Here is our family experience of going to the games. The camera only captures a portion of the excitement, rain, and drinks, but maybe in the full length documentary there will be more of all that.
My brother Tyler has been wearing a red bandanna in honor of his friend and lacrosse teammate from Boston College, Welles Crowther. This video explains why Tyler still wears the bandanna, and how it helps ground him and always puts things in perspective.
My brother Tyler Jewell has just completed his second Olympics, and it was once again a family a
ffair. The trip brought together twenty four family members and friends, and despite the nasty conditions on race day, we all had a wonderful time, albeit a wet one. So despite the fact the weather was not ideal, the company and people supporting my brother could not have been a better crew. I was proud to be a part of it, and was proud that my brother has helped me realize some of the more important aspects of life.
For this reason, my brother and I decided to produce this promo leading up to the Olympics. Our family started to try and embody the expression, “Family is Everything,” after the 2006 Olympics, and it has become our goal to spread this motto around and remind people that in times of trouble, family is everything. Please visit the website, www.familyiseverything.com, to read more about our goals and actions to spread the love that family is everything.
Thanks to a good friend and a good web designer, Paul Bruns, my brother’s website is now up on the interweb and ready for viewing. Please go check it out and get yourself geared up for the big race on Saturday, because its gonna blow some socks off some old feet.
Another Day in Paradise is a documentary I made in 2005-2006 about my brother’s effort to qualify for the Olympics in 2006. I was in between undergrad and graduate school, and traveled with my brother for two weeks to Austria in November, then went on a three week trip to Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. I had a shitty little JVC mini-DV cam, and I had about six tapes. I shot what the battery would allow and ended getting really lucky that my bro qualified. I had no idea what I was doing, or what I should do with the 45 min rough cut, that is now around a twenty minute cut, so nothing ever happened. A good friend of my brother organized a fundraiser in NYC and we showed a copy of the movie there. A good night for sure, but the end of a chapter.
I eventually went to grad school, but during these trips I learned a lot from my bro. His hard work and dedication come from his heart, not his wallet. This type of ambition made me realize that if he could qualify for the Olympics after sleeping out of a tent for a summer, 
I could make a doc about him with just a camera (albeit not a very good one but at least ambitious).
As a result, I also decided I wanted to create a production company. Really all this meant was that I was going to find a name and just call myself a production company. Any idiot could do that, so I figured I should. But I wanted to base it on the philosophy and life lessons I learned from my brother. If what made his story so special to me was that he did the unthinkable without much money, I wanted to emphasize the same idea. I figured that if I could figuratively make movies on pennies, then that should be my symbol for the company. My first dog’s name was Mr. Pennington, so there I had it, Pennington Productions.
Nothing ever materialized, I went to grad school and made title cards with Pennington Productions on it for any little short film I made. And so, four years later, here I am again, traveling with my brother as he attempts to qualify for the Olympics again. We just finished a three week tour, virtually the same trip I had four years ago, but hopefully my ridiculously expensive education has payed off, and my film work is a little more professional.
PowerBar.com has posted my brother Tyler’s and I documentary trailer on their website. Please go check it out and give my brother some support as he starts to try and qualify for the Olympics in Vancouver 2010.
www.powerbar.com
Some other things to look out for…NBC profile: http://www.nbcolympics.com/search/results.htmx?q=Tyler%20Jewell or go to www.nbcolympics.com and type in his name.
NBC is also doing a spot on him during the Olympics, but he has to qualify first. So keep the good vibes going and lets hope he starts to lay down some races, specifically his race today in Telluride. I will be with him for his races in Europe and Canada, so I will have to keep things updated.
Another Day in Paradise is a project I have been filming with my brother since 2005. We initially made a short doc after the Olympics in 2006, but I really had no idea what I was doing so the film never went anywhere. Not expecting to continue on with the story, my brother Tyler has kept his end of the bargain by continuing to compete and not finding other production personnel to steal the story from me. Lucky for me, I had the insight to continue to film in case he made it to 2010. Well things are looking good after his knee injury last year, so it is time to get to work and document his qualification process once again. Here is a synopsis:
An in-depth look at the marginalized sport of alpine snowboarding, Another Day in Paradise focuses on the sacrifices and achievements of 32 year-old Tyler Jewell. Tyler’s decade long journey not for fame or fortune, but for passion, includes sacrifices from living out of a car and tent, to finally being the top US Alpine Snowboarder. Filmed by younger brother, Myles David Jewell, ADP is an intimate portrait of what one person is willing to sacrifice for their dream, and whether success is measured by the outcome of the journey, or the journey itself.
The trailer is not exactly where I want it to be, but I have been looking at it for so long I have lost any idea about flow, pacing, what it is trying to say, what it is actually saying, and what it needs to say. I think for a future cut I may try and focus more on the sport of Alpine Snowboarding, particularly the Parallel Giant Slalom event and what it means to compete in a lesser event (as compared to Snowboarder-cross and half-pipe). But for now, time to move on, the season is upon us and we are actively pursuing funds and support. We have other sample work, cover letter, proposal, and budget, all ready for someone to tell me they want to look at it, at this stage in my life, that is a success.