The Unknown Sport of Waterskiing - Documentary

[Horton]

A dive into the passion, determination, and adrenaline fueled world of competitive waterskiing, and the people who give their lives to it.

[Anderson]

Just watched the first 3 minutes and I have goosebumps -- can't wait to watch the rest of this after work 😀👍

[Slalom.Steve]

Amazing!! We gotta get this on Netflix. Anyone know what the realistic chances of doing so are?

The timing is perfect - This type of "sports behind the scenes" documentary is really hot right now: Drive to Survive, Full Swing, Break Point, this could be next!

[morfoot]

Watched it during lunch. Great Job TWBC. Share the hell out of it on Social Media. Couldn't click the skip the advertisements fast enough! Thanks Tony and friends!!!

[MitchellM]

This looks good!  Sending on to everyone I know who likes the water.

[tjs1295]

Well done. Really enjoyed it.

[Horton]

So good!

[thager]

👍 Very well done!

[Jsh809]

Just finished. This was an amazing piece of work! Very good!

[ALPJr]

Awesome, great job @TonyLightfoot amd the TWBC crew!

[kc]

I have no idea if there are any awards available for this type of documentary, but if so, this needs to be nominated! Well done TWBC crew!

[kmenard]

I can't get over how good this was! 

[chaloux]

This was great! I loved that it revolves around the 21 worlds.  I remember watching Jamie winning and being so happy for her! And of course Whitney's brutal fall.  

I will be sharing this with everyone I can. 

[Jaypro]

that was incredibly well done

[Bulldog]

So well done, we need more movies about our sport like this one.

[VONMAN]

And the Academy Award for the best Sport Film Documentary goes to TWBC!

[kmenard]

I also have to add...I hope the powers at be of the Masters watched this one and realized that Freddie is everything great about our sport. 

[jhughes]

So good, amazing work. Really makes me appreciate the work that goes into the TWBC and how much of a passion project it is. Vince and crew "choose" to do something incredibly hard and push the envelope in this incredibly niche sport, for the good of the sport and the love of the sport. That is extremely inspirational. As usual FW was great, I love his explanation of how weird the sport is, spot on.

[motoxr]

Just finished watching.....it was Fantastic!!

[Cooper_Trelawney]

Just finished this.  It's truly superb!  It is a love letter to the sport and would make an interesting time capsule to be viewed 25 years in the future to benchmark where the sport has gone since...up?  down?

You really must appreciate the dedication and commitment of not only the athletes but also all the volunteers,  organizers and the team at TWBC.  I'm really impressed!

[Luv2Ski]

I loved it and wished it was longer and went into more detail!  I do agree with the above comments that a quick montage of all 3 events and some wild crashes, in the beginning, would get people's attention right away.  Excellent job and I can't wait to see more films like this.  

[ISP6ball]

Awesome job TWBC!!

[Drew_Wright_OBXtoFl]

Well done we need more of this. Send links to your friends who ask you why you ski so much and love it. 

[6balls]

I may take hell for this--but if you were looking to make a non-skier interested on this basis I don't believe it works.  Athletes saying how bad they want it, how much time they devote--that differentiates our sport from no other at a the highest levels of competition.  Pick any other sport obscure or otherwise and the athletes at the top are giving their being to it and to winning.  What about this video makes our sport interesting and attracts more to our sport--for those who don't understand it well at the onset?  For those who don't participate in our sport, my guess is it is "clicked off" early on rather than watched in it's entirety--will it hold a non-skier or rec skiers attention?  

If it's a vid for skiers who are already totally into skiing and idolize their pro's--sure. 

Fire away--I can take it.  

[Horton]

There is always one guy...

[BKistler]

Ah. More than one guy. It was a worthy effort and I give them a lot of credit, but if I knew nothing about the sport, I think the explanations of the three events would leave me scratching my head. Some simple graphics would have helped greatly. 

[Horton]

yeah it's like if somebody cooked you the perfect filet mignon dinner and those bastards forgot to include the lobster.

