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Heavy petting

New riders, old school powder give Fourplay the right blend What: Fourplay Where: Garfinkel’s When: Oct. 15, doors 9 p.m., show 11 p.m.

New riders, old school powder give Fourplay the right blend

What: Fourplay

Where: Garfinkel’s

When: Oct. 15, doors 9 p.m., show 11 p.m.

Fourplay places new riders with new songs riding the best powder in the West, with a cameo from rider Craig Kelly of Nelson, B.C.

The new snowboard film, a production of TreeTop Films, is screened locally at Garfinkel’s on Oct. 15.

There’s also a touch of "powerhouse" skateboarding from Josh Evin thrown in the mix.

"For the most part we’ve gone to the new guys, who will be snowboarding for the next three or four years," Steve Orton, producer, says of the talent he assembled for Fourplay.

Orton was assisted by Rick Johnston, who acted as director of photography, co-producer and director, and cameramen Gabe Langlois and Kyle Wolochatiuk.

Shaun Hughes was main stills photographer for the movie, with Lauren Graham handling editing and promotions.

Orton says the editing was "really collaborative."

"We basically shoot film until May and in May put the segments together over three months," he says.

The company will pitch new proposals for 2003 during this month’s debut period.

In Fourplay, indie bands like The Playas (Cramming for College), Zed 28, and the Shitheads keep the soundtrack jumping as fast as the fast-paced footage.

Vancouver’s Sweatshop Union, Alice Doughnut, and The Bloodhound Gang are also featured on the soundtrack.

"We wanted to bring in a more rockin’ component, and go for a direction change," says Orton.

Their previous movie, Third Degree Burns, featured soundtracks heavier on the hip hop from local DJ Mat The Alien. The Alien is currently completing an album, and was not available for the new project.

Local old school punk band Thenon has two tracks in the new film, Mind Bent and Rising Sun, which accompany the segments feauturing Kelly and Evin.

Bandmember Ryan O’Dowd, of the Circle Skate & Snowboard shop feels Kelly "is one of the most influential snowboarders, in terms of what he was doing before anyone else."

Additional riders in the movie include Al Clark, Dave Basterrechea, Guy Deschnes, Chris Dimma, Rube Goldberg, Scott Gaffney, Shandy Campos, and Tyeson Carmody.

Also featured are Etienne Gilbert, Eric Hill, Javas Lehn, Tosh Osaka, Mike Rencz, Peter Strom, and Mike Turner.

The zany credits add humour in between snowboard outtakes. Dimma welds his own name into a metal signboard, while Gaffney gets listed, well, on his own Scott Gaffney street sign, complete with white lettering on a green backdrop.

How do they choose whom to shoot for films, out of the plethora of rider that arrive in Whistler annually?

"Usually we start with the riders, who are here or come here throughout the ski season in Whistler, and we figure out who we want to work with and who wants to work with us," Orton says.

"We have obligations to riders and sponsors, so we shoot enough to get a really strong segment," says Orton, who adds that this film incorporates rail booters, super deep powder, and cliffs on huge mountains.

The sponsorship funding goes towards the high cost of the filming process; three minutes of 16 millimetre film costs around $100.

Most of the terrain is sled-accessed for that beauty powder shot, and includes the Pemberton Ice Cap, as well as highlights like Trout Lake footage in the Kootenays.

"We capture old school powder – a lot of the kids in the videos these days are geared towards rails (and other urban shots)," says Orton.

"It’s got it all," he says.

The Vancouver debut for Fourplay will be held at Atlantis on Oct. 23, in conjunction with Carlo Wein’s video, Breaking Ground.