When Pat Bridges (or someone at his magazine) casually calls you "one of the most influential female riders of all time", you can probably safely assume you've arrived at the top. And for Marie France Roy, that proved to be a perfect time to completely change gears and focus her energy into a passion-project that has been simmering on the back burner for a long time, waiting for the right moment to take form. After years of filming traditional video parts, Marie France decided there was more to it for her and has embarked on a two-year film project taking aim at environmentally-concious riders in the industry and exposing some of the good work they're doing, all while bombarding our senses with epic imagery.
Having been lucky enough to consider Marie France a good friend for many years now, it is hard to put into words just how incredibly happy I am for her to have finally launched this project. Seeng first-hand the struggles that comes along with becoming a hero to many, it's great to see Marie chasing a personal dream for once, and doing it in a direction that can only lead to more happiness and positive impact on snowboarding. For a while there I was seriously concerned that snowboarding would lose Marie France Roy and felt it was a big shame as there was so much more that we could have gained from having her within our ranks. But now it seems as she's been reinvigorated and I have a feeling will be sticking around for a long time to come!
Touring in heaven
The 2 year project is "based on environmentally conscious riders who are inspirational through their riding as well as their creative ways of living, thinking, and making a difference. Featuring Jeremy Jones, Tamo Campos, Marie-France Roy, Meghann O'brien, Nicolas Muller, Jonaven Moore, Gretchen Bleiler and friends!"
After Marie showed me the teaser in the parking lot yesterday before sledding, I knew that I had to share this wonderful piece and wanted to get a bit more details on the project. The smile on Marie's face in the closing shot of the teaser gave me the chills - this project is gonna be amazing! Here's what Marie France had to say - followed by the wonderful teaser which you MUST WATCH:
33MAG: What is this movie going to be like? Action? Documentary? What should we be expecting here?
Marie France: It's hard to put it in one category I guess... There will be some action for sure, documentation also but more in story telling or creative form... It's gonna be different for sure!
Tell me quickly how this project came about. It seems like it was a long time in the making but did things just fall into place or was it more about you finally deciding it was time and taking action?
I guess I was at a point where I wanted to do something rewarding beyond just a straight video part. I just think that the amazing lives we live depend directly on a healthy environment and snowboarding is so fun that I just hope the next generations can enjoy it the same as we do. There are already so many snowboarders who have taken action and I find it so inspiring. I wanted to make something that would feature that.
Marie & Gretchen Bleiler
How did your partnership with Darcy Turenne happen? Judging by the teaser, it seems like she's got quite the talented vision for filmmaking.
I know! She is absolutely amazing and I'm so thankful to be able to do this together! Darcy is a badass Pro mountain biker so I met here a few years back through our common sponsor Oakley. I saw some of her work and I loved it. She has a passion for the environment as well and I felt like she would be the perfect person to make this happen. I'm super stoked!
Darcy getting the hang of touring
Has the season been working out as you thought? How has it been balancing this project with your other commitments?
It's been amazing. Thank god we have 2 years because it would be pretty much impossible to do anything else or have it done in one. We also want to take the time to do it right, get the right conditions and make sure to feature everyone fairly and that takes a lot of time.
Is this the last big project from you in snowboarding or just the beginning of a new chapter?
Haha! As of now, I'm super stoked on snowboarding and this project has definitely given me new motivation and its so fun! Maybe it is a new chapter who knows!!?
The Teaser:
We'll all be keeping an eye out for this project as it develops and we'll be sure to share all the goodness with you here on 33MAG!
Congrats Marie and Darcy!
