Sean Kilgus is one of wakeboardings top videographers and is still changing the way things are done in the industry. Working with the sports top athletes Kilgus is able to produce some of the most influential videos of their time. His latest film DRIVE rivaled most films in quality and cinematography. Kilgus is currently filming a new video with Danny Harf and friends. The video will be documenting the progression of Danny Harf and Friends over the next year. Check out his website for a ton of videos and more info!

Sean Kilgus Interview

PW: Seems like you have been around the sport of wakeboarding forever with a camera in hand? How did you get started shooting?

SK:Haha...It does seem like forever sometimes. I actually started filming in college with some buddies of mine. We were heavy into our snowboarding and rode at a really cool mountain back home called Mt. Baker. There were a lot of good riders and we just wanted to document our riding at the time. We were always building booters and hiking out of bounds. I actually just found a bunch of my old DV tapes from around 2000-2004 of just old snow stuff. Every year after snowboarding was done, I was super excited to wakeboard and I just started meeting people locally like the The Ennen brothers and Danny Bergman up in Bellingham, Wa. The first rider I filmed was Brent Starr. He was the best rider around where I grew up and he was my hero back in the day. It was cool getting to work with him throughout the years in all my videos coming up.

PW: Working with the top athletes in the sport must really help the overall creative process. What’s it been like working with the legends of the sport?

SK:It has definitely been a great experience to work with riders like Danny Harf and others top notch riders like Rusty and Randall. Each one of these athletes has taught me a lot about what is important in their riding styles and have supported my creative growth throughout the years. I have always felt that the cast of riders in my films really shows how I perceive wakeboarding to be. Riders like Benny G and Randall can blow your mind one day and you feel like you just saw history in the making. The next day you go film double ups with Rusty and Danny and you just saw something totally different but just as awesome. I have also been humbled by the same riders and learned a lot about professionalism in this industry. I appreciate the athletes and all that they bring to my projects.

PW: You have shot a ton of videos. What's your most memorable one?

SK:I would say that The Butter Effect has always be the one that is the most memorable. That was the first time I learned how to shoot 16mm film. Gotta give Justin Stephen’s credit for helping learn in the beginning. Talk about patient. Haha. Justin is my hero. At the time of shooting BE, I was really trying to push myself and show the best riding at the time. I know that is the goal with every movie, but that was the first time that I got an opportunity to really push it creatively with the riders. They all got really involved and supported that movie. The Magazines did too. That was the most coverage for a movie I had ever received yet in my career.

PW: Can you tell us about your new DEFY movie based around Danny Harf and Friends?

SK:Danny and I have been kicking around the idea of doing a movie for a number of years. Being a caliber of rider like Danny, he always has a lot of very important projects and responsibilities to uphold every year. So we wanted to wait until we could truly focus and get the movie done right. The Teaser we released this summer was the first step. It turned out really good and I know Danny was pumped to follow through and see where we could take this project. The movie is based solely on progression of wakeboarding. Since Danny is such an innovator, his direction is endless. We basically just want to make a great film that best shows where he is at as a rider and where he sees wakeboarding today. That is why we have the “and Friends” to add to this progression. Our cast is growing and will include; Rusty Malinoski, Benny G, Kevin Henshaw, Shawn Watson, Shane and Parks, all the boys in Ronix for Radar session, the Fox team, and more. I don’t want to give away too much, but Danny and boys have by far surpassed expectations from last year already. Very exciting to see these riders influencing each other every time we film.

PW: You've used the film camera alot compared to most guys shooting everything digital. What makes you want to spend all the extra time, money, and hours working with film?

SK:Ya. That one. Well, its tough these days to justify the expense. When I started filming, I always gauged my abilities and accomplishments off of the great filmmakers before me like Ronn from Sidewayz, Justin Stephens of course, and for sure off of snowboarding films. These guys pushed it made me want to learn how to shoot film so I could earn their respect coming up. I think that it is a necessary skill to learn. You truly learn a lot more about what it takes to get a shot and why you need to think things through before you go the next set. Nowadays it’s not so important to shoot film it seems like. With so many new adapters and cameras out there. I am glad to know that when the time comes to shoot film this year, I know we can get what we are hoping to get.

