Warren Miller Entertainment V. Level 1 Productions – Oops
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Wow, what a fire storm this has turned out to be! When WME filed suit against Level 1 on the 21st of September, I knew it was big, but I didn’t know just how much support Level 1 had in the industry.
After reading the message boards and some news stories, I wasn’t quite sure what was really happening, and it was clear most people were in the same boat. So on Monday, I decided it would be fun to spend my night reading a couple hundred pages of legal documents and hash out what, exactly, the lawsuit was about.
It was interesting what I found, most notably that Warren Miller himself was jumping head first into the suit, taking Level 1′s side with a strongly-worded filing. I was surprised to find that this had not yet been reported by any media outlets (that I could find).
So I put together this story, which is a brief overview all the information I could gather from the legal documents.
Then, with a little help from a friend, I was able to get a quote directly from the man himself, Warren Miller. This is what he said:
“Well Matt … I consider Josh my friend and I have been very impressed with his efforts as a film maker, and more so as a human being. He is a very nice young man, and I was honored to oblige his request to participate in Refresh. I have been invigorated by working with his group, whose passion for skiing matches my own.
WME made clear to me long ago that they did not want me involved in their films – so I’ve essentially cut all of my ties to them. I have a legal and moral right to freely use my name, voice, and likeness as I choose. By suing Josh, I feel that WME is challenging my rights as a person and public figure. I will not stand by and let a young, talented artist like Josh get shoved around by a group that, in my opinion, has no genuine regard for the fans.” — Warren Miller
I published that story here, and then social media burst into life with retweets and hundreds Facebook comments and “likes”. The story received as much traffic in the first hour as many of our stories do in their lifetime.
The most interesting thing about all of this to me is just how tight the freeskiing community is. I’m not sure WME had any idea of the magnitude of reaction it was about to face when it filed.
Ironically, WME claims in its suit that Level 1 “has and will” damage WME’s brand. Whatever damage may or may not have been caused by Level 1′s using of Warren Miller’s voice and name in its movie is now a distant problem, as the response from the community to the lawsuit is astronomically more destructive.
At this very moment in time…
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
Someone is about to die from starvation
Someone is having sex with a donkey
Someone is having sex with two models at the same time
Someone is about to get in a car wreck
Someone is eating a bowl of Cheerios while reading the New Yorker
Someone is learning how to shoot an AK-47
Someone is getting shot at by an AK-47
Someone is writing a sentence in a book that will be nominated for a Pulitzer
Someone is entering into marriage
Someone is kayaking on a river
Someone is praying to aliens
Someone is re-building his tin roof
Someone is learning to spell her name for the first time
Someone is learning to walk for the second time
Someone is dreaming of moving to America
Someone is dreaming of blowing up America
Someone is playing cricket
Someone is contracting AIDS
Someone is harvesting crops
Someone is being evicted
Someone is getting kicked in the face
Someone is eating leftovers out of the garbage
Someone is wondering what space is
Someone is hitting snooze
Someone is going to sleep for the last time
Someone is being born
Someone is writing a blog post.
At this very moment in time, six billion people are doing six billion different things. Makes me feel small.
My New Obsession: Rally Car Driving
Saturday, September 5th, 2009
I get obsessed with things quickly and dive into them at full throttle. Examples: boxing, DJing, blogging, hockey, and now, rally racing.
Some of these obsessions die off quickly, like boxing, while some live on, like hockey. When I dive in, I never know how long the thrill will last. The initial excitement is always the same, so it’s really hard to tell.
I’ve been wanting to race cars for as long as I can remember — always wanting to go to a driving school — but never really thought I would do it. For the last year or so, the idea in the back of my mind was rally racing.
When Peter Olenick called me up a couple months ago to say he had just bought a Dodge Neon for $1500 to rally with, I was intrigued. “You can get a rally car for $1500? Okay I’m in.” The next day, his axel snapped on a mellow turn.
Then last week, we went to the CORE track about 100 miles from here to rally his new car, a rally-ready 2002 WRX with STI engine and components. After one lap around the track sitting shotgun with Pete at the wheel, I knew that rally was for me.
Peter Olenick rallying his WRX
So last week, I took $700 out of my bank account and picked up this pimp Audi 4000S Quattro. Tim O’Neill has been using 4000 Quattros for his rally school in NH, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong.
My 1984 Audi 4000S Quattro
I brought the 4000 in to Slipstream Autocare here in Boulder to give the car a once-over and, as luck would have it, the head mechanic and owner there is an ex-pro rally driver! He’s the man. We talked about rallying, and how I wanted to track the car, and he was stoked. We took out the air conditioner and some other useless components, added some critical skid plates, and we were off to the races.
Getting sideways at the track
My good buddy Digi Dave and I hopped in the car this morning and headed due middle-of-nowhere to the CORE track. The place is awesome. It’s basically a farm field converted into a car-junky’s Disneyland. It has a 2.3-mile rally track, a rally cross track (which is where these photos and video are from), a rock-climbing area, motocross area, etc. It goes on forever.
So with my new $700 car (with an extra $1,000 of repairs), we set off. About a quarter mile in to the 2.3-mile track, I rolled my foot for a heel-toe, and nothing happened. “Dave! I think the gas pedal fell off!” We pulled over, borrowed a zip-tie, re-attached the pedal, and were back at it. Somehow, my 25-year-old car didn’t have another hiccup the entire day. It was smooth as butter.
So much dirt! The 4000 doesn't care.
Driving around corners at what feel like death-defying speeds (even though we’re probably slow as shit relative to good drivers) gives me the same thrill as jumping off a cliff or skiing deep powder. It’s actually quite a similar feeling: big grin, adrenaline pumping, edge-of-your-seat-OH-SHIT-am-I-in-control feeling. I highly recommend anyone who gets a rush from pushing themselves in any sport to try it behind the wheel of a car… in a controlled track environment, of course.
The 111-bhp engine of the 4000 is shockingly quick.
I can’t wait to get back out there. But it will have to wait, as tomorrow, I’m going to Laguna Beach for a week, kicking things off with my first flying lesson. This is shaping up to be one hell of a weekend.
Photos and video by David Amirault
Rallying the 1985 Audi 4000S Quattro from Dave Amirault on Vimeo.