Interview with Bjorn Enga - Radical Films

Radek sat down and chatted with Bjorn.Brief bio.

Age 0-19 - grew up in North Vancouver.
Age 19 bored of university, seek adventure as a ski bum in Whistler. Find it.
Age 23 - try university again. Doesn't compare to life in Whistler. Back to Whistler.
Age 24, feel the need to apply myself in directions other than shredding pow, partying and having a good time. Start the Freak Radical Magazine - an interactive journal of mountain culture. Move to Nelson, BC, print on hemp paper. Achieve North American distribution and go broke.
Age 28 shift to film production with Christian Begin, start Radical Films. Release Kranked -Live to Ride, freeride is born and Radical Films gets a big boost. Release 2 more titles with Christian before he moves to greener pastures. Release Kranked 4 and Kranked 5. Presently building a house on BC's Sunshine Coast.



What made you take a break from another popular Kranked release?

I find that pumping out films every year reduces the opportunity to be creative and see the sport through fresh eyes. You get caught up in the "scene". Influenced by the same people and having to deal with all the petty issues. Ultimately I think the actual films don't turn out as well as they could. By taking a year or two off the creative enthusiasm is refreshed and working, making for good films. I took a year off between Kranked 4 and Kranked 5 and Kranked 5 sold more, won the Xtremey Award for best mountain bike video and Outside Magazine's Top Ten TV show voted me the
#1 Adrenaline Filmmaker in front of legends like Stacey Peralta and Dana Brown! So now I'm taking 10 years off since it seems to work!

What film projects do you plan to do in the future?

Speaking of Stacey Peralta, I have been really inspired by Dogtown and Riding Giants and his ability to make action documentaries really pop. His action sports documentaries have inspired me to make a film about mountain biking along the same lines. I'm also starting to dial in Kranked 6. That pretty much sums up the next couple of years.. Oh yeah I really have to finish the house I'm banging together right now too.


What kind of work are you doing right now?

I'm hands on Construction dude, helping to build my dream home and film studio. When I ride on the weekends I'm so much stronger than I was before.
Hauling timber beams and piles of wood around all day really helps make a filmmaker strong! In between building and contracting I directed and helped produce a promotional DVD for SRAM.


What does it take to produce a top notch commercial?

Lets call it a promotional film, since it's intent is to entertain and inform the viewer about their new Motion Control Technology and the Pike and Reba forks. I'll answer from the top notch perspective. Quality film work, colour timing, good music, graphics, tight edits, comprehensive yet understandable script, willingness to make it happen, a decent budget, good riders, lots of support and above all enthusiasm to make a good piece...


How do you typically work with a customer on something like this?

SRAM's director of marketing David Z called me up with his ideas to make a promotional film. We spent a good while working on ideas, worked out a budget and then boom off to Arizona to start filming. Through out the whole process David Z and I worked really closely to achieve the needs of Sram in the Ride Camp video.


The voice over in that spot is amazing. Who is that person with that amazing voice?

Kia Kadiri, one of Vancouver's up and coming hip-hop artists. Her sexy, smokey voice over is so awesome. We were really lucky to have her lay it down. I think that this element of the edit really makes the film unique and effective. She is tantalizing to listen to! You should really check out her music, most worthy. http://www.kiakadiri.com


Also the graphic overlays are amazing. Does that take a long time?

Graphics take a long time to do right! The modeling, rendering etc...
Yikes, takes forever so it better be good!... My man Stu Mackay-Smith has done all the Kranked artwork and animation since 1997, the guy just gets better and better and more talented! His website will blow you away http://www.smackaysmith.com

What about the soundtrack?

Another custom piece specifically for Ride Camp. Then we went to the music studio of Brian Carson, one of the two musical wizards behind the band Lester, http://www.nettwerklabel.com/artistpage.jsp?artist_id=874&mode=bio , Brian himself composed an all original soundtrack and mixed and sweetened it with Kia's voice over.


What is the hardest part when doing something like this?

Making it good!It's easy to make bad films and surprising challenging to make good films. Doubly so when one is making a promotional piece that must incorporate direct product education and promotion within an entertaining piece. One must ruthlessly seek to keep an entertaining flow so as to not lose the dwindling attention span of one's audience. If you have read down to here you have a great attention span!