What: Roam
What: Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival
When: April 16
Where: Telus Conference Centre
Tickets: $10
A film produced by Whistler’s The Collective is more than just another adrenalin pumping exhibition of mountain biking. Like the film’s riders who push the boundaries of freestyling, The Collective filmmakers push the artistic limits of cinematography.
"A lot of it is just taking the time to capture details," explained Jamie Houssian, producer and co-director of The Collective’s newest flick, Roam .
"On the riding side, we are asking riders to step up and push themselves, and we try to match that performance behind the camera."
Both the spirit and awesome beauty of the sport come to life in Roam , which premieres April 16 at the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival.
"We try to make it about more than just the riding," Houssian said. "Our goal is to give people an appreciation of seeing new places and seeing new things. That is how we came up with the title. Roam is about pushing ourselves to step out of normal surroundings, in a geographic sense and also from a personal limits standpoint."
Both local and internationally renowned riders explore the unexpected in Roam , from the wide-open spaces of American deserts to the peaks of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, and from the old growth forests of Interior B.C. to the infamous single tracks of Sun Valley, Idaho.
"The film is really about different places," Houssian said. "We wanted to give the viewer a sense of the feeling of what it is like to be in these places riding and traveling around."
Along with freeride mountain biking, single track, dirt riding and park-style riding grace the screen – some of the footage shot in locations close to home.
"The Whistler bike park is a big part of the movie," Houssian said. "We took advantage of the fact that so many guys from all over the world come there…. It is kind of cool to have this combo of local as well as top international riders right here in your backyard. It is such a huge asset from a production standpoint."
Names to look for include Darren Berrecloth, Geoff Gulevich, Wade Simmons, Jordie Lunn, Tyler Morland, Nathan Rennie, Steve Romaniuk, Adam Billinghurst, Kenny Smith, Ryan Leech, Steve Peat, Andrew Shandro, Ryder Kasprick, Cam McCaul, Matt Hunter and Thomas Vanderham.
The cinematographers capture these hard-working boys both on digital and 16 mm film. Crane and cable cams assisted in recording unique perspectives. Setting up a 500-foot cable cam in B.C.’s Interior took two days, and another day of shooting, all for a single moment in the film.
The Collective, who first broke into the mountain bike filmmaking scene with their self-titled, award-winning film last year, caters to audiences of all sorts. Some will appreciate the camera work, others the music, and most the level of riding. It all adds up to 45 minutes of unstoppable entertainment that will get people thinking about putting away their skis or snowboards and pulling out their bikes.
Tickets are $10. To check out the film trailer, visit www.thecollectivefilm.com/roam. For more festival information, visit
