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 X-Dance, the action sports-version of Sundance, debuted with a hot line-up of flicks, packed showcases, and a lively panel discussion with filmmakers including "Dogtown" director, Stacy Peralta, and "Continuum" director, Kevin Kerslake
It makes total sense that something along the lines of X-dance, an action sports film festival, would be birthed during the Sundance Film Festival. There are so many 'dances at Sundance that I, too, am thinking of starting a little 'dance next year, called the "Wig-dance." Why not? It's the perfect opportunity to reach 18-35-year-old indie movie buffs, editing masters, artists, directors, and distributors-all at the base of unbeatable snowboarding terrain.
X-dance was the brainchild of Brian Wimmer, who is best known for his leading role in "China Beach," and also happens to be friends with Robert Redford. His goal with X-Dance is to take action sports to the next level, which if the premiere X-dance festival was any indication, he's definitely going to achieve. Sponsored by Gigantic, The Familie, Mxi, Salomon/Adidas, Giant, and DC Shoes, to name a few, X-dance proved to be a must-see three-day venue of some of the best flicks in action sports filmmaking, including BMX, freestyle motocross, snowboarding, surfing, sky diving, skateboarding, skiing, and ultimate fighting. Top showcases included the premiere release of the Quiksilver surf movie, "Continuum," directed by Gigantic founder, Kevin Kerslake, motocross movie, "The Hard Way-Seth Enslow," by Bobby Williams, skateboarding flick "Ghetto Blaster," and the women's action sports movie, "Our Turn."
Besides an excellent collection of films, there was an insightful panel discussion, moderated by sports journalist Bill Kerig, including, "Dogtown" producer, Agi Orsi and director Stacy Peralta, extreme skiers Scott Schmidt, 14-year-old skateboard filmmaker Jordan Miller, Kevin Kerslake, Circe Wallace from The Familie, and Bobby Williams, director of the freestyle motocross movie, "The Hard Way-Seth Enslow." The discussion centered on taking action sports filmmaking to the next level, the fate of action sport athletes, character development, music in editing, and distribution of action sports films.
Kerig's first question got things rolling right off the bat when he asked what it takes to bring action films into recognition on the scale of Hollywood. Peralta piped up emphatically, "You cannot rely on Hollywood because they don't get it. They don't get it at all. And if they even start to get it, then it's too late because then everyone knows about it, tries to copy it, and the results are fake." Peralta went to Vans for funding for his award-winning documentary because, as producer Agi Orsi explained, "there's no way we could have kept the authenticity of the Dogtown movie otherwise." Peralta supposedly heard that Hollywood was going to do a Dogtown movie based on story that ran in Spin magazine about the birth of skateboarding. "I knew that they wouldn't do it right," he explained. "That here they were going to try and do a story on my lifestory. We [the Dogtown crew] were the best ones to do that."
Kerslake also discussed the importance of storyline in a film. "[Story] is critical for bringing athletes onto the screen," he suggested. Kerslake is also one of the most successful music video directors, having completed gigs for Rolling Stones, R.E.M., Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, and most recently as the director of the Quiksilver flick, "Continuum." I asked him about the musical score in a film and how one goes about obtaining rights to music. "Sleep with as many [artists] as you can!" he suggested. "No, but really, music is core to this genre of filmmaking. Music videos are becoming simply porn set to a punk track. That gets boring quickly. Music can bring the films to the masses. Blink was made by an action sports film." Kerslake went on to say that action sports filmmakers shouldn't be afraid of other music either. "I believe that a punk track is moving into electronica, trance, other forms."
Technology discussions focused on the use of DVD and non-linear story telling, which Bobby Williams suggested to the audience with tips on picking up the latest from Apple for less than $1,000. Producer Orsi asked 14-year-old Jordan Miller how he went about making his skateboard films. "I figured out Final-Cut Pro. I was basically making movies about my friends and for my friends…. I didn't know that Sundance would like them so much," said Miller, shyly. "And I have to say to Bobby, I think you're "Hard Way" was the best film-I really like your work, man." Williams' next project is a similar piece on big-wave tow-in surfer Laird Hamilton.
Other helpful advice included tips from Scot Schmidt on creating recipes for creating heroes based on human instincts, new-school mythology in filmmaking, and the importance of portraying heroes for youth. He suggested people check out Joseph Campbell's book called "Heroes Adventure." Peralta also added more must-read books to the list including, "Power of Myth," "Writer's Journey," "Adventures of the Screen Trade," and Charles Bukowski's "Hollywood."
The X-dance festival ended with the party of the entire Sundance Film Festival. Throngs of regular action sports junkies mixed with PIB's (people in black) dressed to the 9's waited for up to two hours to get into the venue, which featured X-dance winners' films, DJ Paul Oakenfold, and P.O.D. (Note: This party was such a rage that even though I was on the press list, I still had to employ guerrilla tactics for entrée. This included talking very nicely to the bearded fellow guarding the back door and following his instructions to help carry in ice with the barback crew for the bartenders inside.) Dancing started at the very beginning as an eclectic mix of rockstar athletes, celebrities, and fans took to the dance floor getting all rave-like, then switching modes to hair-whipping rock/reggae when P.O.D. took the stage at midnight.
On that note, I left Sundance this year with far more satisfaction than in previous years. There's no doubt that X-dance will go off even moreso next year. According to Circe Wallace, we action sports movie buffs can expect a bigger X-dance venue, more films, panel discussions, and perhaps even a couple of snowboarding events. I'm looking forward to it. -K. Gasperini
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