“Should we call the hospital in advance to let them know we’re coming?” says Katie Burrell in the trailer of her recently premiéred movie Dream Job.
“I’ve decided I am going to become one of them, one of these ski industry darlings, one of these stars,” she continues. “I mean they go up, the go down, how hard could it be?”
DREAM JOB Trailer from Colleen Gentemann Filmmaker on Vimeo.
The film features Revelstoke-based professional skiers Leah Evans, Christina Lustenberger and Diny Harrison. Burrell said that the point of the film is to showcase how incredible each of the professional skiers are, with herself as the “everyman” to illustrate the point.
Due to the comedic nature of the movie, there have been some outside misconceptions of what is really going on, Burrell said. The movie doesn’t make fun of the professionals, rather paints Burrell’s character in a comedic light.
The comedy and Burrells role in the film celebrate the skiers in an approachable way, the filmmakers didn’t want to “shove it down your throat,” Burrell said. The movie is for everyone, not just those that are plugged into skiing.
First conceived by producer Colleen Gentemann as Burrell interviewing skiers in a Jimmy-Kimmel-Live type setting, the team soon realized that the best place to tell the story they wanted to tell was on the slopes.
We had me, the stand-up-comedian, go to the skiers, Burrell said.
READ MORE: VIEW: Diny Harrison — the first girl guide
The collaboration on the project continued from there. Burrell’s lines were improvised during filming, however the scenes were planned in advance, with the help of Evans, Lustenberger and Harrison.
The dialogue came down to Burrell playing a character and the ski professionals reacting to her.
During filming, everything was very go with the flow, Burrell said. There was never moments of “we need to hit these lines.”
And once the cameras were off, the project continued to morph in the editing process.
We each had visions of different things, Burrell said. In the end the film revealed itself.
Filmed between January and April in 2019, the project features scenes from Revelstoke Mountain Resort, Ghost Peak, Mustang Powder and Monashee Powder.
READ MORE: Leah Evans shows girls can ski, really well
Much to the teams surprise, the movie has taken off. Burrell, who formerly lived in Revelstoke, is living out of her suitcase and travelling the world showing the film. It premiéred in Vancouver Sept. 25 and Burrell is heading to Denver next week and has stops in Calgary, Montreal, Stockholm, Salt Lake City, Vienna, Luzern and others.
The movie will be showing in Revelstoke Nov. 8, but tickets are already sold out. It will also be showing in Nelson Nov. 6, Kelowna Nov. 13 and Rossland Nov. 20.
Burrell said she likely won’t be living in Revelstoke again after the tour, in order to advance her career as a comedian, filmmaker and writer, she feels she needs to leave, however she doesn’t yet know where she will end up.
READ MORE: Revelstoke volunteers serve 24,000 breakfasts in schools
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