Warren Miller (director)

For other people of the same name, see Warren Miller (disambiguation).

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.

Biography

Early years

Warren Miller was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, 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. 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, lived in a teardrop trailer and earned money as ski instructors. In their free time, they filmed each other skiing to critique and improve their ski techniques. During the summers they shifted to the California coast where they filmed each other surfing.

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.

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., who then sold it to Bonnier Corporation in 2007. The company still produces a new film every year, however Miller himself has not been actively involved since 2004.

While transitioning out of his executive role, Miller still maintained his creative role as director and narrator for the films into the 1990s, but 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.

Recent films have been criticized as a departure from the traditional Warren Miller films. Miller himself has indicated that he is not content with recent productions, and has been actively discouraged from involvement in the films bearing his name. "I have not been involved with my old company's films in any capacity for many years now, and I will not work with WME again."

In late 2010, Miller announced the re-launch of the Warren Miller Company, an organization representing his professional and philanthropic interests established nearly two decades ago. He made a return to stage, presenting 'An Evening with Warren Miller' to two sold-out audiences at Seattle's Benaroya Hall.

Personal life

Warren Miller currently resides with his wife, Laurie, on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands north of Seattle, Washington, and enjoys cruising on his 47' Bayliner Yacht. He 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?"

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

Movies released since 2004, while bearing Warren Miller's name, were not directed by Warren Miller the Director, nor was he involved in their production in any way. See the complete list for all films bearing Warren Miller's name.

Bibliography

• Warren's World, (2002) Mountain Sports Press, ISBN 978-0967674780
• Wine, Women, Warren, & Skis, (2001) Warren Miller Productions; 14th edition; ISBN 978-0963614407
• Lurching from One Near Disaster to the Next (1998) ISBN 978-0963614421
• On Film in Print (1994) ISBN 978-0963614414

External links

• Warren Miller Entertainment
• Warren Miller Foundation
• Warren Miller interview in The Ski Journal
• Warren Miller at the Internet Movie Database