Saturday, September 26, 2009

WME Vs. Level 1

Most of you may be planning on attending a ski movie premiere soon to get stoked for the ski season. Most of you will probably go to Warren Miller's 'Dynasty.' Most of you would probably enjoy it and walk out of the theater with that buzzing tingling sensation that you only get when you can't go skiing, but you really really want to, or when you're waiting for the lift to open on a three foot day and you're first in line.

Before you go and spend a lot of money on a mediocre ski flick that's a year behind all other ski flicks, consider this: Warren Miller Entertainment (which has no affiliation with Warren Miller, the ski legend, because he doesn't like the direction they have taken with their films) is suing a small, independent company called Level 1 Productions Level 1 makes my favorite ski movies as of late and have done nothing wrong or illegal. Josh Berman, Level 1's director, asked if Warren Miller would contribute his voice for a small section of the movie as a surprise. Again, Warren Miller has no affiliation with WME. WME is claiming that Mr. Berman has infringed on their companies copyrights. This is a totally bogus suit and on par with suing for too hot of coffee, or for McDonald's making you fat.

I realize most of you probably don't care, but that's the gist of it. It's hard enough for these small companies to make it in the industry. They need as much support as they can get. Buy their movies, go to their premieres, and buy their merchandise. If you care. These 'indy' movies show what's happening at the top of our sport in the most creative way possible. Unlike the latest Warren Miller movies.

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