If you were shredding park on the East Coast in the years after the turn to the millennium, you logged onto SASFilms.com every Monday to watch single clips of the best tricks that guys like Ben Grunow, Derek Klick, and Jon Lippiat had done over the weekend. One of skiing’s first popular video-sharing communities, SAS Films WAS East Coast skiing for years, thanks in part to Neil Sotirakopoulos’s tireless efforts filming everything and navigating the possibilities of the early stages of the internet. Culminating in the amateur and still classic film Wicked, the talent, shots, and careers that came out of the people behind and in front of the lenses at SAS represented the strongest era of East Coast skiing in recent memory.
In Part II of this two-part interview, Neil talks about life since the days of SAS Films.
What was your path like going from SAS to bigger projects and companies and then ending up with Orage?
Lost and found? After Wicked I set out to launch a new hybrid dvd/web video magazine called Queued. It was pretty close to launching, but like a lot of things I’ve worked on, the project eventually succumbed to what my friends like to call “Neil time.” I took it as far as filming a first issue, running a print ad in Freeze, collaborating with a guest artist for the art in the first issue, and pitched the whole package with a couple preview segments to potential sponsors at SIA.
Cover art for Queued DVD Magazine Issue #0. Skier is Craig Coker
In the mean time I was living in Mammoth and working on various freelance projects with Level 1, Orage, Poorboyz, Line, Jiberish, Joystick, and a few other shops and brands struggling to keep the whole SAS Films dream afloat. Even though it was one of the worst snow years on record, that one winter I spent in Mammoth is one of the most memorable of my life. By Spring 2007 I was pretty far in the negative financially, and when Orage offered me a full time job I jumped on the opportunity and moved to Montreal.
What did you do for Orage? My job at Orage sounds pretty dreamy when I think back on it. I was working on a mashup of backend web development, video production, and marketing, all revolving around orage.com and how it related to the brand, athletes, events, and partners.
How did you end up leaving that company?
It’s probably and unfortunate character trait of mine but I feel like I get locational A.D.D from staying in the same place for too long. Montreal is an amazing city and I met some great friends there, but in the end I’m not a city person at heart and I needed to get back in the mountains. At the end of 2010 my wife and I sold most of our large possessions, put the rest in storage, and moved into a 1989 Volkswagen van.
You’ve been living out of your van with your wife and dog. What kind of woman is she to tolerate such a lifestyle and what have you been up to?
Kerry has been a part of SAS Films since the beginning. The first year the two of us met we spent most of our time together skiing at Mount Snow, and she’s been involved behind the scenes on pretty much every project that SAS Films has ever released.
Wife Kerry and Neil, new beginnings in their new mobile home.
You’ve been living out of your van with your wife and dog. What kind of woman is she to tolerate such a lifestyle and what have you been up to?
Kerry has been a part of SAS Films since the beginning. The first year the two of us met we spent most of our time together skiing at Mount Snow, and she’s been involved behind the scenes on pretty much every project that SAS Films has ever released.
Neil, Kerry, and dog Koda at Crater Lake, June 30th 2011
Coming up with the “van plan” (as we like to call it) was a joint effort, and it actually suits our lifestyle pretty well. We both work online so as long as we have internet access (and we’re not broken down somewhere) we’re good to go. Kerry teaches art classes online and is working on publishing a children’s book. I’m back on the entrepreneurial track and working on a new web project, leantu.com. Leantu is basically a web app for brands, retailers, and press to connect and share product information. Most of the features and ideas going into it are based on my past experiences working with companies in the ski industry. It’s still in beta right now, but I’m hoping to get that rolled out in the near future.
Who have you stayed in touch with in the ski scene since you “left” it?If talking to people once or twice a year counts as keeping in touch, then it would be a long list. Otherwise, I pretty much suck at keeping in touch with people, including my close friends and family which I never feel great about. As someone who works on computers and websites for most of the day, the last thing I want to do when I’m not working is open my computer and chat online or keep up with Facebook. No mater who I manage to catch up with, if it’s on a chairlift, it’s awesome.
Have you been skiing much this past year and what have you guys been trying to do with your van lifestyle?I haven’t been skiing nearly as much as I’d like to this winter. Living a vagabond lifestyle and trying to launch a company on the side doesn’t leave much money left over for lift tickets. My goal for this season was to rediscover as many of the places as I could on nelsap.org(one of my favorite websites), but the winter we had in the Northeast this year wasn’t much help. Hopefully by the time people are reading this on BroBomb I’ll be camped in the desert somewhere outside of Mammoth, California.
Snowday at the office.
What was your favorite shoot you’ve ever been on?
Retallack lodge with the Orage crew in March 2011. Everything about that place, the people, the terrain, the snow, just kept one-upping itself the whole time we were there. We managed to squeeze in some free runs at the end of the trip and each one was the new best run of my life.
Left to Right: Jon Hartley, Neil Sotirakopoulos, Mike Nick, Banks Gilberti, Tatum Monod, JP Auclair, Karl the Gnarl, Charley Ager, Tim Shanks, and Dave Kelleher.This trip will stay with me forever because I also consider it to be my last “working” photoshoot as a filmer. It was a very tough decision that I’ve already regretted several times, but I parted ways with most of my camera gear after that. One of my life goals is to get back to Retallack on my own dime, with no cameras, and just a small group of friends to shred.
Any advice for all the young kids with 5D’s and Final Cut trying to make a name these days?
Treat your audio like video
See you at IF3
Have fun, period.
I’d also like to throw in a shout out to Dave Foster for all his work on sasfilms.com and Brian Megliola for all his help on Wicked, along with the whole crew of athletes, friends, and supporters who made both projects possible. Thank you.
wow wicked interview, keep them coming!
The Neil has surfaced. Wicked is a classic!