From our Executive Director, Claire Smallwood:
Lynsey Dyer invited me to her hotel room the afternoon before she was scheduled to speak at the 2012 Banff Mountain Film Festival, because she wanted to show me her presentation and something else she had been working on. The title of her presentation was “Ski Like a Girl.” She nervously confided in me that it wasn’t she who had given the it that title. So she tailored her speech–given what she knew she wanted to share–to reflect that. She told me that having to create a presentation based around that phrase was actually a pivotal moment; she realized that her whole life she had been trying to avoid exactly that idea, to ski like a girl. And now it is all she wants to do.
That afternoon I was one of the first people to see the original Pretty Faces trailer. I had tears in my eyes and welled up with pride. I couldn’t believe that this was happening and that I was going to be a part of making history. She premiered the trailer that night, and the crowd went wild.
Fifteen months later, Lynsey’s project and our collective vision are booming. We are raising $60,000 to make Pretty Faces a reality. This all-women ski movie–set to tell the story of what it means to be a skier girl around the world–is currently a Kickstarter project in need of your support. What started as a simple Youtube video (comprised of footage found on cutting-room floors of ski movie companies) turned into a movie trailer with over 126,000 views–all this without any marketing force. Visually representing the high level of athleticism and passion that females are bringing to the big mountains and terrain parks around the world, donating to the Kickstarter is how everyone can help future generations of women see that having a dream is the first step to greatness.
The role that SheJumps will play in this movie craves a deeper definition, because while the film is not technically a SheJumps production, it is being directed by Lynsey, the co-founder of SheJumps. Lynsey has long since been a creative force that has helped SheJumps define itself as an organization. From the creation of the name SheJumps and the dissemination of our famous Sj Girafficorn, she is approaching this movie with the attitude “It’s always all about SheJumps.” However, because SheJumps is a 501c(3) nonprofit, and the movie is its own project–how can the two work together? I’ll admit it’s hard to ask for donations for a movie project when SheJumps needs the funding to develop and deliver on our programming, but the movie will fulfill an important role in what our greater vision is: to inspire and show little girls that they can do anything they set their minds to.
Here at SheJumps, we see the Pretty Faces movie as the ultimate community-building opportunity and also an awesome and entertaining way to raise funds. SheJumps will be hosting the world premier for the movie in the fall, and we hope to also launch an annual giving campaign based on this monumental event. The time is now for a movie like Pretty Faces to launch, to show the world that we are more than just pretty faces and that it’s possible to live your dreams, to extend yourself knowing that you have the support of the world beneath you.
We want to see the Pretty Faces movie get funded, please help us accomplish this goal!