September 17, 2015
by Motorcycle Film Festival | Sep 17, 2015 | Uncategorized |
Todd Huffman with John and Jack Penton at AIM Expo
Last year “Penton: The Story of John Penton” showed in the MFF, winning Best Feature Documentary, and this year you have “The Carlsbad USGP: 1980.” Both of these films document men revolutionized Motocross in drastically different ways. What was it about these two that drove you to make these films?
Well, I have more of a motocross background than enduro/off-road so I knew about the Carlsbad USGP because as a kid I watched it on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Back then, it was the only motocross on TV and you had to wait seven months after the actual race to see the TV coverage. But, I missed the 1980 race on TV as I was into other things at the time. It wasn’t until about 2007 when I saw the race on a crappy DVD copy that I realized that this was like motocross’ “Miracle on Ice” story (1980 Olympics Hockey, USA vs. USSR). Because Marty Moates took his own life in 2006 it made the story all that more special. For Penton, reading Ed Young Blood’s book “John Penton and the Off-road Motorcycle Revolution” in 2007 made me sit up and say, “Wow! Here’s a story to be told that many will find hard to believe”.
What draws you to Motocross, over drag or landspeed racing and time trials?
I grew up riding and racing motocross and dirt bikes so most of the historical figures I’ve covered were all heroes to me as a younger person. And, once you get these guys talking, their stories are like fine wine. It only gets better.
“The Carlsbad USGP: 1980,” featuring Marty Moates, screens on Friday, Sept. 25 at 5pm
Both films rely on extensive archival footage and editing? Can you tell us about how you went about researching the footage and incorporating it into your particular narrative?
For the USGP we heavily relied on the actual TV footage that we licensed from ESPN/ABC. It was great story telling at the time with the race announcers really getting excited as the day unfolded. Plus we used a lot of family pics, movies, etc. from the Moates and other families plus stills from magazines, etc. This was also the first time we had to produce re-creations for footage and archival materials we didn’t have. Shooting a Marty Moates stand in and replica bike in the middle of the pits of a 2010 race for what was suppose to be 1980 was really fun and we did more of this in Penton. We always try to find the most accurate picture or archival film clip that matches the era of the particular story. It’s lazy to drop in a picture of John Penton from 1969 when you really need one from 1968. The bikes are different, clothing, etc. You lose the audience when you jump back and forth because a lot of our audiences are enthusiasts so they know…”Hey, that’s the not the right year BMW motorcycle”.
Documentaries are more than an objective relay of facts. What were your visions and goals of these unique stories?
It’s one thing to do a play-by-play of an event or someone’s life, but you need to create emotional threads that anyone can relate to whether they know anything about the subject or not. Big topics like family, determination, fear, anger, despair, triumph, etc. relate to all humans, and you look for stories that have those big themes that will make anyone smile or tear up. We like to say if we made some folks get a little choked up, we did our job.
What do you find to be the more difficult aspects of filmmaking?
Raising money. Hah! No that’s always hard. I think the hardest part with docs is knowing what and how much to cut down to a manageable length. It’s a brutal process and feels like you are cutting limbs off your children.
You were a professional BMX racer in the ’80s. Has that translated to motorcycles? What have you been riding, motorized or not, and where?
It only translated in that I got into BMX because we were too poor to afford motorcycles so BMX was new and the next closest thing. I ride motorcycles today and have a Yamaha 1200cc adventure bike that we travel with and a 450x Honda for playing around out in the desert. As far as pedaling goes, a mountain bike that doesn’t get ridden enough. Hah!
“On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter” screened at MFF 2014
You were also a producer of “On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter” which also screened last year at the MFF. How did you come about and what was it like to be involved?
I had produced and directed an episode of our TV series “The Motocross Files” and met Bruce Brown for that in 2007. I asked him if he ever considered doing another OAS film and he said, “Only if Dana (his son) does it”. When the 2010 Catalina Grand Prix event was going to happen I thought what a great event to kick off a new OAS. I contacted Dana Brown and he said, “Yeah, Let’s do it.” We shot there and eventually Red Bull took it over with Dana directing but we know we were the ones who got it going. Super neat to see if finally get on the big screen!
Are you working on anything now that you can share?
We just finished producing a TV commercial for Lucas Oil with the Indianapolis Colts’ Andrew Luck and we are getting another Kickstarter campaign going for our Catalina Grand Prix documentary which we hope to have ready for MFF 2016. Plus other things.
Will we be seeing you at MFF this year?
Possibly…a lot going on right now, so the film may have to speak for itself on Friday night.
