Hump Day Rides Minibikes with Jake Price

 

Some people get into filming snowboarding because they are not good enough at snowboarding to be a snowboarder. Jake Price isn’t one of them. He still wins contests to this day, and there’s no denying he knows how to ride. But some people just have their calling and for Jake it was making unique and creative moving pictures. From the early days of Robot Food, to working with David Benedek on projects such as In Short, to traveling the world with Gigi Ruf and Jamie Lynn working for Volcom, the Bend-based filmmaker has made a dream career for himself. Some how, he’s also found the time to moonlight as a male model, and mastermind the strangely influential Board As Fuck blog, so we figured it was time we got the scoop on Minibike himself.

Would you say you are the winningest filmmaker in snowboarding? How many events did you podium at this year? Which was the most exciting for you?

A lot of the filmers out there are more camera nerds, I like to snowboard more than I like to film. The biggest podium would be the Gold medal Dan Brisse and I won at the X Games. The Dirksen Derby, The GT Memorial, and The Gerry Lopez Big Wave were all contests that cater to more my style of snowboarding. I can’t do every way 720’s but I can properly turn a snowboard in powder.

Do you think you could have made it as a pro snowboarder?

I don’t really care. I will pretty much do anything not to have the pressure that these pros have. I snowboard for other reasons. Luckily, I have had lots of support from many great companies giving me gear for over 10 years. In my eyes, those companies are the best in the business!

Also good at telling ghost stories, apparently.

Why did you switch your focus to filming/directing?

Filming just fell into my lap. I fell in love with watching skate videos, I had a vision that snowboard videos needed something else. Eventually, I met the right people and it just all fell into place. Big thanks to Jess Gibson and Pierre Wikberg for letting me burn their film for Afterlame.

Have you ever had to show someone you were filming how to do a trick properly?

Nope. I let the snowboarders do their thing. It’s their video parts, I want them to fully see the possibilities in a move. Not do something I tell them. I usually keep quiet, I almost turn off the snowboarder in my head and get into film mode. When the filming day is over, I always like to get a run in or hit the jump a few times.

NoBoard Champion OF THE WORLD!

If No Boarding grows big enough to have pros, think you’ll go for it?

No boarding is just so much fun. I’d love to ride powder all day without my bindings.

How did you get the nickname Minibike?

Billy Anderson gave me the name when I was 15 or something. I was a Morrow grom rider, and it was on my first trip with the whole team. Everyone at Morrow was into moto at the time. I was always super small for my age, I was basically driving a car and weighed 80 pounds and was under 5 ft. tall. Billy just said I was a miniature version of a snowboarder……..like a minibike.

It is embarrassing to be almost 30 and still living with your parents?

My roommates are the coolest. Jamie Lynn’s band Kandi Coded played a show in my living room at 2am on a wednesday. Not one complaint from them who were sleeping right below the drum pedal. I’m never home, so it’s awesome to have them around taking care of the place. Plus, doing dishes and laundry are my least favorite things in the world.

“Board Meeting.” Get it? The bloggers from Board as Fuck hard at work.

Who is the worst blogger at BAF? Who’s the best?

There is really no particular person that is the worst blogger on boardasfuck.com. Really, we all barely know anything about web design, let alone how to run a relevant snowboarding website. We’re just so stoked to have the people involved that we do. I would have to say my favorite though would have to be Todd Richards. He might post less than 10 times a year…..but, you know they are always going to be quality.

Have there been any incidents involving unfortunate Google results for any BAF participants?

There is so much funny stuff on there. Seriously, just go to the site and look through the past posts. There is some great blackmail going on there. The best is always our friend Euro Donny, he finally just came out of the closet, so we’ll start posting all the photos we’ve been holding back on him making out with dudes.

Volcom just sold for 600 million bucks. As a Volcom filmer, do you get a cut of that?

Indirectly. Volcom is such an amazing company to work for. I’m very lucky.

Jake’s office view.

How does making videos for Volcom differ from other projects you’ve done (Robot Food etc)?

They have all been very different. It basically comes down to the riders that I’m hanging out with. Volcom’s riders all have unique snowboarding abilities. One day I could be filming Gigi at his home resort in Austria, and the next split boarding with Bryan Iguchi in Jackson Hole. Once the footage is all in the bag, the editing is basically all done by myself, so it stays raw. I love the freedom Volcom gives me in terms of creativity.

What’s your favorite thing you’ve worked on to date?

Every single film I have worked on have been my favorite. I seriously can’t even pick one out. I feel like they have all had a different feel to them. 9191 was a blast because it was the first film that I actually got to travel the world and go to the premieres. It was so cool to see the different reactions from all the snowboarders in places like Korea, Japan, and Europe. We got so many amazing compliments from so many different people, I guess that’s what fuels me to keep on creating.

Where do you see snowboard videos in five years? Do you think the full length DVD will still be valid?

I personally love DVD’s. To me, it’s more of a package that you can hold in your hands. There are so many cool extras like commentaries and bonus features that you can add as well. With a iTunes file, you don’t really get a whole lot to show for it. I mean, the people who bought the 9191 dvd got over 3 hours of material, where as the people who bought the iTunes version got 24 minutes. I really love the feeling of going into a snowboard shop, buying a dvd and getting so excited to unwrap it and have a mini premiere for yourself and friends.

What about yourself, where do you see yourself in five years?

Having fun with friends riding sideways.

Do you think Osama Bin Laden is dead or is it all a conspiracy?

Don’t really care. The US might be the worst place to live right now.

For more Jake be sure to check Board as Fuck every day, maybe even twice a day sometimes.