{"id":40309,"date":"2018-11-07T08:51:31","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T16:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=40309"},"modified":"2020-05-22T13:05:04","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T20:05:04","slug":"the-homemade-ski-movies-thatll-make-you-want-to-go-skiing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/the-homemade-ski-movies-thatll-make-you-want-to-go-skiing","title":{"rendered":"The Homemade Ski Movies That\u2019ll Make You Want to Go Skiing"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"cb-itemprop\" itemprop=\"reviewBody\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jon Rockwood is standing in front of a sold-out theater at the Art Haus in Tahoe City, California, getting ready to premiere his 10<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> ski movie, appropriately called <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/297581469\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Labor of Love<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. He\u2019s a little nervous but mainly excited to finally show his friends\u2014the theater is packed with mostly people he knows\u2014what he\u2019s spent hundreds of hours over the last few months working on. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere are times when it\u2019s like, am I really going to put this out there? I get butterflies thinking, is that joke going to work? Is that song going to work?\u201d Rockwood said before the premiere, which took place in early November. \u201cWhen I\u2019m in the theater watching the premiere, I\u2019m almost not watching the movie. I\u2019m watching the audience with joy. I wouldn\u2019t have been doing this for 10 years if I didn\u2019t enjoy putting my heart out there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Labor of Love Trailer\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/297581469?h=4d88fd95c3&amp;dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s just one thing Rockwood needs to do before the movie rolls, which might explain his nerves. He asks his longtime girlfriend, a hard-charging athlete, grad student and ski coach named Allie Donovan, up to the stage, along with their 4-month-old daughter, Dottie. He gets down on one knee, pulls a ring box out of his pocket and asks her to marry him. She says yes and the audience stands and erupts in cheers.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_40311\" style=\"width: 1510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40311\" class=\"wp-image-40311 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/IMG_0964_Dane.jpg?resize=1200%2C805\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"805\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-40311\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jon Rockwood getting the shot. (Photo Credit: Dane Shannon)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After that excitement, it\u2019s showtime. The lights dim, everyone sits and for the next 45 minutes, the audience takes in Rockwood\u2019s view of the previous winter\u2019s ski season. They see his friends skinning up Jake\u2019s Peak, a classic backcountry ski route on Tahoe\u2019s west shore, cracking jokes at the summit, then scoring powdery face shots with views of Lake Tahoe on their way down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They see Donovan, dressing her pregnant belly in a pair of bibbed ski pants and heading out for her last ski tour of the season. Dottie, born last June, makes an appearance later in the film. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a homegrown, family affair, for sure. Rockwood\u2019s dad, Tom, flew out from Virginia to see his son\u2019s movie in the theater. \u201cThe thing that strikes me in that theater is the feeling of community and deep happiness about this way of life,\u201d Tom Rockwood said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be a friend of the participants to find beauty and joy in Jon\u2019s movies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_40314\" style=\"width: 1510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40314\" class=\"wp-image-40314 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/AllieD.jpg?resize=1200%2C680\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"680\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-40314\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Skier Allie Donovan has appeared in almost every one of Rockwood&#8217;s movies. (Photo Credit: Jon Rockwood)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rockwood never set out to send a message or create a local movement. That happened on its own. \u201cAt the beginning, it was all about the ski action. I just wanted to get people fired up,\u201d Rockwood said. \u201cBut over time, I\u2019ve realized these movies have the power to inspire people, too. If my movies can get people together and encourage them to get out there and ski, then, absolutely, let\u2019s be inspired.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides a fraction of the theater\u2019s ticket sales, this 37-year-old skier, who makes a living waiting tables at a pizza joint and coaching a kids&#8217; backcountry ski program at Sugar Bowl Resort, doesn\u2019t make money on this film. It\u2019s a no-budget movie with zero paying sponsors. \u201cIt\u2019s silly to say, but making these movies is part of Jon\u2019s identity. It\u2019s been this big part of our lives,\u201d said Donovan. \u201cYeah, it\u2019d be sweet if he made a bunch of money from them and we could go on vacation, but it doesn\u2019t feel right to think like that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His films are entirely homemade, edited in a small loft in his house. (He often edits the film late into the night, after working a shift at the restaurant.) You won\u2019t find Alaskan heli-skiing, exotic jet-setting or big-name pro athletes in this movie. Instead, you\u2019ll come to see a bunch of friends earning their turns around the Sierra.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI don\u2019t have to answer to anyone. I don\u2019t have to get this ski in the shot, or this jacket in the shot or this athlete in the movie. I\u2019m not interested in any of that. I just tell my story in the mountains and that seems to resonate with viewers,\u201d Rockwood said. \u201cThe reason these movies are successful is because of my love for skiing, not because of my talent or skill making movies. That\u2019s why it works. Because I\u2019m passionate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But this 10<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> film will likely be Rockwood\u2019s last.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_40310\" style=\"width: 1510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40310\" class=\"wp-image-40310 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/Johnny-Rockwood_3.jpg?resize=1200%2C800\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-40310\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rockwood considers himself an accidental filmmaker. (Photo Credit: KGB Productions)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After studying economics at the University of Vermont, Rockwood moved to Tahoe for a couple of years to be a ski bum. He followed a girl and a finance job to Flagstaff, Arizona, and while he was there, a friend gave him a hand-me-down mini-disc camera. That was 2008.