions while sending huge airs, not after soccer tournaments in Phoenix growing up in over 40 degree heat playing two games a day at 90 minutes a piece as winger, sprinting non stop from touch line to touch line, not after skinning from the wee hours of the morning until after darkness on long touring missions.

Sledding is a money pit. Forget about the initial cost. How about the gas and oil every time out. The truck to tow it. The ramp to get it in your truck. The ski rack to carry your skis. The straps. The bungees. The list goes on and on. It is not cheap, but way cheaper than a heli trip to ak, and it lasts all year. I still have things I would like to buy to improve the experience, but I choose to save the money.

Sledding is frustrating. This last week I got gas in my eye. The week before that I may have broken my finger (it’s still swollen and crooked). The week before that I flipped the sled into a giant tree well, and the list goes on. I feel like this year I have grown from advanced beginner to an intermediate sledder, but no matter what there always seems to be an issue. The only comforting thing is the fact that even the best sledders still get stuck. So the digging, pulling, flipping, lifting never stops. It just happens less often.

I also heard a lot when I bought the sled. “Oh, oh. Athan watch out. Lots of skiers just become slednecks because of how much fun they are.” They are fun that’s for sure. But I will never be a sledneck. Skiing is way more fun and pure. The sled began as, and will always remain a tool to ski bigger and badder stuff.

With all that being said there is no better way to ski the lines of your dreams with relative ease. I have skied or watched my buddies ski lines right out of every skier’s fantasies. It isn’t easy, and I really wish it didn’t allow the kind of access you can gain, because of how much of a pain in the ass it is. But one thing is for certain, now I can never go back. I will never be without a sled in the Coast Mountains again.