Words by Colin Wiseman
Photos by Sterling Lorence
It’s nearing high noon in “The World Eagle Capital” of Brackendale, B.C., yet the sun sits low in the sky. Although today is the winter solstice, winter has been AWOL in December of 2011 and the Anthill Films crew is busy outside of nearby Squamish. We meet Marketing Director Ian Dunn at a coffee shop and head to the grocery store for provisions before navigating iced-over logging roads to their muddy terminus. Just a few minutes out of town, towering cedars take over the landscape and logging tape marks future cuts.
“This whole zone is kind of a grey area when it comes to land usage,” explains Dunn. “But we are working with the local authorities to make sure our build is legit.”
Deep in the forest, the smell of smoke and echoes of a chugging bobcat lead us to a section of second-growth where the crew has been busy creating the brainchild of Brandon Semenuk: tightly wound hits and ladder-work form a flowing ribbon of dirt under filtered light, a natural fall line borne out of a week of hard labor. There, the Anthill crew huddles around a smoldering bonfire. After a day or two of fine-tuning, they will begin shooting Semenuk’s trail. For now, they are content to roast a hot dog or two and talk shop. As is the norm, the whole crew is present and pitching in on the build save resident photographer Sterling Lorence—Creative Director Darcy Wittenburg, Lead Editor and Cinematographer Darren McCullough, Cinematographer/Editor Colin “CJ” Jones and Cinematographer Jonathan Schramm—a crew that has worked together for nearly ten years to earn their position at the forefront of mountain bike cinematography. And their respective titles mean very little when it comes to creating Anthill’s distinctive breed of films. Indeed, all members of the team also share ownership of the company and all are involved in a collaborative form of creative direction.
