By Emily Huizenga, News Staff
Epic. Wicked. Gnarly.
Ski and snowboard lingo flew like a hailstorm over Boston’s first annual Winter Film Festival on Saturday, where skiers, boarders and extreme sports enthusiasts gathered to see some of the season’s top ski and snowboard films on the big screen.
“Besides skiing, the best part of the season is watching all the movies in the fall,” Ally Bugliari, senior mechanical engineering major and treasurer of Northeastern’s NU Downhillers ski club, said at the event. “The visuals are amazing. And it really gets you excited for the upcoming season.”
Eight films aired on the screen of the Hotel Revere’s “Theater 1,” a luxe-level 208-seat theater located a few blocks from the Boston Common. Event-goers could drop by to catch one movie, or stay from 1 to 10 p.m. to see them all.
Decked out with plush seating and an icy blue-velvet interior, the space was a far cry from the computer rooms and crowded bars in which most avid riders watch ski films, middler marketing major and NU Downhiller Lara Blasko said.
“I’ve gone to movie premieres at clubs and bars, but never anything like this,” Blasko said. “This is awesome. It’s innovative, and an amazing way to get the ski community together.”
While guests on their way into the theater posed for flashing bulbs along a pseudo-red carpet, those in the lobby sipped drinks from the cash bar and collected coupons for ski shops. The first 100 ticket holders to arrive at each show benefited from another industry perk: complimentary lift tickets to Mount Snow in Vermont.
In the theater, moviegoers munched on popcorn and let out approving whoops for exceptionally stunning visuals and jaw-dropping feats.
“As a rider, you always want to see what other people can do trick-wise,” snowboarder Veronica Castillo said. “These films were incredible – a good blend of big mountain and urban riding. I’ll stick around for a few more for sure.”
Ian Post, director of the first movie of the day, “After Hours,” sat in the back row and gave audience members a humble nod before the film began. Some attendees at Level 1 Production’s “Sunny” left the theater with a free poster. And the headline feature, Teton Gravity Research’s “Jeremy Jones’ FURTHER,” featured a rating of E for “Epic,” and required all viewers “throw proper stoke.”
“It’s probably the best movie premiere I’ve ever been to,” Bugliari said. “It’s fun just to be here.”
That was the goal, according to brothers Nick, Matt, and Mikey Goyette, and friend Zach Heyman, the four men behind the festival.
“We had the idea for a while but didn’t actually start touching it until late August,” Matt said. “We’ve been involved in producing ski and snowboard events before though and through that have formed all kinds of relationships with people from the ski community. Overall we had a pretty decent starting point.”
The Goyette brothers, ages 28, 25 and 23 respectively, capitalized on connections they had from the Snow Riders, the Boston-based company they founded in 2009 that provides full-service ski and snowboard packages for groups (including the NU Downhillers). The Snow Riders also throw pub-crawls, street art shows and winter parties throughout the season. Through these events, the Goyettes have made contacts in the New England ski community.
A decent starting point, in this case, translated to “something like 700 Facebook fans in two weeks” and a projected attendance of 500-600, Matt said. A Boston Winter Film Festival website, Twitter feed (@BostonWFF) and promo video supplemented the Facebook event page, along with old-fashioned ski bum word of mouth.
“Yes, having all those preexisting relationships definitely helped,” Nick said. “We reached out to a lot of different sources who we knew would create some buzz, most of which came from the Snow Riders. Word spreads quick in that crowd.”
It was at a 2011 Snow Riders rail jam – a snowboarding event – in fact, that Andrew Leavitt, executive director of the non-profit Ellen’s Heart and Soul, first met Nick. Leavitt since said he likes “being apart of anything the Snow Riders are doing.”
Ellen’s Heart and Soul was one of three local charities at the festival hoping to raise funds through a silent auction, along with The Esplanade Association and Future Boston Alliance. Gloves, a snowboard and tune-up were all offered to the highest bidder.
“The fact that it’s their first premiere and they’re tying it into charity shows they really get what the sport’s all about,” James King, senior computer engineering major and president of NU Downhillers, said. “And that’s more than good riding.”
Nick clarified the purpose of the festival.
“It’s not just the sport – it’s the events around it. It’s about getting people to have fun,” he said. “There’s a great culture around snowboarding and skiing. It’s made up of people who really love to get out in the mountains and embrace the season. And that’s what we wanted to convey here.”
The guys said they “absolutely” intend to make the Boston Winter Film Festival an annual event, and plan on learning and using their strengths to make each year better than the one before.
“It’s a beautiful space, the films are unbelievable, and the people are here to celebrate the sport,” Nick said. “If 10 people got to experience these films in this type of environment, it was a success.”
