A little earlier this year, the Parkour world was blessed with a 45-minute film that combined a perfect blend of old-school group video vibes and new-era production.
Gatecrasher is the brain-child of our very own Lisa Schnieder, and Renae Dambly. An all-female Parkour movie featuring the most iconic ladies from our sport is something we didn't know we needed until we realised we needed it.
Planning, shooting and producing any feature length film is a huge challenge in any sport. The level of dedication and organisation from multiple people is something that puts a lot of people off from tackling these larger productions. But this didn't stop Gatecrasher. The ladies involved in this movie are some of the most talented and dedicated people in Parkour, and we were so excited to finally lay eyes on this world's-first production.
We asked Lisa and Renae a few questions in order to gain some insight into the minds of the producers behind the iconic Gatecrasher movie.
RENAE DAMBLY & LISA SCHNEIDER
"How did the concept of GATECRASHER start?"
Lisa: "I think it started after seeing Queen city by point A where I had a chat with Toby that we needed a Europe version of it. Nothing came from that until maybe half a year later where Renae and I separately had the idea to make an all women Parkour action video and then decided to team up for it. We both just thought there needed to be more representation, and it seemed like no one else at the time was working on anything like it, so we decided to go for it."
Renae: "For me the concept of gatecrasher came from an accumulation of wanting to see more female athletes in Parkour media and a desire to have more of a connection with Parkour athletes in general. I personally have a hard time watching Parkour Contant because I feel this lack of connection with who I am watching. I wanted to create some thing that sparks this connection with the viewer and the athlete."
"Who did you know you wanted to have involved in the production? From athletes, to camera ops, to editors. And why did you choose them?"
Lisa: With athletes we tried to cover a lot of different styles of movement and also went with girls we were pretty sure would get along because we'd spend 3 weeks together. There were a few more we would've loved to include, but it ended up being too many.
I think we got in touch with Max from Point A because he produced Queen city and a quite a few other projects, and we needed people with experience on the production. Especially because it was the first time Renae and I produced anything like that, so we definitely needed support.
Also, Max is just amazing and always happy to help out.
We really wanted a woman behind the camera which wasn't easy but luckily found Hannah who is amazing and did an absolutely incredible job and was the only camera op there for the whole time.
Additionally, Kelan came out for a week and Dennis Korra for 10 days. They are both just awesome people, and we knew they'd be great shooting with only women which I guess is a slightly different environment than only or mostly men. We asked Toby to edit because I just really appreciate his editing style and the way he's able to tell stories through his edits.
Renae: We knew for sure that we wanted athletes that have a strong presence right now in the community. Athletes that are community oriented and are constantly giving back to the community. We didn’t just want popular faces we also wanted role models. I think Toby was a dream editor to have on the production because he has so much experience with storytelling and at the time he was the best editor that we knew of. We decided to collaborate with point a because they are a parkour oriented production company and our friends. Lisa and I are very aware that we have little to no experience of creating something like this, and we knew that the YouTube channel needed to be a neutral place for us to publish, and Point A seemed like the perfect opportunity.
"How did you decide on locations for the film?"
Lisa: For locations, we looked at spots, how expensive they were and travel between the cities. We also wanted to go to cities that haven't been seen too much in videos lately.
Renae: We chose locations based on if we could get good filming spots, how much it would cost to travel between them, and how easy it was for everyone to get there. We also wanted to go to cities that aren’t often filmed in, so we did take a risk with some of them.
"What was the vision of the film? What did you want to get out of it?"
Lisa: We wanted to create a film that showed the skills and variety of movements of the women in Parkour. We also wanted to show what it's like to be a woman in Parkour and how we train with each other and the relationships between us. For me, it was really important that someone who doesn't do Parkour can watch the film and understand why we do it. Ideally, we've made something that will inspire future generations of girls who want to get into Parkour and give them role models that we didn't necessarily have.
Renae: I want to create a film that would give a perspective to the audience of the personal experience Parkour athletes go through. I wanted to give an answer to the question: “why do you do it?”
"Can you name one funny and one annoying thing that happened during the experience?"
Lisa: Finding spots in Budapest was definitely very annoying. There were too many funny things, I can't really choose one!
Renae: I think one funny thing that happened was we wanted to film at locations that aren’t traditional Parkour spots, but in the end we would always film at the historical monuments. And with the cities, it was often the castles of the city. So there was a running joke about always training at the castles, and that’s why at the end of the film you see some of the athletes getting a castle tattoo. One annoying thing would be underestimating the difficulty of finding spots in unknown cities.
"The world of Parkour is certainly male dominated. Do you feel that gatecrasher will be a step towards more female produced Parkour content?"
Lisa: I hope it will be! I would love to see more
Renae: I have no doubt that Gatecrasher is a step towards more female produced content. Even within the year or so of us planning it I already saw an increase in female productions. I am certain that people will feel more encouraged to create something for themselves.
"Did you go in with any specific plan of spots and challenges?"
Lisa: We had scouted some spots beforehand, and I think a few of us had ideas of challenges they wanted to do. Personally, I didn't really have anything specific, I think I just wanted to do some sort of roll I was proud of.
Renae: We definitely scouted our first two cities and had spots and challenges in mind. Some people used this and some people found their own stuff.
"What was the most rewarding experience during production? "
Lisa: Having everyone come together in Vienna and realising that we're actually doing this!
Renae: For me, I think the most rewarding experience during the production was getting some valuable insight on what it takes to create something like this.
"Thanks for taking the time Lisa and Renae! And to finish I want to ask, are there any future plans for more productions?"
Lisa: There are no plans, but I would like to do more.
Renae: There are no current future plans for any more productions, but Lisa and I have been chatting about wanting to make another one.
THE GATECRASHER ATHLETES
CONCLUSION
Gatecrasher is truly a one-of-a-kind production, created by some of the most talented athletes in our sport. If you still haven't watched the full film yet, please, stop what you're doing, and check it out below:
STREETMEDIA STORE
