Brian Scotto
You stepped up to director for this
one, is that something that’s been
on the agenda for a while?
I have been involved with the
Gymkhana series since day one, at
first just as a creative consultant, then
I moved up to Creative Director for
San Francisco. I guess this was the
natural evolution, each year I kept
taking on more responsibility.
How was the experience? How
much of a change was it from your
usual role?
Over the years I learned a lot
working with Ben Conrad (Gym 4-8
Director) and his entire crew, and
that experience really prepared me to
step out on my own. I also brought
in my good friend, and snowboard
cinematographer Pierre Wikberg
as Director of Photography, which
let me focus on directing the action
while Pierre stayed focused on the
cameras. So while it was certainly
a change, it’s been a progressive
transition over the years.
How much of a spanner in the
works was the Aussie cancellation?
It was less of a spanner, and more of
a hand grenade. Everything had to
change. The entire script, all of the
stunts. And worst of all, we now had
to do it all in a month. That was the
biggest struggle, making something
that usually takes 6 months in only
one. Oddly, in the end I think it was a
better film than Australia would have
ever been.
What was your favourite set-piece
from the video?
Hands down, it was the train crossing.
That’s a stunt I have long wanted to
do, but not an easy one to pull off.
Just convincing a railroad company
to allow something like that was a
massive undertaking. It’s also one of
the few moments where I was actually
scared on set. Usually, I’m either too
hectic to worry, or my confidence in
Ken’s ability outweighs the concern.
But this time there were so many little
things that could have gone wrong
and ended in disaster. u
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