Brad Kremer: Interview with a Mack Dawg Productions Mastermind

Brad Kremer, one of the largest masterminds behind Mack Dawg Productions was recently up in Government Camp, OR, to coach High Cascade Snowboard Camp’s video workshop. He also blessed the lucky campers with the world premiere of his latest film, Picture This. After the film, I sat down with Brad to ask him a few questions about the film, and where he sees the future of snowboard videos.

Hondo- You have worked on a lot of film projects in your years. How does this one rank up to all of the rest?
Brad- Well this one more than any other is the film that I have been trying to make. The way the creativity and how well the production came out in such a crappy snow year really gets me excited for the future. This video is not the perfect video, but it definitely defines how snowboard films are going to be made in the future.

I noticed that the look of this film is unlike any other video that I have ever seen. Did you guys pretty much give up on 16MM?
When we were first doing the planning for this video we knew we wanted it to be in HD. But that didn’t mean we were going to shoot entirely in HD. We filmed some in 16mm, then transferred it to super 16mm, then transferred that to HD. The first time I watched the film I realized that I was never going to bring up my 16mm camera ever again. In fact there are only five 16mm shots in the entire video.

The title Picture This is different from other snowboard video titles that are usually just one word. Where did you come up with this title and what does it mean to you?
Well this title has many different meanings, but to me the main reason why I decided to call it Picture This is because I got bored with the filming. I was thinking about the level of photography and what photographers were doing and how I wanted to be able to do that. For example when there were low light sunset shoots and I was packing up but photographers were still shooting, I was jealous that I couldn’t get shots like that. So I got the equipment and went out and did it. The title is my way of paying tribute to photographers for giving me the inspiration.

You have come along ways from working with Whitey in the Destroyer films. Compared to those days, what is the main difference between Whitey films and Mack Dawg films?
Well the main difference is that I get paid now, Ha Ha. That’s not the main difference, but it doesn’t hurt. The reason why I wanted to work for Mack Dawg is because Mack Dawg, in my opinion always had the highest level of riding, higher then anyone else. Also Dawger is a big tech geek. He likes to have the best gear available. So when you combo that, with the best riding it makes it so I can accomplish my goal, which is to make the best snowboard film ever made.

You must get a little tired from all of the constant traveling and filming. Do you ever look to any up and coming film crews for inspiration, or to see what you have to do to make the best snowboard film?
My favorite up and coming crew is the People crew. There are also lots of other good ones too. Some crews out there are doing creative and awesome things, while other crews are just making basic videos and getting distribution. The latter I feel is bad for the industry.

Yeah, too much of anything is never good. You have one of the gnarliest crashes ever recorded in this video with the Andreas Wiig avalanche. Were you there for that, and how was it handled?
Yeah I was there for that. It really wasn’t that scary for me because I was doing the dolly shot, so all I could see was the view from the top. I knew that something happened when I heard all of the yelling, but I couldn’t peak over because of the cable cam. Once I did peak over though it already happened. Andreas took it like a champ, although he was a little shaken up.

What do you think is the next step for snowboard films.
The next step is dealing with the online format. The dvd format is becoming a limited format with more people looking at videos online. The big transition we have to deal with is going to be: do people want actual videos, or do they just want short, few minute clips of trips that can be watched online? There are always going to be new cameras coming out, and new editing techniques will always be used, but the main concern is the format of the movie.

I really am excited to see what the future brings to snowboard films. Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me, and congratulations on making one of the most groundbreaking snowboard films ever made.

Mack Dawg Productions Teaser for Picture This