Staying on top of the annual avalanche of titles

A snowboarding flick lasts about as long as a sitcom on the screen and an anemic six months on the action-sports video and DVD shelves, but it can deliver an advertorial wallop — the rapt attention of an otherwise twitchy audience — for the featured snowboarders and the apparel and gear makers that sponsor them. Unlike skateboard videos, which are usually shot on digital, the top-tier snowboard movies use 16- and occasionally 35-millimeter film, a considerably more expensive medium. Mike Hatchett, producer of the popular Standard Films series, says his projects cost $200,000 and more.

With 30 or so titles released each fall, it’s tough to survive the avalanche. The projects that surface as standouts season after season tend to come from a handful of production companies: Mack Dawg, Robot Food, Standard Films and Absinthe. Typically working on film with budgets that hit six digits, these crews are known for showcasing the sport’s hottest stars in the most exotic locations. Mike Nusenow, publisher of San Juan Capistrano-based Snowboarder magazine, likes Robot Food projects in particular, because they “put the fun back into snowboarding. There’s a lot of personality in that crew.”

— Sean Mortimer