[The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition] [Advertising] [Section Navigation] [Advertisement] In this Section: December 2[The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition] Marketplace Extra --------------------------------------------------------- Small Business Marketing/Media Advertising Health & Science Perpetual Ski Bum Turns Films Into a Money-Making Machine Business Focus Law By BOB ORTEGA Who's News Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Columnists Ê Precariously balanced atop a dagger-sharp peak in Journal Atlas: Alaska's Chugach mountain range, snowboarder Dave (New ways to explore Hatchett gazes at the 3,000-foot drop before him. Then the Interactive he leaps, hurtling down an impossibly steep slope as a Journal) thousand viewers gasp. Table of Contents The audience, assembled in an auditorium in Greeley, Headlines Colo., is watching "Freeriders," the latest extreme-sports movie from Warren Miller Entertainment Business Index Inc. By the end of December, more than half a million Search enthusiasts are expected to pay $10 to $17.50 a ticket ÊÊNews Search to see the film, making it one of the top-grossing ÊÊPast Editions movies per screen in the film industry. ÊÊBriefing Books But the 90-minute film is more than entertainment. ÊÊQuotes Packaged with its jaw-dropping footage are unsubtle Ê promotional plugs aimed at selling resorts and equipment New Features: to hard-core skiers and snowboarders. That means that [Image] resorts, equipment makers, travel agencies, airlines and Putting the focus on others are footing most of the movie's expenses or business travel. paying for placements, cutting production costs What's new at wsj.com significantly. Ê Related Sites: In addition to annual movies, Warren Miller Publications Library Entertainment publishes books and a magazine and has an advertising arm, which designs national and regional Barron's Online marketing campaigns for such brands as Amstel Light beer SmartMoney.com and Levi Strauss & Co.'s Dockers. A production arm Careers.wsj.com recycles movie footage into TV shows, custom videos and wsj.com Radio commercials. Ê Kurt Miller, who with a partner bought the company from Resources: his father, Warren, nine years ago, says he expects the Help combined operation to take in more than $13 million in Your Account revenue this year, with nearly half coming from the Contact Us movie. Special Reports Warren Miller, now 74 years old, made his first ski film Glossary in 1950 with a borrowed 16mm camera, driving around the Ê country to provide live narration for local ski clubs. Corrections At a showing in Los Angeles, he noticed workers passing out brochures for local businesses and soon arranged to pass out the brochures with his program for a small fee. Eventually, that combination grew into Snoworld, a glossy 240-page magazine passed out at most showings that now generates about $1.6 million in ad revenue. Soon after, Mr. Miller began asking filmgoers to fill out address cards for door prizes, allowing him to compile mailing lists to sell to advertisers. By the early 1960s, his yearly tour was reaching 106 cities, forcing him to spend months on the road. "I fell asleep a lot when I was driving, but I never hit anything," he says. Finally, Mr. Miller added narration directly to the soundtrack and the tour expanded to more than 200 cities. Now shown in six countries, the latest film, again written and narrated by the elder Mr. Miller, is his 49th. "There are a lot of people making skiing and snowboarding videos, and a few making films, but there's no one who does it on Warren Miller's level," says Paul Witt, a spokesman for Vail Resorts Inc. Fans say the charm of a Warren Miller production comes from the founder's easygoing ski-bum persona, including his stories about skiing every day one winter in the late '40s by wangling free lift tickets and living in an eight-foot-by-four-foot trailer in a Sun Valley, Idaho, parking lot. In his films, he inevitably encourages viewers to quit their jobs, move out to a ski town, and take any work they can that will let them ski every day. The films all follow a formula: Footage of some of the best and seemingly most reckless athletes ever to bomb down a mountain, along with scenic travelogues, goofy interludes like nuns skiing in full habits or a doghouse on skis exploding in midair, and blatant but humorous product placements. "Try the Canyons near Salt Lake City," says Warren Miller in a typical resort plug, as a skier on the screen flies off a crumbling cornice, "because if you don't try it this year, you'll be one year older when you do." As another skier plunges through waist-deep powder at Jackson Hole, Wyo., Mr. Miller drawls, "considering the fringe benefits, a night dishwasher job here starts to look like a pretty good career move." The movies have spawned some rivals. "Our films offer more of a voice to the younger generation," says 26-year-old Todd Jones, who once skied for Warren Miller with his brother Steve. After clashing with a cameraman four years ago over how they should perform, the two started producing their own movies. "We don't do the corny stuff," Mr. Jones says. "Our films are more real." But he concedes they're also less successful commercially. Greg Stump, a former national freestyle skiing champion, introduced the concept of "extreme skiing" in his 1988 movie "The Wizard of Aaahhs" and was once the Millers' biggest rival. But he couldn't get enough ski industry support for his edgier fare and has mainly turned his attention to commercials and music videos. Recently, his first ski film in three years was released direct to video. "I couldn't compete with the Warren Miller marketing machine," he says. "They have exclusive agreements with theaters, and they've locked up good skiers." He concedes that as long as Warren Miller is around, the franchise will be secure. "I equate going to Warren Miller films with going to church -- everybody does it," he says. "There's something so soothing and pleasing about his voice." Expert skiers, meanwhile, clamor to be included in Miller films, willing to perform for minimal pay just to ski or snowboard in exotic locales from Antarctica to Kazakstan. Appearing in a Warren Miller film is snow sport's equivalent of playing for the New York Yankees, "a dream come true," says Canadian skier and guide Bob Rankin. Vail, Colo., skier Chris Anthony, who also grew up on Warren Miller films, says that when he was offered a chance to ski for Mr. Miller's cameras the week of his final exams during his senior year at the University of Colorado, he didn't hesitate. "I was willing to drop every class and do the whole semester over again" -- and did -- just to take advantage of that opportunity, he says. Ad Notes... . OFFICE CLOSING: Envoy Communications Group's Hampel/Stefanides said it will close its San Francisco office, citing the recent account loss of the NEC Computer Systems Division, a unit of Packard Bell NEC of Sacramento, Calif. Three layoffs will result. The agency opened the office in 1997 specifically to handle the estimated $40 million account. The office's three remaining clients will be transferred to the New York office. Y&R PRESIDENT RETIRES: Young & Rubicam said 58-year-old President John McGarry will retire soon. Y&R said his duties will be divided among Chief Executive Peter Georgescu; Edward H. Vick, chief operating officer; and Linda Srere, vice chairwoman and chief client officer. --------------------------------------------------------- [Advertisement] Return to top of page | Format for printing Copyright © 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.