Shootout’s First Summer Film Festival
The Big Sky Summer Shootout welcomed seasoned and new Big Sky creatives to The Waypoint's theater screens. (From left to right: Chris Kamman, Micah Robin, Erik Morrison and Andrew Robin.) PHOTO BY JEN CLANCEY
Big Sky’s homegrown production welcomes diverse films with familiar backdrops
By Jen Clancey
It was a feat of videography: with just close-up shots and rock music in the background, Beatlab Media House may have made two wooden marbles appear sentient. But then again, art is up to the interpreter.
The Big Sky Shootout, a local film festival hosted by Second Season Co., held its first annual Summer Shootout event. Established in 2014, the Shoot–out has invited filmmakers and photographers of all styles and skill levels to contribute their own Big Sky perspective during the winter season.
That changed this year, when six films and over 50 photos documented summer in Big Sky.
“This is different,” said Erik Morrison, founder of Second Season. The winter event usually has a good number of submissions focusing on winter sports and scenery, but the summer gave participants wider opportunities.
“The diversity in film I expected for sure,” Morrison said. Topics ranged from a family’s day picking huckleberries to drone footage of mountain biking.
“It’s a good look into Big Sky culture,” he added.
Videographer Chris Kamman was the emcee in The Waypoint and noted the crowd’s energy.
“In my mind it’s almost more of a culture fest than a film fest in a way,” Kamman said. “Of course, it’s centered around the films and whatnot. But it’s… a place to see local culture.”
After the first showing, Jeremy Marlington received compliments for documenting his son’s adventure with huckleberries on a local trail.
“For him to go from not eating solid food to being able to walk and picking up the berries off the bush by himself. I was like, this is pretty amusing,” the 16-year Big Sky resident said.
“This is kind of like the big scale Montana lifestyle, our lifestyle. And all these wonderful trails really close by. I think it’s a fantastic thing for the community to have this event.”
“I’m really excited to see [Big Sky Shootout] grow and develop throughout the years,” Marlington said.
Local videographer Micah Robin described the value of seeing different perspectives of the mountain town.
“It brings everybody together in a very positive way because everyone’s having a good time and talking about what they’re doing,” Robin said.
Even in between showings, contributors were already thinking of film ideas for next summer. Andrew Robin, Micah’s brother, explained in a conversation that viewers could expect to see more outdoor recreation at next year’s Shootout.
“We didn’t even touch on rafting or kayaking, really there’s so much that it can grow into,” Andrew said.
The event ended with Big Sky locals enjoying snacks, drinks and conversation at the venue’s bar, some even discussing new ideas with this year’s artists.
“A lot of people leave this event feeling inspired,” Andrew said. “And they’re starting to riff on ideas. And I think the main thing would be, if you have that idea, and you feel inspired to just follow through.”
Morrison said ultimately, the vision for the Shootout is that it tells stories of Big Sky. “We take great pride in the fact that this is a Big Sky show.”
Eighth Annual Big Sky Winter Shootout highlights community preservation
On a cool April night in Big Sky, Montana, a rowdy hoard of people gather at the doors of The Waypoint theater, swapping stories from another revered day exploring the mountains of southwest Montana. The cold air catches their breath in a frosty vapor, and most have one hand clutching a beer and the other tucked in a warm pocket. As they wait to be let inside for the third and final showing of the Big Sky Shootout to celebrate the end of an epic ski season in Big Sky, the evening chill is a reminder that even in a rapidly changing resort town, winter is an enduring force.
In its eighth year since inception in 2014, the Big Sky Shootout raked in a record number of 16 team film submissions and 52 photo submissions, many incidentally threaded together by a theme of honoring and preserving community culture. All submissions had to be shot in the Big Sky area during March.
“The Shootout is a full-on visual celebration of Big Sky's ski and mountain culture,” said Erik Morrison, founder of Second Season Co., which produces the event. “It pays tribute to our local customs and traditions, gives voice to social issues, showcases the work and talents of the many creatives that call this place home, and does it all with a smile, tear and a laugh.”
Second Season is a project that seeks to onboard visitors and new residents of Big Sky through education, culture and experience. The Shootout is an impactful expression of Second Season’s mission.
