Hence

A quick Friday tip from photographer Mike Thurk : Commit to your style and the work will follow. “If you are in it for the long game, and you commit to your style, people will find you for that,” says Mike. “It’s easy to compare your work to others and to chase the prevailing style, but the earlier you figure out what makes you unique as a creative, the better. Then stay true to that point of view.” Read the rest of Mike’s Trade Secrets here: https://lnkd.in/gKiF93q7 #CreativeTips #PhotographyTips #TellGreatStories

It’s hard to believe, but Rebecca Rusch, one of the most recognizable mountain bikers on the planet, who dominated the endurance off road scene for 15 years, did not start riding mountain bikes until she was 38 years old. Today, she’s known not only for her biking, of course, but also her events, films, speaking engagements, advocacy work, and mentorship. “When I started out as a professional athlete, that’s all you focused on. But making that film (Vietnam) and the ones that followed is much more in line with what a modern athlete has to do. A big part of what I do now is mentoring younger athletes.” Read more about Rebecca here: https://lnkd.in/gysFxzfY #TellGreatStories #MeetanEntrepreneur Photos by Chris Burkard, Josh Letchworth, Eddie Clark, Stellar Media, Adventure Scout Media

Meet Hennie van Jaarsveld. When Hennie’s family moved from South Africa to Vermont in 1998, the alienation proved brutal for the then twelve-year-old. Then a can of soda changed everything. “We went skiing through this deal where you bring in a can of Mountain Dew and you get a free lesson—that changed the entire course of my life. I found my little haven in the ski world.” Hennie and his new skiing buddies started making camcorder videos in what he calls his “Jackass phase.” He realized that he was a better cinematographer than skier, so he leaned into shooting footage, especially of his talented friend Little John, who you might know as pro skier LJ Strenio. “I got my first hundred bucks for a couple of shots of him.” Today, he’s a seasoned producer, who believes “storytelling needs to be more than just a dude who scaled this epic mountain.” Read more about his current work via the Hence Journal: https://lnkd.in/g2KCBcpE #MeetaCreative #CreativeIndustry #TellGreatStories

Is A.I. a bubble? Our EIC, Marc Peruzzi explores the “bubble tendencies” he sees in A.I., and gives a handful of reasons to why he’s predicting the bubble bursting in the creative industry (hint: if you’re a JRR Tolkien fan like Marc, you’ll want to read this one). Photo: Comet NEOWISE as seen over the Springhill Community north of Bozeman, Montana. Tuesday, July 14, 2020. “Generative A.I. goes against my entire reason for doing photography, which is to bear witness.” - Kelly Gorham Read Marc’s article in Only Solutions, on the Hence Journal, here: https://lnkd.in/gmVXwX9W

Meet director of photography, aerial gimbal operator, drone pilot, and production company founder Jon Riley. In 204, an unpaid internship with Teton Gravity Research paid off and Jon Riley found full time work ranging from HBO projects to documentaries, and commercial work that helped push his skillset beyond action sports and specialty camera work. His mentor? Industry pioneer, Todd Jones. When he left TGR in 2021, Jon thought he would parlay his aerial camerawork skills into a business, and he did, running the GSS he purchased and a small fleet of drones for a range of clients. Today, Jon’s Out In Space Studios is a community of creatives and business strategists from Jackson and Bozeman. It’s more collective than company. Everyone in the group has their own area of expertise and a personal business to support it, but they know that when they work together they can pursue more meaningful work. Read more about Jon here: https://lnkd.in/g8dHNeqB

Mountain bikers have been coming to Oaxaca, Mexico to ride the challenging terrain for decades. The area is considered the center of the sport in Latin America. But what about local riders and aspiring riders? “It’s hard to get on a bike and hop on these trails because there’s not a lot of room for error and learning,” says Tony Martin, founder & director of?2 Wheel Epix. After a year of taking riders on tours in Ixtepeji, an area of Oaxaca, Tony, decided to start raising funds to help build two easier flow trails that beginners and kids alike could enjoy. As part of the project, they also donated 90 bikes to local youth. Tony and his partner Carlos Coyote from?COYOTE AVENTURAS?worked closely with the community of Ixtepeji and the Ixtepeji Bike Park to plan and build out the two trails, using the Indigenous Oaxacan concept of tequio, which means collective work where members of a community pitch in to accomplish something together. Filmmaker Alex Mager?brought the project to life through a short film. Hit the link below to watch the full film or read more about Alex’s work in the Hence Journal. https://lnkd.in/gHwG6HmJ

Pro Tip: Keep pushing for what you believe in. According to?Casey Brown, “when you get told ‘no,’ you have to figure out another way to get ‘yes.’” She says that the road toward letting women ride at the Red Bull Rampage was a lot like a political campaign. “I tried opening the conversation far and wide to people in the industry,” she says. “I basically tried to build an army of supporters.” Read more of Casey’s Trade Secrets (and road to the Red Bull Rampage) here: https://lnkd.in/gytSzeXA #protip?#TradeSecrets Photo by?Syo van Vliet.

Born to a Turkish immigrant father and American-born mother,?Giray Dadali?grew up in Bristol, New York, where “there wasn’t much to do but ski.” Soon, Giray pivoted into backcountry skiing so that his body wouldn’t have to endure the hard landings that come with competing in park and pipe. He also completed a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Utah and started his own company,?Daymaker Touring?where he created an adapter that converts standard alpine bindings into an alpine touring system for accessing the backcountry. Today, he’s also a filmmaker. His latest project, with the director?Hennie van Jaarsveld, is “Of the Black Sea,” which will be premiering in SLC and Park City in the following weeks. Read more about Giray here: https://lnkd.in/gvxYb4wx

Born and raised in North Carolina, Brandon Lowery was drawn to soccer at an early age, but he also dabbled in board sports: skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding. Eventually, action sports took hold and it wasn’t long until he found himself helping to build skateparks and wave pools and run events. Soon he found himself as the CEO of?USA Surfing?and the Chairman of?USA Skateboarding. Over four years, just as skate and surf were making their debuts on the Olympic stage, Brandon and his teams raised millions to push the sports forward. Today, @Boardsports Global is the holding company of Brandon’s entire portfolio, which includes Vandever Capital—a leading capital markets advisory a firm—Boardsports Global—the enterprise building skateparks and wavepool destinations and accompanying amenities and real estate worldwide—and the Global Action Sports Foundation, which is Brandon’s legacy play that looks to grant action sports athletes sustainable futures through business opportunities. Read more of Brandon’s story via the Hence Journal, here: https://lnkd.in/ghAECtsg #boardsports?#TellGreatStories

Trade Secrets: Don't be afraid to ask. Sometimes we second guess ourselves too much. The music licensing guru?Bodie Johnson?learned an important lesson about that. He was working on a small budget project. He knew that a hit song by a major artist would be a perfect match. So he gambled: “ I had to try, and I had to ask.” Much to his surprise, the artist’s team loved the project that Bodie’s client was working on and how they intended to incorporate the music. Norman Greenbaum immediately approved rights to the song “Spirit in the Sky” for use in Anthill Films’ “unReal,” a mountain biking movie. Bodie also learned from that experience that assuming an artist won’t work with a small-budget client is a misconception. Read more tips of the trade from Bodie here: https://lnkd.in/gsF5bitu ?#Tips?#TradeSecrets?#CreativeIndustry