If you were one of the millions who watched the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, the first action you saw was from Bonnier Corp.’s Warren Miller Entertainment. The three-minute video that kicked off the ceremonies was produced by Bonnier’s acclaimed film division. The high-energy action footage featured Johnny Lyall hitting the slopes to set up the 23-year-old snowboarder’s live stadium stunt, welcoming the crowd to the 2010 Games. Nearly 68 million U.S. viewers tuned in to the most-watched opening ceremony ever for a non-U.S. Winter Olympics.The yearlong Olympic project began in February 2009, when David Atkins of David Atkins Enterprises (DEA) — the executive producer of the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games — contacted Warren Miller to discuss the video concept.
“David loved our idea of using a mix of 35 mm film footage and HD to capture both the beauty of the location and the beauty of riding,” said Jeffery Moore, senior executive producer (TV Group) of Warren Miller. “DEA also liked our approach of capturing the maple leaf section, which was definitely the most challenging part of the entire shoot.”
Warren Miller began filming the Olympic video in April at Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing in Blue River, B.C. Chris Patterson, longtime Warren Miller director/cameraman, was at the helm. In May, Warren Miller shot the final jump and the maple leaf section at Whistler Mountain. It took a crew of more than 100 people, including 50 extras, to get the money shots that close out the video. The snowboarding footage was edited at Warren Miller’s Boulder, Colorado, headquarters during June and July. Final color correction, sound design and CGI work were done in Vancouver by DEA production partner Barbershop Productions. Barbershop also shot many of the Vancouver scenics and helped with the edit.
The featured athlete in the video praised the filmmakers in an ESPN interview. “The people filming the snowboard footage knew how to film good shredding,” Lyall said. “The pow shredding, the natural terrain, the good filming and the style made the video legit.”