A handful of both photo and film submissions paid tribute to the Lone Peak Tram, which after 27 years of bringing skiers and riders to the 11,166-foot summit of Lone Mountain at Big Sky Resort will be replaced by a new gondola in the coming season. One film, submitted by longtime local and tram regular Rob Leipheimer, featured clips he shot from a helicopter in October of 1995 during the tram’s construction. Though not eligible for awards since films and photos had to be shot during March of this year, the submission’s homage was brought home in juxtaposition with local Dirtbag Queen and artist Heather Rapp’s film, “Tram Tribute,” which featured shots of the beloved buckets in action alongside scenes from Big Sky’s dirtbag day. Rapp’s film, which won the Best Lifestyle award, was also backdropped by an original parody to John Lennon’s “Imagine,” penned and performed by local musician Terry Stebbins.
“You may say I’m a dirtbag, and I’m not the only one,” Stebbins sang. “I hope someday you will join us, and the tram will live as one.”
A handful of film and photo submissions did the due diligence of filling the screen with face shots and cold smoke slashes, a permanent record of a season that brought more pow days than not and a visceral reminder of what it feels like to float down the south face of Lone Mountain.
Especially indicative of the most resonant themes of this year’s shootout were Chris Kamman’s “Don’t Change,” and Andrew Robin’s “Weekend Warrior”, which won first and second place in the esteemed People’s Choice categories respectively.
Robin, who covets two first-place People’s Choice awards from his comical double entendre films sharing ski tales of “the masterblader,” interrupted his duology for a brand-new concept this year chronicling the weekend commute of his best friend and Shootout team member Grant Ganoom, who grew up in Big Sky but now lives in Belgrade. “Weekend Warrior” hilariously toggled between sharp cuts of Robin and his Shootout team members Tucker Roundy, Mathias Tellstrom and Howie Robin enjoying fresh snow at Big Sky throughout the week while Ganoom battled the hum drum of the 9-to-5. When he finally made it to Saturday, Ganoom confronted famously tedious Gallatin Canyon traffic, a full parking lot and pow-day lines for a funny take on what a popularizing Big Sky can look like in reality, especially for those Gallatin Valley commuters.
“I love the shootout for many reasons, but mainly it brings the local community together in a fun and creative way,” said Robin, who grew up in Big Sky. “You get to laugh together—and sometimes cry—and it’s just a great way to celebrate the town we all love and remind us that we all live in a very special place.”
While “Weekend Warrior” was one of those laughing instances, Kamman of SkyLab Media House took a more sincere approach to social commentary. “Don’t Change” is a profound statement on the evolution of Big Sky, documented by words from Big Sky founder Chet Huntley thrust against footage of Big Sky in its current development surge. Huntley’s narrative outlined his intentions for Big Sky as a place of open space and shared use, which Kamman thrust against both shots from Huntley’s days of Big Sky as well as modern-day large-scale building and “private property” signs. The film not only critiqued this contradiction, but also celebrated parts of the community Kamman intended to lift up: the smiling faces of widely known locals at Dirtbag Day, time-honored traditions and the simple joy of skiing and riding in an unmatched setting.
“I think the culture here is still alive and very vibrant, but it’s being squeezed out and overshadowed by a lot of the new development and advances in Big Sky,” Kamman said. “It’s important now more than ever to push through and show ‘hey, we’re still a community. We’re still a town of people that live here that are creative and are skilled.”
For Kamman—who participated in the first ever Shootout in 2014 when it was run by Lone Peak Cinema’s Scott and Sally Fisher and there were only four submissions—the Shooutout has always been that place to show the version of the community he loves and fight for its cultural preservation.
Shootout producer Morrison echoed this, nodding to the words of Dutch philosopher and historian Johan Huizinga whose work invited readers to truly experience the ways people in the past lived, felt, and thought: “If we are to preserve culture we must continue to create it.”
“That level of awareness and understanding is what I am trying to cultivate in real time with The Shootout and Second Season: for residents and visitors new and old to find a deeper connection to our community, a deeper appreciation for our culture and hopefully inspire an embodied practice of how we live here in the mountains,” Morrison said. “I think the essence of this was really felt at this year's festival by our artists and audience alike as evident by the strong heartfelt reactions to the social/cultural themes prevalent throughout.”
