in 2015 I was asked to present a keynote at the Dutch Mountain Film Festival on making cool videos with consumer entry-level action cameras. To introduce myself to the crowd and at the same time give an example of what you can do with (archival) GoPro footage, I made a short film about my love and gratitude for the bicycle. The days after I posted it online and Thank you, Bicycle went vital. The video was posted on dozens of mountain bike and action sports websites and reposted on Facebook over 1000 times, resulting in over 1.3 million online views and eventually screenings at film festivals worldwide.
Yes, it's an old video and the camera quality is pretty bad. But this film is close to my heart and an important reference because it taught me the importance of storytelling and authenticity. The reason this video did so well is because it was personal yet also relatable to the average mountain biking enthusiast.
Film festivals:
Bicycle Film Festival, worldwide tour
Sportfilmfestival Rotterdam, NED
Herne Cycling Film Festival, FRA
Wiesbaden Cycling Film Festival, GER
Odyssey Cinemas Festival Belfast, IRL
Kraków Cycling Film Festival, POL
Breckenridge Film Festival, USA
Colorado Short Film Festival, USA