“The Carlsbad USGP: 1980” screens on Friday, Sept. 25 at 5pm
Buy tickets HERE
Included for VIP Pass holders – available HERE
September 16, 2015
by Motorcycle Film Festival | Sep 16, 2015 | Uncategorized |
Last year you had two episodes of your series Stories of Bike in the MFF, and this year you have two more. Can you tell us a little bit about how you selected the titles that you submitted?
Both of these films are pretty special to me and are about self-discovery and how a motorcycle is the most amazing tool to have in the help of this process. However, both episodes are kind of on the extreme of the discovery spectrum. One is an exploration to the opposite side of the world, and the other is the re-discovery of a city and the new experiences within it that a motorcycle helped to uncover.
So for the festival this year I submitted two episodes from Season 2, which I was still in the process of making while I was in NYC for the MFF last year! The first episode is “Answers.” The second film, “Discovery,” only became possible because of the MFF itself, because of you wonderful people! So, I had two episodes last year.
Through the generosity of your community in Australia you were able to attend last year. While you were here you filmed “Discovery,” which is screening this year. Can you tell us about that experience because I understand that it was quite different than your normal process and it is the first outside of Australia?
The filming of the “Discovery” episode was, quite simply, magical. Already, I was on a high before arriving due to the spirit and generosity of the Sydney Café Racer community that raised the money to send me to the MFF, and I wanted to make the most of my time in NYC. I also reached out to Corinna to help me find a suitable subject for an episode, and we found Kristen and her story of rediscovering New York once she started riding again. Coincidentally, just before I left, a New York based cinematographer, Brian Stansfield, reached out to me saying he loved the Stories of Bike series and wanted to offer his services to shoot an episode somehow. I said I was actually going to be in New York for the MFF, so why don’t we shoot something together!
“Stories of Bike: Discovery” screens on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 2:15pm
What about “Answers,” the second film in the MFF this year, how did you and Jonathan meet and are you working on a follow up now that he has completed his trip?
“Answers,” came about from Royal Enfield asking if I would be interested in submitting a film for an event they were organising. I said sure, so I went on the hunt for a local Royal Enfield rider and came across this guy, Jonathan, who I was going to be riding from Sydney to London on a ’69 Royal Enfield Bullet 350, the same year and model of bike his grandfather used to ride. When I finally met Jono and he told me about the reasons for his ride, personal loss and the meaning of modern manhood, I knew he had an amazing story to tell. “Answers” was planned to be a three-parter, with this first part covering his preparations and lead up to leaving.
“Stories of Bike: Answers” screens on Friday, Sept. 25th at 8pm
It seems that the episodes have become a little bit longer in general, are there aspects of filmmaking – narrative, directing, editing – that you are experimenting with or trying to consciously develop?
The episodes are tending to get a little longer. I’m not exactly sure why this is. I probably ask too many questions during the interview. But each episode is just the length it needs to be to tell the story it wants to tell. And also, it’s always hard to trim a good story.
What do you find to be the more difficult aspects of filmmaking?
The hardest part is always getting into the edit, reviewing all the footage. It always feels like a slow start and that I’m never making any progress. But sure enough, the story and the tone of the video begin to reveal themselves and take shape. Then it becomes fun again.
What have you been up to in the interim year?
Since the last festival it’s just been about keeping the work coming in. In the last 12 months I’ve really focused on my video work full time to improve my skills. It was a slow start to the year, but now I’ve got some regular work happening that always seems to push my comfort zone.
What’s in the pipeline?
I’ve got a couple of cool moto related projects in the pipeline. The first one had me back in the States last April to shoot Shinya Kimura, which was really special. His first video was the one that definitely inspired me to do this whole thing and clinched my love of telling motorcycle stories. I can’t say too much about it, but hopefully you’ll get to meet some familiar and new moto scene faces from around the world in a really interesting way.
I also got to shoot the lovely MotoLady (aka Alicia Elfving) up in Ojai. This will be the premiere episode of Stories of Bike: Season 3, when I get around to editing it and finishing season 2!
What have you been riding and where?
Actually, I’ve been riding a lot of other people’s bikes. I got to ride an old ’48 of Shinya’s up in the San Gabriel Mountains and even took Alicia’s Ducati Monster for a little spin. Back in Sydney I had the pleasure of riding Mark Hawwa’s (founder of the Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride) custom Triumph Scrambler for a couple of weeks while he was in Japan. So much fun.
Are you coming to NYC this year? If not, we’ll have to try to work something out for us to come to you!
Unfortunately no, but I’ll hopefully have Brian and Kristen representing for me. I’ll definitely be there in spirit!
“Stories of Bike: Answers” screens on Friday, Sept. 25th at 8pm – buy tickets HERE
“Stories of Bike: Discovery” screens on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 2:15pm – buy tickets HERE
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