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« Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » Turner's At It Again: Here Comes 'Cheap Ski Movie'By Roger Leo  "The hard times," he explains. Turner set out to spoof the ski movie genre and his effort appears to be gathering mass and momentum, like a snowball rolling downhill. "Basically the story in Cheap Ski Movie is that our two heroes, Jonny Van Easle and Lou Irons, want to make a movie, but it's not too long before they decide they can't afford to go anywhere, so they make cardboard stand-ups to go on the road and make the movie for them," Turner told The Industry Report. "It's a suspension-of-belief movie," he said. In the movie, the advantages to this approach are immediately obvious to the two young filmmakers: Travel costs are negligible, since the cut-outs hitchhike or are mailed. Plus filming can occur at multiple sites simultaneously, as there can be any number of cut-outs at work independently. Turner would not reveal too much about the plot, or about the resorts where filming takes place, but he did say this: "The first half of the movie, they're just two plain guys. Then after the Winter X Games, they're wandering aimlessly and end up in Las Vegas, at the Trade Show, and decide they want to get sponsored. The second half, they're all sponsored. Every element of this movie is a spoof." As for the locations, Turner said most resorts in the project are not major destinations, although some are. "But they are all the heart of skiing," he said. How low has Turner kept the actual film's budget? "That's undisclosed, but the title - Cheap Ski Movie - tells it all. It's a seat-of-the-pants accounting method," he said. "The movie is partially financed through the sale of lotion, shampoo, and soap we have stolen from hotels along the way." Seriously, folks, the film is sponsored in part by the company that makes the cardboard stand-ups - Cardboard People - which also supplied a raft of extras for the filming, Turner said. "They're totally into the concept of the movie, and have also given us other cut-outs of celebrities to use as extras. We might be in a bar and you could see Homer Simpson or Hillary Clinton or the Terminator in the background. "It's a spoof of the ski movie film genre, Warren Miller in particular. The project is intended to keep the industry amused, and will have the most relevance to people in our industry and in the ski and snowboarding community. As Austin Powers was to the James Bond series, we're going to be to the ski movie," Turner said. So far, filming has taken place at the Winter X Games in Aspen, with full cooperation of the resort and the Games, and willing participation of athletes and various celebrities who walked into cameo walk-ons. "One of the funniest things about these two characters is that it doesn't matter if you're a kid, a senior citizen, or the gnarliest X Games athlete. Everybody loves 'em," Turner said. "We have a lot of stars doing cameos for this, including famous athletes, X Games athletes, current athletes, well-known-from-before athletes, well-known ski industry personalities. Everyone gets the joke," Turner said. "Everyone we asked to be in this movie eagerly said yes. In some ways, it's like the Muppet Show or the Got Milk campaign; you have to be famous to be in it," he said. "Here's my motto: It's better to be in on the joke than to be the joke. Our industry needs to laugh, especially given the current economic climate, so maybe we have the best timing in the world to make this movie," Turner said. He closed on this cautionary note: "It's a little premature to do too much about Cheap Ski Movie because it could be the world's biggest flop. I tell resorts we have a 40 percent chance of an OK movie, a 40 percent chance of a good movie, a 15 percent chance of outright disaster, and 5 percent chance of an outright hit. Which is better than most of the ski business." Curious? Check out the movie's Web site http://cheapskimovie.com/ which includes a link to the movie's Facebook page, where there are lots of photos from filming and more details on plot and so forth. Turner, a member of the U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team in 1976, involved in U.S. Olympic planning, and a motivational speaker, is probably best known for creating Snow Monsters, a very successful program used by many resorts to entice tykes into safe, sound, and fun skiing and snowboarding. He is a fifth-generation resident of Durango, Colo., and has a daughter, 18, and a son, 16. What It Means: Jack Turner is never ever at a loss for a new idea, innovation, or quote. He's already preparing his Oscar speech. « Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » Comments
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Posted by: Rick Shoup | February 9, 2009 11:25 AM