[JayG80]

TWBC should submit this to the Cannes Film Festival.  I went to high school with a guy who runs a tanker surfing charter.  He was featured in a film at Cannes and his business benefitted significantly.  Maybe a category at Sundance Film Festival too.

https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/take-part/submit-a-film/

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by JayG80

[swc5150]

"popular activity, but small sport".  Summed up perfectly!  Great vid!

[VermontSkier]

I thought this was great, really passionate and captivating. I think a really cool follow-up would be to compare/contrast the top level of the sport with a more grass-roots/at home perspective (like local skiers on a lake, river, public water, etc.)

There is something so cool about this sport at every level and perhaps what I love most is being out skiing the course with my friends, encouraging and pushing each other, and enjoying beers on the water or dock afterwards. I guess what I am trying to convey is that more people seeing that this is something that can be done at home, not just in a tournament or on a private ski lake, the more folks will want to get out and try their hand. Hopefully?

I don't yet ski tournaments, I want to, but I watch every single TWBC webcast and my love for the sport has grown because of them. Really grateful for all they do and everything to come.

Edited June 29, 2023 by VermontSkier

[ALPJr]

I think it’s just awesome, especially for those of us obsessed with skiing, and it could be a great marketing tool to promote equipment sales, draw in corporate sponsors and other financial support. Nevertheless  @6balls makes a good point. Will it draw in many who don’t already participate or follow the sport? Not sure that’s the intent, but it sure was well done, and deserves many accolades!

Edited June 29, 2023 by ALPJr

[03RLXi]

Loved it, so good at conveying the speed of all 3 events, however I do agree with comments that its not something to encourage newbies to give skiing a try, or to excite random sports watchers. Shorter edit with some graphics explaining concepts might work great though. 

[rogerw]

Bloody fantastic...

[6balls]

@horton I've seen this kind of thing regarding sports I have nothing to do with and it made me excited about those sports.  If this didn't fire me up given my skiing background?  It isn't just me.  But if others found it great or think it would get traction if shown more broadly I respect those opinions as well--let's put it out there and see.  I try to be fair and balanced, and would have no problem being wrong.        

[Horton]

These guys made the movie that they thought they should make. Right or wrong it was their edit. They did an amazing job. The thing that irritates me is they created something really good and then people want to come in and Monday morning quarterback them. Everybody's a critic. 

Furthermore, not one person on the site contributed a penny to the production of this thing. If we had all chipped in and paid for it and you didn't get what you thought you were going to get then I think your opinion means a lot more.

Actually I saw something they did that I thought I would do differently. So one thing in the thousands of decisions they made to make that movie. I might have a suggestion but I'm not going to go out on the forum and point it out cuz I'm not doing the work & it is not my project.

[6balls]

So you post it and either a) expect all to take it in an no one to respond, or b) expect all will love it and post adoration, or c) expect all respondents to post that it's great if for no other reason than b/c of the effort involved and the high production quality--which is obviously there, and then c) get upset that some less than positive reactions are posted--which is easily predicted having run a forum for years. 

Not my work , not my project.  I have at times in my life poured a lot of me into a project that I thought was well done yet wasn't universally well-received(that may be putting it lightly...and yes critique is harder to hear than praise).  There were bound to be opinions both positive and negative with this, as there always are--ya gotta live with that stuff--it's ok.          

[dbaconaz]

Awesome work!!! 

[Wish]

Film is an art form. To be enjoyed (or not) and interpreted by the beholder. So there will be those that think it fell short of a perceived intent be it a message or how it captures an audience and so on. There will be those that think it is a master piece along with everyone in between these two poles.  I think to push back on how someone feels about a film is kinda like pushing back on someone that doesn’t like pickles which are in fact ..disgusting.    Personally I don’t think the films intent was to educate how 3 event works in detail. There were elements of that scattered throughout. I feel it was meant to capture the audience by putting the emotions, passions, and drive of the athlete on full display. I think there is some relevance in saying Joe public may not walk away with a full understanding of how each element of 3 event works. But it would be equally relevant to say they would walk away with a much deeper understanding of just how elite and on par with the worlds best these athletes are. So, maybe some of the audience looked into the details of the sport more than they would have. Maybe that’s the intent of the film maker. But until he or they chime in with who the film was for and what the films intent was, we are just an audience tossing out educated guesses and deciding if they met our own personal expectations. So in short, go easy on @6balls. Tough skin or not, it’s how he feels about a work of art. 

