ADVISORY BOARD

Austin Pendleton (Actor, Director, Playwright)

Austin received a 2007 DRAMA DESK AWARD for his contribution as "actor, director, playwright, and teacher - A Renaissance Man of the American Theatre." His third play, ORSON’S SHADOW premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago and recently enjoyed an Off-Broadway run. Pendleton has directed numerous productions including the Broadway production of THE LITTLE FOXES with Elizabeth Taylor and the world premiers of SAY GOODNIGHT, GRACIE and THE RUNNER STUMBLES. Mr. Pendleton has also directed at the prestigious Steppenwolf Theatre and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. He was the Artistic Director of The Circle Repertory Theatre in New York. His acting career includes the Broadway original cast productions of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, HAIL SCRAWDYKE, DOUBLES and the Lincoln Center and Broadway revivals of DIARY OF ANNE FRANK and THE LITTLE FOXES, directed by Mike Nichols. Off-Broadway appearances include THE SUNSET LIMITED, EDUCATING RITA, OH DAD, POOR DAD, THE LAST SWEET DAYS OF ISAAC, SOPHISTRY and the title roles in HAMLET, RICHARD III, and UNCLE VANYA. Mr. Pendleton has appeared in over 50 films: SKIPPING CHRISTMAS, PICCADILLY JIM, FINDING NEMO, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, AMISTAD, TRIAL AND ERROR, THE FANTASTICKS, TWO DAYS IN THE VALLEY, THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES, THE ASSOCIATE, GUARDING TESS, MY COUSIN VINNY, MR. AND MRS. BRIDGE, SHORT CIRCUIT, STARTING OVER, THE FRONT PAGE, WHAT’S UP DOC? and CATCH 22. Television appearances include: LAW AND ORDER, SVU, HOMICIDE, OZ, FRASER, AMERICAN DREAMER, MIAMI VICE, and ST. ELSEWHERE, among others. Mr. Pendleton’s first published play BOOTH, starred Frank Langella and played at the Long Wharf Theatre as well as Off-Broadway. His second play UNCLE BOB, was originally produced at the Mint Theatre in New York. His plays have been produced in three continents.Recently directed Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard in Classic Stage Company's production of UNCLE VANYA.

Greg Stump (Filmmaker, Modern Sports Film Pioneer, Creator of the Boardercross)

Greg Stump's ski pioneering began at an early age when he joined a junior masters program at Pleasant Mountain Ski Area in Maine. In 1970 at age nine he won his first competition at Sugarloaf and his prowess in this PSIA style technique competition led him to freestyle, a discipline that took off at Pleasant Mountain in the seventies.

In 1978 Greg won the Junior National Championships at Copper Mountain, Colorado. His strengths were moguls and ballet which combined with aerials to fill out the competition. It was a family effort as one year Greg, Sister Kim, and brother Geoff all won their age groups at the Nationals. In 1979, Greg won the the North American Freestyle Championships at Edelweiss Valley in Ontario, becoming the first ever international amateur freestyle champion.

This was followed by two years on the professional freestyle circuit where he continued to score victories in bumps and ballet.

His freestyle prowess caught the eye of another ski pioneer, Ski magazine editor Doug Pfeiffer who introduced Greg to Harry Leonard who featured him on revolving ski decks at his nationwide ski shows. This led him to an introduction to ski film maker Dick Barrymore and he appeared in "Vagabond Skiers". This was Barrymore's last ski film and Stump's next appearance was in a Warren Miller film.

His work with these two ski film pioneers convinced Greg that he could make ski films and this is where he had his greatest impact.

Not content with displaying pretty skiers in Powder, his films combined offbeat skiing with rock sound tracks appealing to a new audience. In his first movie in 1983 Greg focused his cameras on snow boarders as well as well as skiers and his 100 college tour helped that sport grow.

Before Stump extreme skiing was known to only a handful of skiers who skied beyond the boundaries of ski areas and within ski area boundaries beyond the groomed runs. Extreme skiing appeared in each of his films but in 1988 "Blizzard of Aahhh's" considered by many to be the best ski film ever produced, brought Scot Schmidt, Glen Plake, and Mike Hattrup together on terrain that would terrify most skiers. They skied near-vertical chutes and dropped over improbable cliffs, all shot with great cinematic film angles. In his narration and sizzling soundtracks powered by English rock producer Trevor Horn's music, Stump set a new standard in ski films.

Each year he brought a new film with more extreme skiing in more spectacular settings. From Chamonix in France to remote Alaskan peaks his skiers and snow boarders challenged the slopes and the steeps. His use of the latest music from the likes of Seal, Iggy Pop, The Beastie Boys, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood added to the appeal of the younger set and his nationwide college tour filled auditoriums with skiers and non-skiers alike.

From "The Droids" in 1983 to "P-tex, Lies, and Duct Tape" in 1993 a film a year introduced a new generation to skiing as a way of life, a thrilling, captivating presentation of our sport. For bringing this exciting new life to skiing, in 1999 Greg Stump was honored by Skiing Magazine as one of the twenty-five most influential people in skiing of all time, and named to the Maine Ski Hall of Fame in 2005.

However, skiing was not the only topic of Greg's film making. From the very start of his career to the present, Greg produced, filmed and directed hundreds of commercials and music videos for national and international clients like Swatch Watch, Coors, Adidas, Salomon, Chapstick, Wrigley's, United Airlines, Whistler Resort, Aspen Colorado, and in 2000 a Disney Super-Bowl commercial starring skateboard legend, Tony Hawk. Greg's music video and music documentary subjects include Willie Nelson, Seal, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Neil Young, Ricki Lee Jones, Los Lonely Boys, Dinosaur Jr., and The Beach Boys.

Greg currently works out of his studio, "The Clockworks" near Jackson Hole, Wyoming and has homes in Jackson Hole, Whistler, B.C. and Maui. His latest documentary, "Legand of Aahhhs," will be in theaters fall 2010.

http://gregstumpproductions.com
http://legendofaahhhs.com
http://blizzardcinemaworks.com

Steve Cohen (Extreme Filmmaking)

Steve Cohen was executive editor of SKI Magazine from 1981-1994. He is currently a contributing writer to SKI Magazine and freelances for several magazines including Hemispheres. He is also co-owner and founder of Masterfit Enterprises, a company that specializes in footwear fitting. It operates Masterfit University, the training centers for ski and snowboard bootfitters and manufactures aftermarket insoles under the Instaprint, Zapz and EZ Fit brand. www.masterfitinc.com

© 2009 Sierra Tahoe Institute, Lake Tahoe, CA USA