City, Park City
Photography: Courtesy of Park City Mountain Resort
It may not be art for art’s sake, but for snowboarding fans, it’s beautiful!
“I wanted the movie to be fun,” says Jim Mangan, producer, creator and co-director of the smash hit snowboarding film, “City, Park City.” Mangan’s movie idea became reality after he read a book called “The Alchemist.”
“The idea is follow your dreams, and if you follow your dreams, the whole world will conspire to help you,” asserts Mangan, whose vision was to blend a James Bond-type movie feel with the action of snowboarding.
After taking a $160,000 loan out against his home, Mangan then enlisted the support of several high-profile riders such as Olympic Gold Medalist Shawn White, Jeremy Jones and Aaron Bittner.
Unlike other skiing and snowboarding films, “City, Park City” was filmed in only one location — Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR). Using three cameras, Mangan and director Whitey McConnaughy explored every nook and kicker the resort offered.
Clearly showcasing the resort’s terrain park, “City, Park City” gives prospective riders the lay of the land at PCMR, proving why it has been ranked as North America’s #1 terrain park for the past three years by TransWorld SNOWboarding magazine.
Mangan waded through more than 100 hours of film, creating a movie that opens with a chase similar to that in a certain “007” flick. For a unique perspective, Mangan performed a first for ski industry films — utilizing a remote controlled helicopter camera.
“It has been well received,” says Mangan. “It was accepted to the X-Dance Film Festival, which is the biggest action film sports festival in the world.”
A staggering 200,000 full-length DVD copies of the film were also distributed as inserts in Future Snowboarding Magazine. “It was the first time that [the magazine] had sold out every single copy they had,” says Mangan.
Nominated for two X-Dance awards including “Best Emerging Filmmaker” and “Best Soundtrack,” Mangan assures us he will make another film — just as certain as Bond’s martini is shaken, not stirred.
For information on the film, see www.pcride.com.
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