Words & photos: Nic Alegre

Whistler, commonly regarded as the epicenter of the action sports universe, becomes a two-week melting pot during WSSF where the most gifted outdoor athletes and artists coalesce through film competitions, photographic showdowns and art exhibitions to create progressive expression that drives the extreme sports industry.

Vancouver based production company Capri Studios, headed by 26 year old director Patrick Henry, took last year's 72 Hour Filmmaker showdown win and decided to explore more untapped areas of their own creativity by entering the action focused Intersection Film Competition. Pat teamed up with Chris Rasman, a local ripper quickly making a name for himself on the professional snowboard scene. Six film crews were given six days to put together a seven-minute ski/snowboard edit to be premiered before 1,800 hyped fans and industry professionals at the Whistler Conference Center. I had the opportunity to follow them around.

Chris put together a team of Whistler heavyweights including: Aaron "Pnut" Johnson, David Fortin, Wiley Tesseo, Beau Bishop and Trevan Salmon. The crew felt like a close-knit group of friends who genuinely love to ride with one another; something you could feel while being around them. They were a family working hard with Pat to connect the dots between good riding and good filmmaking. 

The weather forecast approaching the week of shooting was grim and not very promising, but it didn't matter. Chris and the rest of the crew were able to switch gears and think of another feature that would suite the weather problems. The guys had been building a giant step-up in the backcountry hoping for at least one sunny day to send it and get some hammers. It happened, as the ender can testify.

The biggest challenge for Pat seemed to be managing all of the footage every night and getting ahead in the editing.  Capri's editor, Jon Hunwick, spent many sleepless days and nights sorting the footage and prepping for more to come in. With a Tuesday morning deadline, it came down to the wire.

The competition was heavy, and with Capri's riders putting down some of the heaviest tricks in the contest making it tough on the judges. Voleurz took the prize for the second year in a row, with a great edit spoofing on The Art of Flight (watch now). There was a lot of mutual respect in the room after a week of hustling, and Capri certainly has a lot to be proud of.

Check out the video below to see Capri Studios' finished product.

Also, Capri Studios took home Best In Show last year with Poached Earth. If you haven't seen it you should click here.