After marvelling at the death-defying mountain bike riding, "How did they get that shot?" is what comes to mind for viewers of the documentary, , by Squamish production company,
It is what the members of the prestigious National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) must have been thinking, too, as the film was awarded the
at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City, on May 20.
The 2024 documentary, co-produced with Red Bull Media House, highlights freeride mountain biking through the eyes of the athletes, including Red Bull riders Brage Vestavik, Thomas Genon, and Hannah Bergemann.
"The film includes the longest and steepest big mountain freeriding ever captured—lines that were so vast they had to be filmed with a Shotover camera gimbal mounted to a helicopter," reads a news release about the win.
While this is the company's first Emmy, Anthill is not new to praise and accolades. Around for 20 years, the company is known for its iconic bike films, including Seasons, Follow Me, NotBad, unReal, and Long Live Chainsaw.
The 小蓝视频 caught up with Anytime director of photography, Darren McCullough, to discuss the win, the film and what is next.
What follows is a version of that conversation edited for length and clarity.
Q: How did you hear about the Emmy win?
A: I personally didn't go to New York. I had some other work I had to do, so I stayed behind, although now I wish I had gone. The guys called me right after they got the award—they FaceTimed me right after with the Emmy. I was like, sweet. That's awesome.
Q: The production team employed a variety of camera techniques for the film, including custom-built e-moto rigs, cable cams, First Person View drones and slow-motion aerial cinematography. Can you tell me more in lay terms?
A: The electric motorcycle helps because we don't have a clutch or anything like that. There isn't gearing with an electric motorcycle, and also less noise and there's no exhaust; so, you're not affecting the rider at all. The backpack rig we use has been refined movie after movie. We use that in multiple segments throughout Anytime. The big one we used it in was with Tommy G in Mexico, where we were flying around Mexican streets on the e-motorcycle with the camera mounted. And everyone was like, "What the heck is that?" The way it works is the motorcycle driver has the backpack rig with the custom mount off the back, and then it holds a three-axis gimbal. Then someone else, usually me, is controlling the camera. So, I'm in a car travelling behind the motorcycle, and I have the video feed. I'm controlling the camera—panning it, tilting it, zooming in, that kind of stuff.
Q: Were any cameras sacrificed in the making of this film?
A: We definitely sacrificed some cameras for sure. Not fun when it happens, but yeah.
Q: Obviously, these are athletes you are filming. They're in shape, and other than the drone shots, you're all having to keep up with them, right?
A: Everyone in the company is passionate about riding just as much as the riders, and everyone here does mountain bike. So, a lot of the time on shoots will either follow with an e-mountain bike, usually because you'll have 50 or 60 pounds of gear in your backpack. So we'll either e-mountain bike behind them, and it seems to handle carrying the gear no problem, or it is a lot of just straight-up hiking.
With Chile, the mountains are so vast, you're looking at like 5,000 vertical feet on some of those. So, hiking that kind of distance with 60 pounds was not going to happen. So a lot of the time, in that segment, is where helicopters came in pretty handy. We could drop guys on the top of peaks and or opposite peaks to be able to shoot.
Q: The scenes in Chile seemed so dusty for the crew?
A: In Chile, it was dust and wind. The weather is always a factor.
It snowed on the guys one time. The gear definitely gets put through its paces, for sure.
One of the segments that gave us the most trouble was in California. It was crazy— an atmospheric river. All our jumps were in like two-foot-deep mud. Emil Johansson, the rider, was trying to do things that he's never done before, and he needs to practice before we start filming. We ended up having to use blow torches and even sometimes we’d make a fire in the belly of the jump, and the fire sucks the moisture out. In the end, we did it, but it's just all those little trials and tribulations that happen that maybe you don't see in the movie. But if you look closely, you can see remnants of like, where there's some ash on the jump or something like that.
Q: These are athletes you are filming, but there's an added element when you put cameras there; I would imagine there's more pressure on them to do things that might be further than they would want to do without the camera crew there. How do you navigate that?
A: As a company, that is one thing we've always prided ourselves on— it's up to the rider. We're never going to push someone or try to tell someone what they can and can't do. All of the riding is their idea and their creative vision, and we're just there to kind of help it happen. There is that aspect of it that, hey, I've got all these guys around, and we're in this amazing place halfway around the world, and I need to perform, but I think it's kind of the same as a contest or any other kind of event. They're all professional athletes, and they do this all the time. Any pressure definitely never comes from our side.
Q: It's been rough for the film industry for a while, in terms of funding and through COVID and the writers' strike and then the discussion of the trade wars and all that. How is it in the sports action film world?
A: I think the whole industry has felt a little bit of a crunch over the past few years. It's happened to everyone.
On our side, we've felt it, but we also have really good partners. Everyone's been quite loyal to each other. With the industry we're in, it's big, but it's a small group of people. So, everyone's communicating with each other, and everyone's helping out.
Q: How does it feel now that you're a Squamish company that got an Emmy?
A: It's pretty crazy for a small-town company to be noticed on a big stage like that. It's pretty cool to showcase [this type of] biking, which is so big in Squamish, but it's maybe not as big as New York City or other places like that. It's pretty cool for people there to see what we're doing and just kind of share it. It's always been our goal is to try to get people out on a ride.
Winning Emmy crew:
•Directors of photography—Colin Jones, Darren McCullough, Darcy Wittenburg
•Cameraperson—Anna Dziczkaniece, Ansel Luchau, Kelsey Toevs, Brian Wulf
•Cinematographers—Matt Butterworth, Jonathan Osborne
Watch Anytime on the
