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Mike Douglas (filmmaker)

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Mike Douglas (born November 15, 1969) is a Canadian skier and filmmaker from Whistler, Canada. He is known as the 'Godfather of Freeskiing'[1][2], thanks to his involvement in creating the first high-performance twin-tip ski, the Salomon Teneighty[3][4] and for his pioneering feats on snow in the sports of freestyle skiing and freeskiing has been called one of the most influential freeskiers of all time [5]. He was a TV commentator for the skiing events at ESPN's X Games between 2001–2014.[6]

Mike is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker.[7] In 2004, Mike founded Switchback Entertainment, a small production company also based in Whistler, Canada. Switchback Entertainment produces documentary and adventure films, as well as commercials for brands like Salomon, Whistler Blackcomb, Destination BC, Arc' Teryx, Google, CNN and Red Bull. Mike and Switchback Entertainment produced the award-winning web series, Salomon TV, between 2007–2023.[8]

Mike is an environmental advocate and helped found the environmental non-profit organization, Protect Our Winters Canada, and was the Board Chair between 2018–2023.[9] He currently still sits on the board for the organization. He is also on the board of the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation.[10] A role he has held since 2013. Mike has been voted 'Favorite Whistlerite' 7 times by the readers of Pique News Magazine.[11]

Awards

Award winning and notable films include:

The Freedom Chair – 2011 Best Mountain Sports film – Banff Mountain Film Festival, Most Inspiring Story – 5 Point Film Festival[12][13]

Tempting Fear – 2012 Best Action Film – Adventure Film Festival, Best Story X-Dance Film Festival[14]

Snowman – 2014 Best Mountain Culture film – Whistler Film Festival, Best Script – Bilbao Mendi Film Festival[15]

Whistler Blackcomb: Fifty Years of Going Beyond – Skade Award – International Skiing History Association[16]

Eclipse – 2016 Best Snow film – Banff Mountain Film Festival, Best Mountain Culture Film – Whistler Film Festival, Best Adventure Film – New York Wild Film Festival[17]

Live Along the Way – Grand Prize – NZ Mountain Film Festival[18]

Sam and Me – Best BC Film – BC Environmental Film Festival[19]

Ski filmography

  • Smart Mogul Skiing (1994) – Momentum
  • Bump2Bump with Jean-Luc Brassard (1995) – C3 Productions
  • State of Mind (1997) – Poor Boyz Productions
  • Fistful of Moguls (1998) – Greg Stump
  • Degenerates (1998) – Poor Boyz Productions
  • Skiing's Last Stand – Mike Hilb
  • Fifity (1999) – Warren Miller
  • Global Storming (1999) – Matchstick Productions
  • 13 (1999) – Poor Boyz Productions
  • Area 51 (1999) – Teton Gravity Research
  • Supershow (1999) – Mike Hilb
  • Ski Movie (2000) – Matchstick Productions
  • The Game (2000) – Poor Boyz Productions
  • Ski Movie 2: High Society (2001) – Matchstick Productions
  • Propaganda (2002) – Poor Boyz Productions
  • Ski Movie 3: The Front Line (2003) – Matchstick Productions
  • Happy Dayz (2003) – Poor Boyz Productions
  • Focused (2004) – Matchstick Productions
  • Ready, Fire, Aim (2004) – Poor Boyz Productions
  • Yearbook (2004) – Matchstick Productions
  • X=10 (2005) – Poor Boyz Productions
  • The Hit List (2005) – Matchstick Productions
  • War (2006) – Poor Boyz Productions
  • Focused (2006) – Matchstick Productions
  • Seven Sunny Days (2007) – Matchstick Productions
  • Reasons (2008) – Poor Boyz Productions
  • Wave Skiing in Hawaii (2010) – Salomon Freeski TV
  • Glacier Express (2012) – Salomon Freeski TV
  • McConkey (2013) – Matchstick Productions
  • Snowman (2014) – Switchback Entertainment
  • Ruapehu (2015) – Salomon Freeski TV
  • The Skier's Haute Route (2016) – Salomon Freeski TV
  • 50 Years of Going Beyond (2015) – Switchback Entertainment
  • Fountain of Youth (2017) – Switchback Entertainment
  • Sam and Me (2022) – Switchback Entertainment

References

  1. ^ "NEXT LEVEL SKIING S3: E1 | MIKE DOUGLAS – THE GODFATHER OF FREESKIING by Wagner Skis / Nov 17, 2020". Nov 17, 2020. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  2. ^ "Godfather of freeskiing Mike Douglas celebrates Whistler on slopes and on screen". The Georgia Straight. 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
  3. ^ "In 1997, Douglas designed a twin-tip ski, the revolutionary Salomon 1080. Suddenly, skiers could go backwards down a slope and switch up takeoffs and landings with newfound aplomb. For this accomplishment, as well as his aerodynamic creativity, Douglas reigns as "the godfather of freeskiing"". The Georgia Straight. 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
  4. ^ McMillan, Kelley (2012-12-14). "Friday Interview: Mike Douglas". Outside Online. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  5. ^ SnowBrains (2022-07-18). "The Top 10 Male Freeskiers of All-Time". SnowBrains. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  6. ^ Coryell, Grace (2014-01-16). "ESPN X Games Names New Hosts for 2014". ESPN Press Room U.S. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  7. ^ "Snowman: 'Godfather of free-skiing' behind the camera for directorial debut". The Globe and Mail. 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  8. ^ Fitzsimmons, Greg (2013-08-20). "Mike Douglas: The Creative Process". Powder. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  9. ^ "Mike Douglas|Vice-Chair Athlete & Principal of Switchback Entertainment". Protect Our Winters Canada. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  10. ^ Foundation, The Whistler Blackcomb. "What We Do". The Whistler Blackcomb Foundation. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  11. ^ "Best of Whistler 2020". Pique Newsmagazine. 2020-12-31. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  12. ^ "The Freedom Chair | Mountainfilm Festival, Telluride CO". www.mountainfilm.org. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  13. ^ Bennett, Gary; Kaczmarek, Stefan; Lees, Brad (2015), "Getting Started with the New Apple TV", Developing for Apple TV using tvOS and Swift, Berkeley, CA: Apress, pp. 1–8, doi:10.1007/978-1-4842-1715-3_1, ISBN 978-1-4842-1714-6, retrieved 2024-07-29
  14. ^ "Tempting Fear | Mountainfilm Festival, Telluride CO". www.mountainfilm.org. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  15. ^ "Snowman tells unbelievable tale of survival, friendship and living the dream". Pique Newsmagazine. 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  16. ^ "Whistler Blackcomb Unveils "50 Years of Going Beyond" Docume". Forecast Ski. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  17. ^ Lintilhac, Louise (2015-11-10). "Eclipse wins Best Film: Snow Sports at Banff Mountain Film Festival". Backcountry Magazine. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  18. ^ "Stuff". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  19. ^ "Whistler's Mike Douglas mentors young climate activist in Sam & Me". Pique Newsmagazine. 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
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