At the final showing of this year’s shootout, the hoard from outside found relief in a packed warm theater, their earnest faces lit up by the silver screen as they were immersed in the expressions of Big Sky’s rich and long-preserved culture. Some wiped tears from their eyes, and a few friends clutched one another’s hands, these emotional expressions a testament to another piece of Big Sky as enduring as its winters: the community that loves it.
The Big Sky Shootout is presented by Second Season and made possible by a network of community sponsors, volunteers and creatives.
People’s Choice Awards Film : Presented By Big Sky Conoco
1st Place Don’t Change
2nd Place Weekend Warrior
3rd Place Jamaica Ski Team
People’s Choice Awards Photo: Presented By Ace Hardware Big Sky
1st Place Jonathan Stone
2nd Place INOAH Photographer
3rd Place Tim Redigan (Ice Fox)
Film Awards:
Best Cinematography Presented By The Wilson Hotel - Park PSA
Best Line Presented By The Rocks - Snow Way Out
Best Social Commentary Presented By The Cave - Don’t Change
Best Trick Presented By Scissor Bills Saloon - Steez Lords
Best Powder Presented By Gallatin Alpine Sports - South Face Anomaly
Best Lifestyle Presented By Herbaceous- Tram Tribute
Photo Awards:
Best Landscape Presented By The Wilson Hotel - INOAH Photographer
Best Wildlife Presented By Love Street Media - Delaney Coveno
Best Trick Presented By Scissor Bills Saloon - Remy Stern
Best Powder Presented By Gallatin Alpine Sports - Tim Redigan (Ice Fox)
Best Lifestyle Presented By Herbaceous - Jonathan Stone
Best Social Commentary Presented By The Cave - Jonathan Stone
Best Line Presented By The Rocks - Jonathan Stone
All 2023 Shootout submissions are available here.
The Big Sky Shootout Expands for 23
Summer shootout announced and Winter/Summer registration goes live.
Summer shootout announced and registration goes live.
Second Season is pleased to announce that for 2023 the Big Sky Shootout Film & Photo Festival will expand to include a Summer festival. Team registration is now open. Short film and photo submissions must be shot in the Big Sky area between June 1-August 20, 2023. Get your team together and join the fun as we showcase the best of Big Sky's mountain culture. The premiere will take place September 9th at The Big Sky Waypoint. Showings at 6 PM and 9 PM. Ticket info and more coming soon.
2023 Big Sky Summer Shootout | June 1-August 20
2023 Big Sky Winter Shootout | March 1-31
Register Your Team
2023 Big Sky Summer Shootout | June 1-July 31
Register Your Team
Big Sky Shootout film and photo festival returns
Community rallies to conserve & celebrate its mountain culture
SECOND SEASON
BIG SKY – Electricity was in the air the night of April 16. Clouds gathered and danced with anticipation, circling Lone Peak and welcoming the prevailing winds that would soon come carrying the spring snow. The first flakes began to fall softly upon the faces of the eager onlookers gathered on the patio of The Wilson Hotel in Town Center.
Moments before they were immersed in playing bottle toss, drinking beer and listening to the melodic beats of DJ Missy O’Malley as she welcomed festival goers to the Shootout lounge. But the familiar and funny feeling of the dew-point drop was unmistakable to those gathered there. The tribe instinctually paused, turned and cast their gaze to the peak just as lightning split the sky illuminating the clouds from deep within and revealing a stunning silhouette of the tram upon a blazing mountain top.
A moment later, as if on cue, the heavens opened with the bass drop and bore down upon the crowd with heavy snows driving them inside. It was clear winter had made its triumphant return and with it the return of the Big Sky Shootout Film & Photo Festival.
We all had that feeling it was probably going to storm that night, said Erik Morrison, festival producer and Second Season CEO.
“Historically Big Sky has delivered some solid spring storms around the Shootout, hence all the classic powder segments like Higher Love and Snow Dreams that the festival has produced,” Morrison said. “It’s just that special combination of Lone Peak and this ski community’s stoke that seems to pull it in. With all of us coming together to honor this tradition and celebrate the festival’s return … It had to snow. Fortunately for us the storm was a motivator for people to come celebrate. We had over 400 people in attendance with the largest and rowdiest crowd at 7 p.m. right when the lightning struck and the storm was raging. You can’t make this up!”