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rockwood and his friend Bob spent all winter skiing Arizona Snowbowl and the surrounding backcountry and filming each other. Rockwood taught himself how to use editing software and put together a short recap of their season, entitled <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AZ Son!,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which he showed to friends in his living room. This was before the age of Instagram, and GoPro cameras were only a few years old. \u201cSharing your experiences didn\u2019t really happen then,\u201d Rockwood said. \u201cIf you wanted to see skiing, you had to go to a big-name movie in a theater, read a ski magazine or have a DVD collection.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When he moved back to Tahoe the next year, in 2009, he made another movie and because he needed something to list in the credits, he gave his made-up production company a name, JonBob Productions, in part after his friend Bob in Arizona. He edited the flick in his bedroom, hosted a premiere at a Mexican restaurant in Tahoe City and mailed DVDs to his family.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Year after year, he continued making and premiering ski movies for the fun of it\u2014and he got better at it. He eventually got a drone, a gimbal and a new lightweight camera. \u201cIn the beginning, the films were a bunch of random shots put together, now it has a real flow to it,\u201d said snowboarder Dane Shannon, a friend of Rockwood\u2019s who\u2019s been in nine of his 10 movies. \u201cAnd he learned how to hold a camera\u2014the shots are a lot less wobbly now.\u201d This year\u2019s film, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Labor or Love<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, is a retrospective on the last 10 years and you can tell by looking at the old footage just how much his technique has improved. <\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_40313\" style=\"width: 1510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40313\" class=\"wp-image-40313 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/HikeIn.jpg?resize=1200%2C661\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"661\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-40313\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Over the years, JonBob Productions acquired drones and other camera equipment to improve the film&#8217;s homemade quality. (Photo Credit: Jon Rockwood)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even when Tahoe suffered four years of low-snow seasons, Rockwood filmed his friends hiking over dirt and gave the movies cheeky titles like <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Benefit of the Drought<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Call of the Mild. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDuring the drought, we always made lemonade,\u201d Rockwood said. In the winter of 2016-\u201917, when it snowed a whopping 60 feet, he shot his friends skiing a \u201cfirst descent\u201d on a plow-built mound of snow in a parking lot and called the flick <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An Atmospheric River Runs Through It.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For 10 years straight, he has dragged his camera gear around all winter and then spent the entire month of October holed up in front of his computer, editing hours and hours of footage into a deeply personal, highly relatable film, often finishing it just before the premiere. Ask him why he\u2019s kept at it and he\u2019ll say, \u201cI\u2019m a nostalgic guy. It\u2019s fun to look back on the season. It\u2019s a fun editing process. Those days the camera comes out, those are the best days of the year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Back in that theater, as the screen fades to black on <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Labor of Love<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the audience cheers and applauds what will likely be Rockwood\u2019s \u00a0last film. He has plans to pursue more professional guiding certification, and of course, he\u2019s got his new daughter. \u201cIt is a labor of love. Outside of total stoke and love from your community\u2014and you can\u2019t put a price on that\u2014it\u2019s hard to keep going,\u201d Rockwood said. \u201cIt\u2019s bittersweet. It rips me apart. But there is not going to be an 11<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> movie. This is going to the best, last one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jon Rockwood is standing in front of a sold-out theater at the Art Haus in Tahoe City, California, getting ready to premiere his 10th ski movie, appropriately called Labor of Love. He\u2019s a little nervous but mainly excited to finally show his friends\u2014the theater is packed with mostly people he knows\u2014what he\u2019s spent hundreds of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":40323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[727,364],"internal-tag":[1683],"class_list":["post-40309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-snowsports","tag-latest-posts","tag-snowsports","internal-tag-pre-redirect-snowsports"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/the-homemade-ski-movies-thatll-make-you-want-to-go-skiing","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"The Homemade Ski Movies That\u2019ll Make You Want to Go Skiing","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/the-homemade-ski-movies-thatll-make-you-want-to-go-skiing","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/the-homemade-ski-movies-thatll-make-you-want-to-go-skiing"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/Rockwood-906322.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/Rockwood-906322.jpg?fit=1488%2C747"},"articleSection":"Snowsports","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Flandreau"}],"creator":["Michelle Flandreau"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["latest posts","snowsports"],"dateCreated":"2018-11-07T16:51:31Z","datePublished":"2018-11-07T16:51:31Z","dateModified":"2020-05-22T20:05:04Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"The Homemade Ski Movies That\\u2019ll Make You Want to Go Skiing\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/snowsports\\\/the-homemade-ski-movies-thatll-make-you-want-to-go-skiing\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/snowsports\\\/the-homemade-ski-movies-thatll-make-you-want-to-go-skiing\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/Rockwood-906322.jpg?resize=150%2C150\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/Rockwood-906322.jpg?fit=1488%2C747\"},\"articleSection\":\"Snowsports\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Michelle Flandreau\"}],\"creator\":[\"Michelle Flandreau\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Uncommon Path \\u2013 An REI Co-op Publication\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[\"latest posts\",\"snowsports\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2018-11-07T16:51:31Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-07T16:51:31Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-22T20:05:04Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rei.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/Rockwood-906322.jpg?fit=1488%2C747","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40309"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41006,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40309\/revisions\/41006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40309"},{"taxonomy":"internal-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-tag?post=40309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}