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See the Commercials @ http://www.sony.com/tumble

Tahoe, CA — Filming a commercial for SONY was like nothing I had ever experienced. Throughout my life I have been apart of many action sports productions, the filming of morning shows on local TV stations like RSN, as well as been apart of small commercial filming but this was unique in every way. Acting as a Stunt Man/Camera Man and Extra this was a great experience to get a glimpse of how real movie production must be. The company compiling the whole production was called Anonymous Content which is a large production company based in LA. I flew into Reno, NV where I was picked up by one of the production assistants who happened to be the most angelic and refreshing person I had met in a long time. We drove to the set located between Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows called White Wolf. The parking lot was filled with a dozen or so trucks full of gear, cameras, and even a kitchen in a truck cooking up some of the best on set, side of a mountain food I have ever seen. The crew consisted of about 60 people with locals driving snowmobiles from the parking lots to set locations, crew setting up booms for cameras, lighting guys, camera operators, talent, directors, assistant directors, and their assistants too, production assistants, riggers, stunt men, grip, and behind the scene people making it all operate in some sort of LA organized cluster. I found myself waiting around a lot, but everyone said that’s the way it goes. Not only was I waiting for cameras to be available but also waiting to get an idea from the directors as to what I was supposed to capture. It was good to wait for the snow conditions to become ski-able as the weather was set to “perfect spring in the mountains.” It was 65F in the sun during the day followed by 14F at night, so needless to say the snow was firm and hard to work with, but it was so beautiful at the same time. None-the-less I was able to learn how to operate the cameras they had rigged for me and get the shots necessary. However it was a little disconcerting at one point after setting up camera gear in my backpack and drilling camera mounts in my skis, just before I took off to ski down this mountain face the camera operator looked at me and said, “no pressure, you only have a hundred and ten thousand dollars worth of gear strapped to you right now… Good luck!” 

I was hired on to the project as a stunt skier; however at the directors meeting the first night they learned I was an avid skater as well having played hockey growing up. Therefore I was used in another day of the commercials filming where they dressed me up in Euro clothing and had me skating around the rink with a bunch of electronics sliding across the ice at my feet. It will be cool to see the final product because after seeing the process and then having a few drinks later that night with the graphic designers and learning how they have 32 people working on the production and creation of the commercial for the next six weeks, I will be interested to see how they can change everything. One of the graphic guys said “he may even make me look cool if I’m lucky.” All in all this was an experience to remember. When you see the commercial in a few months you may see me or may not. I have no idea what footage they will use, but anything that looks like me, or simulates an object falling down the mountain was me. Here are a few pictures, but none offer an idea of the real commotion taking place around me. I now know why they call it a production. Thank you to the crew for making this a great experience for me as well as the others involved. Sammy M. you’re the man for setting this all up.