Snowboard film scales new heights

Extreme snowboarder Travis Rice isn't interested in making mere "ski porn" films: the downhill documentaries known for showing trick after breathtaking trick over a soundtrack of thrashing guitars.

For Rice and director Curt Morgan, one-upping traditional snow sports movies with their latest film, The Art of Flight, meant using cutting-edge equipment, including a high-definition camera that shoots 1050 frames a second.

A scene from The Art of Flight

It also meant taking bigger risks such as going to mountains no one's ever touched and doing tricks no one's ever tried. At least three snowboarders were hospitalised during filming.

And it meant telling good stories like when the snowboarders had to dive into icy waters high in the Andes of South America to reach their helicopter before it ran out of fuel to fly them out. "Really scary, we almost died, that sort of thing," Morgan says.

The film stars Rice, 28, who is among the sport's top riders. Morgan, 29, once rode professionally with Rice but gave it up after breaking his back three times.

Morgan eventually founded Wyoming-based Brain Farm Digital Cinema, which made The Art of Flight and also produced Rice's That's It, That's All, a 2008 film that broadened the snowboarding film experience by melding big-air tricks with nature and wildlife photography from the far-off places Rice and friends travelled to.

"What's really cool about Brain Farm is their films hit more of the mainstream," says Waide Hoyt of Standard Films, an industry pioneer. "They bring people who may not watch snowboard movies or purchase them to check them out."

"That's the whole challenge here," says Morgan. "You have a core audience that's really small.

"We're trying to find a way for our stories to transcend to the mainstream. We're trying to push the boundaries and still hold on to the core."

Morgan won't discuss it, but the production budget for The Art of Flight, heavily supported by Red Bull and other sponsors, is said to be around US$2 million (NZ$2.5 million) - huge for snowboarding flicks, which are typically shown at festivals or limited screenings.