Meet Adventure Filmmaker Dean Leslie

How Mike Douglas transitioned from professional freeskier to adventure filmmaker

How to become an adventure filmmaker with Jase Hancox

Dean Leslie

“This project grew richer in experience as it developed. I am really excited and humbled to be asked to help bring this idea to life.”

How did you get involved with this project?

I suppose the short answer is both the people and the idea. I have worked with the producer, Corinna Halloran, on a few really memorable projects over the years. Early this year, she approached me with the idea of trying to create an artistic, metaphoric ballet/action sports film. I just thought it sounded like something that would be really fun but equally challenging.

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The vision we have for the film is, I would say humbly, ambitious… and I enjoy that challenge, for me that is often enough in itself to keep me satisfied in the process. But this project grew richer in experience as it developed. Some incredibly inspiring people joined the team; meeting, working, and learning from such an array of characters and talent is always an invaluable experience. I am really excited and humbled to be asked to help bring this idea to life.

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Keep exploring ...

How Mike Douglas transitioned from professional freeskier to adventure filmmaker

How to become an adventure filmmaker with Jase Hancox

Following the initial brief(s), what experience for the viewers did you want to create? What do you want viewers to feel?

I try to make things that I appreciate and find meaningful, and then hope that the experience translates to someone else watching the film – my aim is to bring the audience along on an emotional journey that leads to action for the greater good.

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Emotional stories, not just films, have always resonated with me. They have served as a vehicle of either recognition or curiosity that has set me on new paths and interests in my life. The best stories are both enjoyable and inspiring. They teach us to be curious and to ask questions about who we are and what we want to be.

Dean Leslie

“The primary goal was to create a singular film that feels whole but still contains three distinct sports.”

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We’ve talked about connection, flow, dance, water, layers, and the ripple effect… What does this project mean to you?

In the past few years, I’ve found myself returning to the ocean much more. It’s where I live and sometimes work. The ocean is where I grew up, and I have carried its lessons and values with me as I picked my path through life. My time in and around the ocean has largely formulated who I am and what I do, so this project is special in the sense of almost closing a loop and pay homage to this incredible wilderness and what it has taught me.

How would you describe this project to someone?

An artistic, metaphoric, action sports film?! Or maybe simply an artistic film that promotes the idea of ocean conservation through action sports.

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Can you take us through a few of the sections, what are your goals with each distinctly different storytelling piece?

The primary goal was to create a singular film that feels whole but still contains three distinct parts representing freediving, sailing, and skiing. We filmed a freediving sequence with Zandi Ndhlovu in False Bay in South Africa. A ski sequence with Jess Hotter in New Zealand. And a sailing sequence with the 11th Hour Racing Team in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. They are all so wildly different in every aspect and yet visually there are so many similarities.

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The ocean is the main connector to each sport. We want to artistically portray this throughout the piece, and how the ocean connects us all. However, I would say with each section our overarching goal has really been to try to recreate that meditative state of flow that you can only experience when you are fully engaged and present. These sports obviously afford us the opportunity to capture that in extreme environments and conditions, which makes this whole project even more unique.

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What’s been one unexpected challenge or lesson for this project?

I’ve learned many things over the years but the hardest has been faith. This project has largely been a practice of faith. There are so many environmental variables, never mind the never-ending production hurdles, that at some point you just have to put trust into all the effort, the intent, the planning, everything that goes into putting a project like this together… and just hope that the universe aligns.

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What’s been a highlight?

The people. So many kind, inspiring, hard-working humans. It was kind of life-affirming. When you get to work with a group of people that have a unified focus or goal… there is incredible energy you get from that.

QUESTIONS

11th Hour Racing

ANSWERS

Dean Leslie

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Following the final shoot in Cape Town, we sat down with Dean to learn about his background, approach to storytelling, the editing process, and much, much more.

Keep exploring ...

How Mike Douglas transitioned from professional freeskier to adventure filmmaker

How to become an adventure filmmaker with Jase Hancox

Dean Leslie image carousel 1

Keep exploring ...

How Mike Douglas transitioned from professional freeskier to adventure filmmaker

How to become an adventure filmmaker with Jase Hancox

How did you get involved with this project?

‍

Dean Leslie

“This project grew richer in experience as it developed. I am really excited and humbled to be asked to help bring this idea to life.”

Following the initial brief(s), what experience for the viewers did you want to create? What do you want viewers to feel?

‍

We’ve talked about connection, flow, dance, water, layers, and the ripple effect… What does this project mean to you?

Dean Leslie

“The primary goal was to create a singular film that feels whole but still contains three distinct sports.”

How would you describe this project to someone?

An artistic, metaphoric, action sports film?! Or maybe simply an artistic film that promotes the idea of ocean conservation through action sports.

‍

Can you take us through a few of the sections, what are your goals with each distinctly different storytelling piece?

‍

What’s been one unexpected challenge or lesson for this project?

‍

What’s been a highlight?

Dean Leslie

“When you get to work with a group of people that have a unified focus or goal… there is incredible energy you get from that.”

‍

Following the final shoot in Cape Town, we sat down with Dean to learn about his background, approach to storytelling, the editing process, and much, much more.

Dean Leslie image carousel 5 2

Dean Leslie image carousel 5 1

What are you most looking forward to with the editing process?

The goals and vision for the film are ambitious. Both in terms of what we want the final product to be, and how we want to be and act in the process of creating it. I’m excited to piece that all together and watch the film take on a life of its own.

Previously unseen

ABOUT THE PROJECT

To highlight the connection between water and sports, we’ve brought together an internationally renowned freediver, a world champion freeskier, and professional offshore sailing team. Like water, these athletes move in unison with their mind, body, and the present moment. Together, these athletes bring to life their fullest expressions– like water, they flow.

ABOUT THE TEAM

We chose athletes who are not only the best at what they do but also align with 11th Hour Racing’s mission to protect and restore the ocean. We hired local storytelling teams who are also some of the best in the world. Each part of the production was carefully considered to come together as one holistic story.

Behind the Scenes

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Nov 21, 2023

USA

Sailing