Jeremy Pettit, now director of Santa Monica-based production company Porch House, began his filmmaking journey in the shadow of British Columbia's mountains, documenting the local skate and snowboard scene. After exhausting tapes of other filmmakers and studying their techniques, he bought his own Hi-8 camera and began teaching himself.
“Recording the staff, finding little funny real-life moments to go with the tricks, and then editing them together…that was my basis,” he told LBB's Ben Conway.
Jeremy enjoyed the DIY side of extreme sports in BC and used it as a film school to understand the process from pre-production to marketing and distribution. This independence and the challenges posed by Mother Nature gave the young director a can-do attitude and indomitable perseverance, a spirit that continues to live on today.
“Taking risks and acting cowboy-esque was always part of the puzzle. The gear has been put through the ringer! A sleepless night of editing. You make the end result as good as possible. I just figured it out for you.”
This cowboy's creativity on the streets and in the snow has helped Jeremy become just as comfortable in the editing room as he is behind the camera. His energetic, rhythmic style (often cut to music) was cultivated over many years in the action sports genre, and he made his way into documentary (and later commercial) work, where he blended story moments with these action sequences. It has since developed further. “Keeping the editing pace very rhythmic came naturally to me,” he says. “And now it's condensed into his 30- to 60-second spots.”
After several years of shooting video, Jeremy bought a 16mm Bolex camera and, on the advice of his close friend and filmmaker Greg Hunt, took a black and white photography course at Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, where he learned the basics of film. I learned. And the lighting.
“That really helped me as I got more serious about cinematography,” he says. That was great advice! ”
His career was then propelled by the original series 'Blueprint', which he directed for Red Bull. It served as a transition from the pure action-heavy projects he had previously done to more story-driven work, which he said was “like a crash course in developing and producing small stories.” he says. From there, he started doing more branded content work, which led to commercials and everything he's working on now.
Making Jeremy's films these days requires a great deal of preparation, especially since top athletes often only have a few hours to film. His recent Toyota spot, for example, combines scenic outdoor photography with a compelling and heartfelt story about a Winter Olympian. This meant he needed to comprehensively script the story and interview talent in advance to prepare for filming.
“We build a story and a shot list from those pre-interviews, and then we usually have a scouting day to further leverage that list. And once we have that plan in place, we do a little freestyle and roll it out. Moments can be captured, but planning is the backbone of our days. And when winter athletes live and ride in beautiful environments, beautiful backdrops seem to come naturally.”
While this beautiful mountainous terrain is picturesque, it also has its challenges. That's what Jeremy experienced while shooting with his ultra-stable Cineflex camera from his helicopter in the Swiss Alps. “We started rehearsing a particular shot where we needed to time the dolly zoom as the three subjects entered their first descent. It needed to happen just as the riders were descending, so we revealed the skid just as the riders descended and followed them down the mountain from behind.”
After rehearsing the wild flight path several times, the cameraman, who was staring at a monitor under a black sheet, began to feel dizzy and requested an emergency stop at a nearby sky resort. To Jeremy's surprise, they narrowly landed in the middle of an open ski slope.
“I couldn't believe it was happening. Skiers and snowboarders passed by a parked helicopter as photographers sped up. The blades slowly turned. Then we… We loaded up again and used our talent to make shots!”
Despite his focus on the outdoors, Jeremy admits he's “not a super technical person” and uses crazy, parallax helicopter shots that can make camera operators feel sick. I'm far more interested in finding stories that resonate with me. “A bigger budget allows you to use better and more efficient tools, so I'm always happy to do it if it helps the story,” he says. “But without a good little story or concept, it’s just fluff to me.”
He continues, “I like to play in reality and the authentic world. I tend to be drawn to stories with heart and moments of emotional connection, even in sports spots. It's always nice to have some kind of human connection.'' One example is Jeremy's film “Window not a Wall'' for sports apparel company Eastbay, featuring Olympic gold medalist Helen Maroulis.
Jeremy tells the story of how Helen overcame the traumatic brain injury she suffered shortly after winning the Olympics, and draws on all of his experience to capture the emotional elements along with some really cool wrestling scenes. He says it was necessary.
But each action-packed job, emotional or otherwise, has its own demands. This makes crew selection one of the most important aspects of his job, especially when working in the mountains. “The camera department [needs] DP and AC that allow you to work comfortably in extreme weather or walk around in the snow. The 1st AC attracting attention while snowboarding behind the DP (who also snowboards) is an example of how important the right crew is. ”
2024 will bring more secret (and potentially snowy) projects for Jeremy, with lots of quality time with his son and hopefully some opportunities to ride some waves, with the director always being the same. Which brings us back to the evergreen advice. Follow your instincts and listen to your little intuitions and creative intuitions. ”
Encouraging other filmmakers to hold on to those final shots that feel important and inevitably make you wish those shots had been in the editing room. He emphasizes the importance of working on projects that you are passionate about and are motivated to work on. fight for
“Don't worry too much about building things for someone else,” he says. “All of my favorite projects are the ones where I took as much creative control as possible and did what I felt was best for me. And thankfully, they seem to be other people's favorites too! ”