The Warren Miller film tour had screenings of “Warren Miller 75,” a ski and snowboard movie, in Orem, Salt Lake City and Park City this past weekend, celebrating 75 years of Warren Miller films.
Warren Miller Entertainment is the legacy company of the heavily awarded director Warren Miller. Miller was one of the first to ever record someone skiing, way back in 1944, and his movies have been famous in action sports cinematography since 1949.
“He started making films 75 years ago,” Liz Hunter said. “He would just go around in his car and show the films in random places.”
This year, "Warren Miller 75" is being shown independently at hundreds of theaters across the United States and Canada. The screenings in Utah were hosted by Warren Miller Entertainment.
The film runs through a series of segments, each presented by a specific brand, telling the stories of their sponsored athletes. Athletes featured included Shaun White, Zeb Powell, Caite Zeliff and many more.
“The brands have the segments and they have their athletes showcasing their new gear for the season,” Hassan Joseph, a brand ambassador, said.
Some of the brands featured in the film had booths set up at the event; these included Backcountry, High West, Akova and others. Shaun White’s segment featured his brand WhiteSpace and High West. It was filmed in Park City earlier this year.
“My favorite part of the movie was seeing Shaun White here in Utah just tearing it up and seeing that he’s still got it,” Brigham Ray, one of the movie viewers, said.
The film screenings offer a space to create excitement for the upcoming ski season, as well as start and carry on tradition.
“The traditions run so deep, they are people who were in college when they went to their first show and go every year,” Joseph said.
The movie featured diversity within snowboarding, showcasing Zeb Powell and Selema Masekela taking upcoming snowboarder LJ Henriquez to Japan for one of the movie's segments. Henriquez is a 16-year-old Dominican from Brooklyn.
In a sport that has been historically dominated by certain ethnicities and geographies, this years segment showcased that no matter where you come from or what you look like, snow sports are expanding their reach to anyone and everyone with a desire to ride.
On the Warren Miller Entertainment website it says, “This year’s film will set the tone for the next 75 years of ski and snowboard filmmaking.”
“Seeing the first (Warren Miller) movie to the 75th movie, the next 75 years is still going to have that same progression, getting better and better and better,” Joseph said.
The film can be purchased to view on warrenmiller.com, or you can find a screening near you on the website's film tour calendar.