Warren Miller (director)
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Warren Miller (born 15 October 1924) is an American ski and snowboarding filmmaker. He is the founder of Warren Miller Entertainment and produced, directed and narrated his films until 1988. His credits include over 750 sports films, several books and hundreds of published non-fiction stories. His annual films on skiing and other outdoor sports are renowned for their stunning photography, witty narrative humor, and the impressive talents of athletes. He has received wide acclaim for his promotion of the sport of modern skiing through his films spanning over 50 years and is an iconic figure in ski movie filmmaking.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
Warren Miller was born in Hollywood, and as a young man he took up the hobbies of skiing, surfing, and photography. At the age of 18, with the U.S. ten months into World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the South Pacific.[1] Upon his discharge from the Navy in 1946 he bought his first 8mm movie camera. He and a friend moved to Sun Valley, Idaho where they camped in the parking lot of the Sun Valley ski resort, living out of a teardrop trailer and earning money as ski instructors. In their free time, they would film each other skiing to critique and improve their ski techniques. During the summers they shifted their lifestyle to the California coast where they filmed each other surfing.[2]
[edit] Career
[edit] Warren Miller Entertainment
Warren Miller would often show his skiing and surfing films to friends, making jokes about their exploits throughout the showing of the film. When he began to receive invitations to show and narrate his films at parties, it occurred to him that he could turn this hobby into a business. In 1949, Miller founded Warren Miller Entertainment and began a long standing tradition of producing one feature-length ski film per year. He rented out halls and theaters, usually with borrowed money, and charged admission to his shows. He booked show halls near ski resorts so that he could film the next year's footage during the day, and show the current film in the evening. Before long he was showing his films in 130 cities a year.[2]
[edit] Current work
Miller continued to head the company both creatively and executively until the late 1980s when he sold the company to his son, Kurt Miller. Kurt later sold the company to Time, Inc.. The company still produces a new film every year, however Miller himself has not been actively involved since 2004.
While phasing out of his executive role, Miller still maintained his creative role as director and narrator for the films into the 1990s, but due to his age (now over 80 years old) and ailing health, Miller has distanced himself from production in recent years. The makers of recent films such as, Warren Miller's Higher Ground (2005) and Warren Miller's Off the Grid (2006), opted to use Miller's narration from previous films rather than recording new narration.[3][4][5]
Recent films have been criticized as a departure from the traditional Warren Miller films.[citation needed] Miller himself has indicated that he is not content with recent productions.[citation needed] Still, the films get mostly positive reviews and continue to garner a loyal fanbase of both skiers and snowboarders.
On September 21st, 2009, the biggest ski media lawsuit in recent history began when Warren Miller Entertainment filed suit against Level 1 Productions for Warren Millers narratives in their 2009 movie "Refresh", directed by Millers personal friend Josh Berman. At the core of the lawsuit was WME's claim of trademark on the term 'Warren Miller'. [6]
[edit] Personal life
Warren Miller currently resides with his wife, Laurie, on the San Juan Islands (near Seattle, Washington), and is officially retired from filmmaking but remains an active writer. He has announced plans to publish a book about life in retirement called, "What Are You Doing with the Rest of Your Life?"
[edit] Filmography
| # | Year | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1950 | Deep And Light |
| 2 | 1951 | California Skis |
| 3 | 1952 | Wandering Skis |
| 4 | 1953 | Ski Fantasy |
| 5 | 1954 | Symphony On Skis |
| 6 | 1955 | Invitation To Skiing |
| 7 | 1956 | Have Skis, Will Travel |
| 8 | 1957 | Anyone For Skiing? |
| 9 | 1958 | Are Your Skis On Straight? |
| 10 | 1959 | Let's Go Skiing |
| 11 | 1960 | Swinging Skis |
| 12 | 1961 | Many Moods Of Skiing |
| 13 | 1962 | Around The World On Skis |
| 14 | 1963 | The Sound Of Skiing |
| 15 | 1964 | The Skiers |
| 16 | 1965 | The Big Ski Show |
| 17 | 1966 | Ski On The Wild Side |
| 18 | 1967 | The Ski Scene |
| 19 | 1968 | No Boundaries |
| 20 | 1969 | This Is Skiing |
| 21 | 1970 | Sound Of Winter |
| 22 | 1971 | Any Snow, Any Mountain |
| 23 | 1972 | Winter People |
| 24 | 1973 | Skiing's Great |
| 25 | 1974 | The Color Of Skiing |
| 26 | 1975 | There Comes A Time |
| 27 | 1976 | Skiing On My Mind |
| 28 | 1977 | In Search Of Skiing |
| 29 | 1978 | Ski A La Carte |
| 30 | 1979 | Winter Fever |
| 31 | 1980 | Ski People |
| 32 | 1981 | Ski In The Sun |
| 33 | 1982 | Snowonder |
| 34 | 1983 | Ski Time |
| 35 | 1984 | Ski Country |
| 36 | 1985 | Steep And Deep |
| 37 | 1986 | Beyond The Edge |
| 38 | 1987 | White Winter Heat |
| 39 | 1988 | Escape To Ski |
| 40 | 1989 | White Magic |
| 41 | 1990 | Extreme Winter |
| 42 | 1991 | Born To Ski |
| 43 | 1992 | Steeper And Deeper |
| 44 | 1993 | Black Diamond Rush |
| 45 | 1994 | Vertical Reality |
| 46 | 1995 | Endless Winter |
| 47 | 1996 | Snowriders |
| 48 | 1997 | Snowriders 2 |
| 49 | 1998 | Freeriders |
| 50 | 1999 | Fifty |
| 51 | 2000 | Ride |
| 52 | 2001 | Cold Fusion |
| 53 | 2002 | Storm |
| 54 | 2003 | Journey |
| 55 | 2004 | Impact |
| 56 | 2005 | Higher Ground |
| 57 | 2006 | Off the Grid |
| 58 | 2007 | Playground |
| 59 | 2008 | Children of Winter (Shout! Factory) |
| 60 | 2009 | Dynasty |
[edit] Bibliography
- Wine, Women, Warren & Skis
- Lurching from One Near Disaster to the Next
- On Film in Print
[edit] References
- ^ Warren Miller by Mort Lund (2005)
- ^ a b Miller, Warren (2005)
- ^ Miller, Warren (2005). "My Bio: Warren on Warren" (Commercial site), warrenmiller.net. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ "Warren Miller’s Off the Grid: The world’s largest winter sports movie announces 2006 U.S. tour." (Press release, commercial website). Skinet.net. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ "Warren Miller's Higher Ground." (Press release), PR Newswire, 2005-08-31, via highbeam.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
- ^ [1] Freeskier Magazine: WME vs Level 1 Coverage
