I love this time of year. Autumn – when temperatures cool, days shorten, and Aspens change colors. For those of us who are counting down the days until the first snowfall, this time of year holds another special treat- it’s ski and snowboard film premier season. These are the days when film companies travel from ski town to ski town and share their view of winter with shots of perfect powder, big mountains and ripping pros.
Moonshine Ink caught up with filmmaker Justin Hostynek, a partner in Absinthe Films, a Swiss-based snowboard film company. Hostynek and his crew of riders are traveling throughout North America on The Sphere of Influence Tour, showing their latest production, ‘NowHere.’ Read on for Hostynek’s take on being green, getting the shot, and the direction snowboarding is headed.
Moonshine Ink: In traveling across the globe, Absinthe Films is maintaining a ‘carbon neutral’ film tour. How are you doing this? Are you fueling up with kitchen grease or buying carbon credits?
Justin Hostynek: As in so many situations in life, it is far better to lead by example than through conflict. For the Sphere of Influence Tour we carpool and travel on a bus that Billabong, one of our long time supporters, provides to us along with a driver, at no cost. We use regular diesel fuel in this bus since that is what it is set up to use, and we can’t afford the grease bus and driver option. This will be the fifth year of the SOI tour and the fifth year that we offset the tour’s carbon footprint through Native Energy’s carbon neutrality program. They are an organization that has a double positive effect. Native Energy employs Native American’s to build and put up wind turbines. Carbon neutrality is not the ultimate solution but along with minimizing waste in a variety of other ways, it is a sustainable step in what I feel is the right direction.
MI: The preview for the film ‘NowHere’ features some sweet lines in big mountains. Where did you film?
JH: We filmed all over the world, as we do every year. This year we got a great segment from Kamchatka, way out on the eastern coast of Russia. A lot of the film was also filmed in the interior part of British Columbia along a stretch known as the Powder Highway. And of course Alaska makes up a big part of our film again too.
MI: As a filmer, what are some tips for making the shot? Location? Solid riders? Equipment?
JH: Being on top of your equipment goes without saying. The most important ingredients are working with good snowboarders and having good group dynamics. If the crew doesn’t gel, it is very hard to allow for the magic to happen.
MI: Absinthe Films – you are based out of Switzerland. Can you tell me a bit about your company? Where did you get your start and how did your group evolve into a world-touring snowboard film company?
JH: I started Absinthe Films at some point in the mid 90s. In 2000, I worked on a project with a Swiss photographer, Patrick Armbruster, who aspired to make snowboard films. We worked well together so we continued to work together. In 2002 I made him an equal partner of Absinthe and now we run the company together but in many ways also separately. I grew up in Switzerland, so we have that in common too. Brusti holds it down in Europe and I take care of North America. Our equal hold on both markets gives us a distinct advantage over our competition, since there is no one else that has reached such consistent and thorough market penetration on both continents.
MI: Snowboarding in Europe versus the U.S. — your thoughts?
JH: They are different worlds. Different priorities. The snow culture in Europe is hundreds of years old and is therefore ingrained in the social fabric. The North American market is bigger just because of the sheer size and population. Apples and oranges.
MI: You’ve been out with some of the biggest names in snowboarding. How have you seen the sport develop, and what direction do you think snowboarding is taking today? I know with films like Jeremy Jones’ ‘Deeper’ and the evolution of the splitboard, snowboarding in Tahoe seems like it’s taking a strong turn towards the backcountry.
JH: Our focus from the start was to show progressive freestyle in the backcountry and some of the heaviest big mountain riding. In the last five years we have expanded our scope to include urban riding with a commitment to feature ‘full spectrum snowboarding’, or all of the legitimate aspects of riding. We have nurtured the urban side of our perspective and now we have some of the strongest street riding of any films that are out there. I feel like we have found the right balance of progressive backcountry, progressive big mountain lines, urban heavyness while leaving room for amazing uncharted territories like what Wolfgang Nyvelt is doing on his Aesmo snowskate and snowsurfer. It is great to see Jeremy Jones make what I am sure will be the first in a long line of legendary films. He has a lot of important things to say. It’s good for snowboarding. He will no doubt, be making films that will open many eyes to the kind of snowboarding that has not gotten much attention so far.
The Sphere of Influence Tour, featuring ‘NowHere,’ stops in Reno on Friday, Oct. 2 at the Grand Sierra Resort. Doors open at 8:30 pm, showtime at 9pm. Tickets $10, available at Eternal, Porter’s, Totally Board, Tahoe Dave’s, Boardinghouse, The Village and at the door, if available. Info: absinthe-films.com
