If you’re into high octane snowboarding on natural features, Swamp Donkey is 100% for you. Watch it, get hyped, then dive into the mind of Dustin Craven on what it took to create this mini masterpiece with Mateo Massitti by his side and Evan Lavallee capturing the moments.
Hey Dustin, how are ya? Where are you right now?
I'm currently on a month-long surf trip in Indonesia. We have been trying to travel to another island but a volcano has erupted and all the flights are being canceled.
Winter seems to be firing way earlier this season. How did last season’s snow pack affect filming?
Last year was a bit of a grind because it was just so much waiting for some good conditions. I think if you added it up the whole pow season was only three weeks long. This winter seems like it’s going to deliver the goods… fingers crossed.
Getting down to some serious business, “Swamp Donkey”. What inspired the concept for this film? How did you decide on the name?
The concept was just for me to have one full season with Mateo to see what we could do together. Our filmer and editor wanted to call it Swamp Donkey. I guess that’s what we call a moose in Canada.
You and Mateo’s style blend together so well. How was it filming with him?
This was our third year filming together, he has been getting a lot better and confident. He is also a strong snowmobiler and it’s nice when nothing slows us down.
You’ve been around the block when it comes to filming at iconic locations. How much do you think about doing NBD’s at iconic spots these days? Or does that even occur to you?
In the past I have spent more time looking for new spots and try to keep it fresh for my own enjoyment. Unfortunately last year was so rough we just ended up hitting all the easy stuff we could get to with minimal effort. I think it sucks that we had to do that but people seem to really like the edit.
What were some of the biggest challenges you guys faced during the project?
Just getting into a flow state was really hard, sometimes you want stuff to work out so bad you really push everyone too hard and it’s bad for morale.
Given the support from Eagle Pass Heli, I imagine a lot of filming happened in Revelstoke. Did you guys film anywhere else?
Usually we don’t go anywhere more than an hour drive from Revelstoke. This season we spent a lot of time at one sled zone close to town.
How do you even go about getting a heli operation to sponsor your film? That seems like a dream scenario. Did you guys take full advantage?
Eagle Pass Heli usually picks one project a year to support. I usually just try and get my project on there radar ASAP so they don’t have time to pick something better lol.
Putting a film project together has to be a serious grind. What keeps you motivated and inspired to put in the time and effort?
Honestly nowadays there are so many less team projects and film companies that if you don’t do it yourself it won’t happen. It’s also better to be driving your own ship and not waiting around for things to happen.
For me, films are like the seasonal recovery drink of snowboarding. You ride all season and by the end you’re kind of over it. Then, in a matter of minutes, you watch a film and all of a sudden you’re juiced to go ride again. Do films have the same effect on you after so many seasons?
Yeah it’s nice to have the time off to forget how hard the season was on you. After a season I filming I don’t really care if I ever saw a snowboard flick but in the fall everything gets you pumped back up to go out and giver hell.
Now that Swamp Donkey is wrapped up, what’s next for you?
I have a couple small projects I’m going to help out with this season but not making anything of my own.
Random one: would you ever hit a street rail or get a clip on an urban feature again?
The snow in the backcountry would have to be pretty bad.
Dustin, thanks so much for this film and taking the time to chat. Any parting words before we wrap it?
Pray for pow.