PW: Your mostly known for shooting wakeboarding. What else have you pointed a camera at?

SK:Snowboarding was my first experience shooting and then into wakeboarding full time. For the past few years I have shot the whole Nautique boats product line and produced their webisodes and product DVD with Ryan Wolfe. I have always produced a ton of product videos for Hyperlite, Ronix, and some work for Body Glove. That has truly been a good eye opener for me as far as expectations and professionalism. I have shot a few local commercials and a lot of product based stuff. Oh ya. Some weddings. That’s the goods…haha

PW: You have any tips for a videographer who is trying to get into shooting action sports?

SK:The best advice I can give is to love what you do. You will always run into road blocks through every step of the way. It’s your ability to move past these tough spots and focus on why you are doing this stuff in the first place. I have a time every year that I call the dark month, where I am just burnt out and need a break and that is exactly what I have to do is go take a break. I find you can come back and have a clear and fresh perspective afterwards.

PW: Where can people see your recent work and keep updated on your progress with DEFY?

SK:I have been putting tons of new stuff on my website.www.bfyproductions.com We have a ton of behind the scenes stuff and teasers. Follow us on Twitter under bfyproductions.com and on Facebook under Sean Kilgus. Also find us on Wakeboarding magazines website and in the issues.

Thanks!

Sean Kilgus

With winter just around the corner and for some parts of the US its already in action. Some lucky people still have favorable conditions in the southern states for wakeboarding. But the cold is coming for everyone! Check out the following gear from Jetpilot to stay warm this winter on the boat, on the shore, and on the water.

2010 Jetpilot Vest to keep you afloat.


2010 Jetpilot wetsuit to keep you warm in the water


2010 Jetpilot boardshorts for when you go to cable and everyone makes fun of you for not wearing boardshorts over your wetsuit



2010 Boombox hoody by Jetpilot. Everyone needs a hoody

A new wakeboard company? Rick Gonzalez has been pined to this new company as the co-founder. There is no more info as of yet. The info I have is that the company is based out of california and is a new high end board company. Ricky G stated that Phalanx products are going to be top of the line and the best quality out there. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

photo: bryan soderlind
Brandon Mclean is a good friend of mine and a talented artist. Brandon resides at one of the most progressive wakeboarding locations in the world and is inspired daily by the amount of progression on the water. Read more about Brandon and find out some really interesting facts about the artist.

PW: How did you get started doing artwork?

BM:I'm not entirely sure how I got started making art. It has been a gradual process over the last nine years or so. I had a stroke in 2000 when I was 18 and the artistic urge began to grow after that. I have tried to research the effect of strokes on the brain in regards to changes in creativity, but I believe for myself that blood clot that rocked the right side of brain sparked something, because I previously wasn't into art @ all. Then the process started slow with working with collages in journals, and working on paper. Eventually I began to work on canvas and different pieces of scrap wood, just trying out all kinds of methods, and techniques. I just started running with it truthfully, making work and enjoying the ride. I say keep experimenting, and follow your intuition, you'll be amazed @ what you can turn out sometimes. It's honestly my favorite way to spend a day..

PW: Has the creative environment of living at the projects and being close friend to pat ponakos affected your work?

BM:Pat and the Projects have been great in regards to affecting my work. I have been there for three years now, and I don't think I would have been able to make as much work as I have if it wasn't for that place. First off I am deeply in debt to Pat for his generosity, encouragement, and friendship over these past few years, and not to mention allowing me to use his wide array of power tools, that he has to make different surfaces and installations.. Buy Ridgid tools !! Also meeting so many other creative people that come out to the projects has been amazing. Of course all the riders and their own sense of creativity on the water, but also numerous other artists, photographers, and film makers. All these awesome people making it in life doing something they have passion for. 'Misfits live and breathe in an atmosphere of passion' (Saying on the first Projects t-shirt I designed)

PW: Can you explain your work? Its not your normal paintings.