[MDB1056]

People in any field get myopic about that field, and lose objectivity.  Invariably those with differing opinions or not positive comments about any works are frowned upon. Reality is that feedback from all is needed. Expecting 100% positive feedback on anything is simply unrealistic.  

[Andy]

Well done.

[Rednucleus]

Found this on Malibucrew forum tonight - looks like casual skiers like this too.

 

CaptainMorgan

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Posted 3 hours ago

found this on youtube - documentary about waterskiing that just came out.  i found it entertaining even though i've only slalom'd casually a few dozen times and never trick'd or jumped. But i assume others on here may enjoy it

AND posted on Planet Nautique this morning 7/1

Edited July 1, 2023 by Rednucleus
new info

[Than_Bogan]

I totally disagree with @Horton on a top-level point:  I think this forum is exactly the right place to critique this film.  I realize the irony in telling the creator of a forum what the forum should be for, but I can't imagine a better place to gather some reactions from one of the likeliest audiences.

I loved the very beginning.  I thought anybody serious about anything could relate, and would be drawn in to learn more about waterskiing.  I was getting excited about sending this to all of my track athletes who always ask about what competitive waterskiing is.

But after the intro, it wasn't the film I was hoping for.   It quickly turned to more of a documentary about TWBC.  Mildly interesting to me as a TWBC fan, but not something that helps make this unknown sport become less unknown.  If I do end up sending a link to this film to non-water-skiers, it will be with a message of "watch the first 5 minutes."

[Horton]

@Than_Bogan You may ( or may not ) tell your wife if her dress is unflattering. In that case it is just you and her. What I think people forget ( generally on the internet ) is that potentially thousands of people read what is written. 

Imagine you're at work giving a presentation in front of your whole department, including your boss and there's always that one guy who stands up at the back of the room and tells everyone how you did it wrong. How many times will this happen before it would really piss you off? 

FYI - lack of participation in this forum from elite skiers can be directly correlated to that imaginary guy in the conference room described above. Think about that.

My pushback in the thread is not really about the film ( although I disagree with that also ). My frustration is that there's always that one guy who is looking for something to complain. It is internet culture in general. 

The below Mike Tyson meme is a bit over the top for BallOfSpray but I totally agree with his point.

[Than_Bogan]

Well I certainly agree with Mike Tyson on that!!

Maybe not totally convinced by @Horton's arguments, but does help me understand where you're coming from.

[DaveD]

23K views so far.  They must have done something right.  

I'm happy the TWBC team made something that isn't a copy of the Flow Point work Marcus has done.   I'm also happy to have some waterski content to watch as I get rained out today.  

[Andre]

44 minutes ago, DaveD said:

23K views so far.  They must have done something right.  

I'm happy the TWBC team made something that isn't a copy of the Flow Point work Marcus has done.   I'm also happy to have some waterski content to watch as I get rained out today.  

Pretty sure i saw @MarcusBrown name in the film credits...I love his FPtv stuff.

[jgills88]

On the topic of views, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it already has more clicks than Igor Morozov's Inflight documentary that came out a couple years ago! It's the closest comparison of projects that I can think of and it's awesome that almost double the people have clicked on this in under a week!

[MitchellM]

Watched it with the family after a long day of skiing.  Everyone enjoyed the film.  My daughter and I were at the Worlds at Jack Travers which made it particularly entertaining to relive that great event.

My only gripe was not enough Regina.

[BlueSki]

We watched it when we finally had time to relax and enjoy it. Awesome work. Thanks to everyone at TWBC for putting it together.  

[Wish]

@Horton there may be that one guy that stands up but I bet there’s a bunch more that are happy he said it so they don’t have too and get the blow back he got. Just sayn. My wife enjoyed the film. Planning do get my daughters view as she was into film making for a while. And skis.