Hey Mia, tell us a bit about yourself. What’s your current position in the snowboard industry?
I don’t really have an official position, but I would call myself a freelance „filmer” or videographer. I’ve been filming and editing snowboard videos for about ten years. Over the past eight years I’ve made it my career, working for Brighton Resort, USA Snowboard Slopestyle Team & Snowboarder Magazine. Lately, I’ve been branching out from only filming snowboarding, getting my hands in other action sports and reality tv projects. When I’m not working on a film, you can find me staying busy running my online vintage furniture shop, based in SLC, Utah.
"It's hard to imagine yourself doing something if you don't have any real-life examples of people like you succeeding at it. This is why diverse representations of gender, race and sexuality are so important! I would love to see more brands investing in diversity across the board, on snow and also behind the scenes."
Sounds like you’ve had a pretty epic career so far! Did snowboarding introduce you to filming, or did that start earlier?
Snowboarding was definitely the thing responsible for me ever picking up a camera. In the small town where I grew up, there was one skate shop that had a pretty limited stock of snowboard movies, and the ones I could get my hands on, I would literally play on loop non-stop. The ones I remember watching the most were FODT Cold World, Standard Films Paradox, and Mack Dawg Picture This. Those movies absolutely sparked my interest in filming and got me hooked on snowboard culture. Watching snowboard films and being more focused on the filming than the riding was the first time I really had any interest in filming or photography. Once I decided I wanted to make snowboard videos, I just leaned in and never really questioned it. For a really long time, I had tunnel vision and only wanted to film snowboarding, but over the last few years, I’ve grown to love making videos in pretty much any genre and also working in different roles in production.
I feel like the representation of women riders has really blown up in recent years, and that’s great. The content creators, however, are few and far between and the ones that are, seem a little overlooked. What do you think is stopping more women from getting behind the lens?
It’s hard to imagine yourself doing something if you don’t have any real-life examples of people like you succeeding at it. This is why diverse representations of gender, race and sexuality are so important! When I first started filming, I would feel so out of place and constantly have people comment on me existing as a girl with a camera. It was hard not having any representation, but when I started seeing projects like Peep Show that was filmed by women, it felt like it was possible for me to do it. I feel so fortunate to have had the platforms I have had in snowboarding, but the industry still has some work to do when it comes to highlighting voices of all genders and also creating opportunities for them. I would love to see more brands investing in gender diversity across the board, on snow and also behind the scenes.
It seems like there’s such a small proportion of women filmers out there. Did you find it difficult breaking into the industry, and do you think attitudes within the industry are changing?
I would be lying if I said it’s been easy trying to make it as a female filmer in such a male-dominated industry. When I was first starting out, I routinely dealt with rude, discouraging and sexist comments - and occasionally straight-up sexual harassment. It sucked for sure, but eventually, I learned to not let that stuff get to me and began to feel more confident as a videographer. Over the past few years, snowboarding has begun to address its sometimes toxic culture that has been exclusionary to women and other demographics, and I can’t imagine some of the harassment I dealt with a few years ago flying today. This is amazing progress, but there’s still more work to do. We all need to keep putting in the effort to make everyone feels like they belong, from female filmmakers to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ content creators and riders.
It’s so nice to hear that things are heading in a better direction. What do you think this representation means for the new generation of snowboarders coming in?
We are absolutely moving in the right direction as a community, and as we continue to work on amplifying more diverse voices, we are just opening the door for more people to fall in love with snowboarding. This new generation of riders is already benefiting from the growing representation of female and LGBTQ+ snowboarders and are bringing an influx of new talent and creativity. It’s really refreshing to see the one-dimensional snowboarder stereotype starting to break down in favour of a more nuanced and inclusive version.
"As we continue to work on amplifying more diverse voices, we are just opening the door for more people to fall in love with snowboarding."
What’s your advice for any women thinking of picking up a camera?
Just do it! The hardest part can be feeling like you have nothing to film, but sometimes you need to turn the camera on first, and the inspiration will come. Make things just to make them & not always with the intent of it having an audience, refine your craft and get those creative juices flowing in a low-pressure environment. Also, if you don’t know how to do something, there is no shame in a good YouTube tutorial.
Any other thoughts you’d like to add about the industry?
As women, we have to stop feeding into the scarcity mentality that there isn’t enough space in snowboarding for us all. It creates a hyper-competitive environment where we end up holding ourselves back by not sharing resources and knowledge with other women. There can be as many spots at the table as we as an industry choose to make, so instead of working against each other, let’s lift each other up and direct our energy towards changing the system and creating more space for women. This includes holding brands accountable for investing in more female and gender-diverse athletes and creatives, equal prize money, better contracts for women and creating more opportunities (i.e. video projects, events, social media coverage, etc.) for women to excel in.
Since COVID hit, I’ve taken a bit of a step back from filming snowboarding to explore other avenues of filmmaking and life. Taking some time off from the snowboarding world has been a great reminder to not take myself too seriously and that the ultimate goal of all of this is just to have fun! I’m excited to get back to working on projects that I’m passionate about. But right now, I’m just going with the flow and honestly have no idea what the future holds for me, but I have a feeling it will involve snowboarding with my friends and having a lot of fun.