BM:Umm.. I always seem to go back to the phrase 'character excursions' when describing the paintings. I really enjoy the stories behind people and events that take place in the everyday that shove the individual along the path of life. I am so curious about the mysteries behind people; where they came from, what makes them turn out the way they do. Everyone has a story, many as interesting as a hollywood movie, yet we worship a well known star while the guy you see riding a lawnmower down the sidewalk could have a much more interesting personal history. I like to let the viewers of the work find things that they can relate to, whether it's a picture, or a word, or color. I feel everyone can connect to the work in their very own way. Re-connecting to their personal memories..

PW: I know you use alot of different types of canvases. Whats the coolest canvass youve made into a piece of art.

BM:I usually tend to paint on wood because it's much more economical than canvas.. I can take a sheet of plywood for $20 bucks and build 6 or 8 big pieces where as one pre-stretched canvas can cost you $20 bucks. But I guess the coolest thing I made into art would probably have to be the road gap out @ the Projects.. The old lake to lake transfer from back in 2000 or 2001. I took a large canvas transfer and surrounded it with tons of scrap wood from various rail building experiments and built a giant wood juxtaposition. I had a great time making that one, although now two years later it's pretty dilapidated.. 'Alter Egos are Great'

PW: The large store front display you made for Urban Outfitters was a pretty large scale art piece. What was it like working on that size of work?

BM:I loved working on the window display for Urban Outfitters. I had been slowly working on these small wooden blocks, a homage of sorts to baseball cards. They were filled with all kinds of topics ranging from family photos, baseball logos, or Kennedy assassination newspaper clippings. They were more of an exercise to get working on a small scale, to kinda jump start the art making for the day, working out my own observations and interests. When I came across the opportunity to display @ Urban Outfitters I thought why not just expand on that idea of hundreds of various blocks of collage and paint. I cut up over two sheets of plywood into 4" x 6" blocks and went through the paper archives, pulling so many images from the past. Going in to set up that day was awesome, I just had all the supplies, an ipod, and no idea how I was gonna hang it all up. Just letting the composition come out. It only took about 8 hours...

PW: How do you get inspired for each different piece of art?

BM:Getting inspired always seems to be different. Sometimes it comes from seeing other peoples art. Like after I go to an art show, I can't wait to get home and start working on my stuff. Also sometimes from movies or just various patterns or typography you see in the world.. A lot of the time though it comes from the lapse of time of not doing art, and knowing that I have to get stuff done for various commitments, and getting stuff made to satisfy my own needs as well. I like this quote though from artist Chuck Close ' "Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and get to work"

PW: Where can people see your work and maybe purchase a piece?

BM:You can check out my work primarily on my website www.elus1v.com. I try to update it quite frequently as each piece is made, or after I have various shows. I also have an etsy store (elus1v.etsy.com) where you can purchase works...

Or just email me anytime and we can work something out..

PW: Wheres the next show or display your work will be showcased?

BM:I have a few different shows coming up.. I will have one piece in a group show called 'Life Essentials' which will be on display through the Art Whino Gallery @ Art Basel down in Miami. I also have a couple exhibitions @ venues in Orlando and Tampa and I will have a booth @ surf expo in January, which I'm particularly excited about.. Check out my website (http://www.elus1v.com) for updates and details... Thanks..

Alliancewakeboard magazine and Arnette recently teamed up for a contest. The winners got to hang out with Scott Byerly and Randall Harris for a day and ride with them. It was a great experience for the winners and it was fun for all. Riding at Orlando Water sports all day and finishing the day at Kobe Steak House.

The biggest buzz on every wakeboard message board this week has been about Aaron Rathy. Rathy a former Natique boat team rider is now without a boat sponsor. No one knows the motives behind Natique dropping Rathy. The word on the street is Rathy contract came to an end this year and Natique did not sign him back. Rathy is on the top of his game and I am sure He will find a new boat sponsor soon. When we find out well be sure to share it!