APRIL 2021
by Mike Ferrell
Earlier this month, my girlfriend and I spent a week in the North Carolina mountains to find our chi, relax, read, fly fish (which needs a lot of practice) and spend time in the woods. Over the course of a few days, we hiked a large section of the Bartram Trail and we noticed these tiny little white flowers that covered the ground throughout the forest. They were Carolina Spring Beauty, a native wildflower, and spring ephemeral. It felt special.
What I found out is ephemeral means transitory or quickly fading. Spring ephemerals quickly bloom and go to seed before the canopy trees leaf out and then die down before they rise again next season. I was inspired by the thought. How many things in our lives are like this? Ideas, friendships, inspiration, love, projects, and the list goes on. We live for moments of pure beauty. What we don’t see is while the flowers aren’t peaking, they’re planting seeds, turning to soil, and nourishing the Earth. While these moments of joy are brief, they are infinite, if you do the work for next season’s bloom.
Ephemerals are also edible, so bon appetit.
A couple of weeks ago Nick and Dutch had the opportunity to shoot for the legendary producer, director, and human, Frank Marshall. He’s produced films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Color Purple, Back to the Future, The Sixth Sense, and the two-part documentary, Laurel Canyon. Which I loved. Most recently, he directed the HBO documentary, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart. I wasn’t a huge fan of The Bee Gees before this doc but now I can’t help but be one. The brothers created genres and constantly evolved their music.
Dutch and Nick were hired to shoot for the upcoming documentary on Picabo Street for The Olympic Channel. Picabo was the first woman to win back-to-back World Cup downhill skiing titles and won the super G at the 1998 Winter Olympics and the downhill at the 1996 World Championships. The film is directed by Frank Marshall and Lindsey Vonn and produced by
Gary Cohen and Mandalay Sports Media, who produced the Michael Jordan documentary series, The Last Dance.
Nick and Dutch were truly honored to work under Frank and learn from the legend. Can’t wait to see its final edit. The next day, after the shoot, Frank was seen on stage singing with Jimmy Buffet. What a life!
I can’t mention the Picabo Street documentary without mentioning this exceptional human being, Claire Brown. Claire is a filmmaker and partner of Après Productions, which is helmed by Lindsey Vonn, the most successful female alpine skier in the history of the sport. Claire and Lindsey grew up ski racing together at a small race hill in Minnesota, so I wasn’t surprised when I watched an Instagram post of Claire hauling ass down a mountain – backward on skis – shooting someone in front of her.
Claire and Nick first worked together on the HBO documentary, Lindsey Vonn: The Final Season, which was nominated for two 2019 Sports Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Camera Work. Claire has brought us into a couple of projects and we can’t be more thankful to her for it and her friendship.
Check out The American Downhiller: A Historical Bond which was produced by Claire, who was also its cinematographer and editor, along with Susie Theis. Badass story.
Lorena, Light-Footed Woman is a 2019 short documentary directed by Juan Carlos Rulfo and starring Lorena Ramirez and her family. Lorena, now 26, is Tarahumara, a group of Indigenous people from Chihuahua, Mexico, known for their long-distance running. Lorena wasn’t aware of her running talent until she entered a race, and won. A lot of them and she only wears sandals. It’s a beautiful film.
You can find it on Netflix and read more about Lorena and her community in a story written for REI by Eugenia Coppel.
This was filmed last year in Montana and we hope it excites you for the warm weather and time with friends and family ahead.
No matter what land you walk on there is such beauty, sometimes in plain sight, sometimes you have to dig a little deeper. With this 60-second short, we wanted to capture the beauty of the land. It's simple things like going outside with friends. It might be raining but we can sit on a boat for 4 hours; fishing, laughing, sharing stories of life, and watching the world unfold around us.
Words and Video by Nick Kalisz (Video Storytelling Examples)
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