Recently, Jamey Voss from Red Bull Skiing, caught up with freeskier and co-founder of SheJumps regarding the state of women in ski films. Here's what Dyer had to say ...

1. Can you give me a quick background on what filming you've done in the last three years?
I've filmed with Warren Miller and TGR for the past 5 years.

2. What's it like for you dealing with the film companies? Are they calling you or do you really have to keep after them or sell them on including you?
It's always a mixed bag of luck, being in the right place at the right time, how much your sponsors want you in and if the producers think you're any good.
Much of it is sponsor driven. Therefore, if your sponsors aren't supporting these films, the chance of you being in one is slim. Often times your "chance" comes when you're least expecting it. Trips come together or fall apart at the last minute and you've always got to be ready to send it when you get the call or have a back up plan if it tanks. It got my chance to ski for TGR at a company dinner party and had to jump in a Hummer that night and drive 5 hours to make it to shoot early the next day.

3. Obviously, with what you do with SheJumps, you have contact with many women in the industry. What are the other women saying about the ease or lack thereof of getting into movies?
It's not easy, I understand both sides of the coin on that one. Film co's have to make the most of their time and money and I can see how in some ways shooting with women isn't always the easiest or the most efficient. It's not a gender thing; it's an efficiency thing. Unlike a lot of guys, I've seen it takes girls longer to assess a line and feel comfortable with it; therefore, to get a good seg for a girl it's going to take longer and probably be more expensive to produce. The other thing that people don't think of is where the market is. Women don't necessarily buy ski films so until women are the main market on the consumer side, they won't get priority in the films. What is interesting however is the fact that the women's market is the only one growing at this time, and that's why we are seeing more attention heading in that direction. It's more important than ever for brands to have a strong female-based campaign to win over the more dynamic female mind and we're already seeing more all-women's directed films and campaigns popping up all over!

4. Why do you think few, if any, film companies go beyond 1 or 2 women in their movies?
A film company has to cram the very best footage of the season into less than an hour and to make a profit they've got to capture that footage in the cheapest and most efficient way possible. In the end, a lot of heli budgets and a ton of good stuff hit the cutting room floor. Therefore to ensure the most for their money they choose the people who they know will get the shots, and often times when choosing between the greatest male skiers in the world and the greatest females, the competition is pretty steep and when put up to those standards, the girl's most likely lose out. It's overall more expensive and time consuming to get a really good female segment that can measure up to a top male seg and when the main competition is guys, there will always only be a few women that can truly step up to that level of performance. As a female, just getting the opportunity to prove you've got it is the hardest part.

5. In talking to people, the elephant in the room that nobody seems to want to acknowledge is the perceived disparity between the level of performance between male and female skiers. Like, if women ripped harder they'd be in the movies more. Definitely not saying this is my opinion, but do you have thoughts on this?
Like I said before, not many women have even been given the chance to show what they are capable of, but in my opinion it's the comparison that is the problem. With exceptions of course, women as a whole won't be able to throw down as hard as the men; we weren't built to do that and who cares? We weren't put on earth to beat the dudes; we were put here to work together. But beating them (the boys), has been the only means we've found ever since we were little, to get some respect and continue to do what we love—TO SKI and play and find our power. To get out of the kitchen and live the life that has typically been only allowed to men until now, we've had to prove we were not typical females! And yet, we are still girls and we shouldn't forget how rad that is! I think women shouldn't be embarrassed about their femininity and bringing that to their sport. You know how rad it is to see a ponytail flying behind someone you thought was a dude. And though you will never see a "ski like a girl" sticker on my truck, I'm tired of trying to beat the boys at their game; it's time we created our own.

I can't say what that looks like for sure but it's coming, for me, I want to be able to not have to prove to assholes every day that I can do things they don't think I can do; I want to have a crew that I trust to be with in the mountains that not only knows I can throw down but are committed to creating something bigger than another ski porn flick. That means the model has to change. I want to be able to walk up to a group of lady rippers and feel an unspoken trust that no amount of caddy bullshit can get through. A sisterhood if you will, of like-minded females and supportive men who know that only by lifting up each other, we lift up ourselves. And this I want to be able to share with all women, little girls especially and everyone else beyond skiing, who thought they had to follow the typical path because no one had showed them that anything else was possible yet.

 6. Any other thoughts you have on this subject...
Lot's of girls write in to SheJumps asking how they can get into the ski industry. I think it's all in taking a step back from the hype and asking yourself, what do I do well? What is the gift that comes to me naturally? The hard part is if you don't like the answer you get because that gift might not entail showing up on a shiny magazine page but then again maybe it will. Erik Pollard chose not to follow the crowd of jumping off bigger and bigger stuff but liked to ski backwards and look where it's taken him? And no one ever really taught Rachael Burks to ski but she's got a natural backey that would make anyone jealous. Maybe YOUR gift isn't necessarily on the athletic side, maybe it's writing, or talking on the phone, even doing hair. Looking inside rather than outside for your answers always seems to be the best place to start. Sage Cattabriga made a career out of doing the most beautiful 3's anyone's ever seen, but he couldn't do it without the magicians who capture it with the camera. There were other people too who made their mark in less obvious ways. Les Anthony wasn't much of an athlete but he's made a career out of being able to articulate exactly what we are all feeling while skiing that we just can't put in words, and Jason Newell from Rossignol used his gift of words to get Jeep to supply the whole company with vehicles, even in one of the worse times for a car company.

I think the hardest thing to accept is that your "gift" isn't necessarily what gets you attention but I'm hoping, if you follow it, it will bring you the treasure you are truly looking for and I only put this on virtual paper so that I can hear it myself. It sounds silly but no one taught me to ski powder, it was and is the only thing that has ever come naturally to me. It's the only thing I don't question about myself or have to compare to others to see if I've got it right. It's the only thing I know that I can do better than anyone else and it gives me a purpose. As far as the "cool" factor goes, the ski industry could probably care less but it's what got me here and it's what I will continue to fight to be able to do every day I can with my friends for the rest of my life.

My point is this, we, girls as a whole need to stop looking at the typical models that our male counterparts have developed as to what ski media looks like.  We need to take a step back and figure out what we bring collectively that sets us apart, that no one else can do better. Maybe having the riding level as high as the dudes isn't the most important part of being a female athlete, it's high on the list of course, but maybe there's more than that. Ladies represent a dynamic complicated group (common, think of girls in general) and I think to appeal to the core of what it means to be a female athlete, you have to appeal to much more than just the skiing. Character, style and story play a much bigger part with this group and the ones who can capture the essence of that will win.