Allow me to let you in on a little secret.
Some of the best times to be had at the World Ski and Snowboard Festival have nothing to do with skiing or snowboarding.
Okay, maybe it’s not such a well-kept secret, judging by the sold out crowd and accompanying desperate Facebook pleas for tickets for last night’s Olympus 72 Hour Filmmaker Showdown.
The concept stays the same – give crews of filmmakers 72 hours to create a short film on a topic of their choice, incorporating a designated prop – but every year offers a wildly different selection of films.
The caliber at this year’s show was at an all-time high, with a mix of thrillers, comedies, and stories starring socks that tugged at your heartstrings. Notably lacking was the overabundance of mountain lifestyle parodies that we often see at the 72 Hour Filmmaker Showdown. Only one such film, “Channel Shredding” by Young Hut, fit that category, but it was so well done that it definitely deserved its spot in the top 8.
It was a well-executed film with a simple storyline that stole the show: Vancouver-based Ben Giesbrecht and his teammates Jordan and Charles walked away $13,000 richer, having nabbed both the $8,000 first place cash prize plus the $5,000 bonus for filming entirely on title sponsor Olympus gear. The film followed a young man trying to track down an inheritance left behind by his grandfather, the featured prop – a spray bottle – playing a pivotal supporting role in the story. While most film crews come into the competition with a story in mind and a script penned out, Giesbrecht & co. waited until the prop was revealed to develop their film. It was a risky move that paid off.
Giesbrecht’s “Grandpa’s Treasure Trail” also won the coveted People’s Choice Award, as decided by ping pong ball vote from the audience, earning them a ton of Olympus gear, plus prizes from sponsors like the Scandinave Spa, the Whistler Adventure School, and SuperFly Ziplines. They also took home a healthy bar tab from the Longhorn.
Kudos to the filmmakers of Whistler (and beyond) for thinking outside the box with their 72 Hour Filmmaker Showdown submissions this year, and props to the preliminary judges for selecting such a wide range of films to feature as the top 8.
Now, time to set your alarm for next year’s ticket release so that you don’t miss out on the 72 Hour Filmmaker Showdown, 2016 edition.
