You may have heard some buzz about a documentary that’s coming out called Sisterhood of Shred, so we took the liberty to reach out to Meg Valliant for some more information on this project.
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| Cory Coffey on the wall at Burlington Bike Park, Sugar Showdown Burlington |
Tell me about the birth of Sisterhood of Shred. Who was involved and what was the initial motivation behind it?
The initial motivation for The Sisterhood of Shred documentary began with a short segment that I shot of Kat Sweet (Sweetlines) getting a tattoo. At the time my only intention was to make a short edit with the footage. I felt it was important because the tattoo represented her community; her Sisterhood of Shred. I knew what impact this riding community had on myself and had learned what it meant to Kat. While filming the tattoo segment my curiosity of what riding meant for all the other women involved grew. That really launched the film into a larger project.
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| Whitney Thompson Jumping Cortney Knudson’s line |
What will the format of the documentary be like, will it be one long edit or will we get to know more about the individual riders too?
We are shooting a feature length (90 minute) film. There will be riding segments through out the film however our focus is on the individuals. There will be lots of interviews as well as lifestyle moments, such as careers, motherhood, art, hobbies and trail building. It will be a chance to get to know some of the many ladies involved.
How did you select your riders?
Majority of the riders in the film are attendees of the ridestyle events (we’ve covered 4 events). Right off the bat I wrote up a list of riders that I knew had interesting stories to highlight. They covered all ages and walks of life. Initially we started with riders who were already involved within the community knowing this would change as the project began to fill itself out. Since then, filming has moved along and life stories have emerged -we have changed or added to our original list. We have also expanded our short interviews to cover more riders whenever possible within the story.
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| Nikita in action with a double bar spin. |
Is Nikita the only BMX girl you have in the documentary, and what can we expect to see?
Nikita and Cory Coffey are the BMX girls highlighted in the film at this time.
In addition to multiple interviews you can expect to see them riding dirt jumps, trails, skateparks, event coverage and coaching. It has been a cool opportunity to film with them especially as my roots come from BMS. Plus it’s awesome to see MTB and BMX come together.
Where and when will it be released?
We are anticipating a spring 2015 release. We are seeking distribution and would like to release to streaming sites such as Netflix, Amazon & iTunes. We have been offered multiple opportunities around the world for screenings when the time comes as well.
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| Natalie Bennet at Sugar Showdown Santa Cruz |
What have been some struggles you have come across shooting?
There have had many struggles: weather delays, last minute scheduling changes, injuries, funding delays… The list goes on. However the biggest struggle shooting is with the growing story; I wanted to film with and include everyone in the movie! It is amazing how many ladies have come out of the woodwork since we’ve started this project. I wish I could fit everyone into one film. I have decided to continue working on the project to recognize more riders after the film is completed. More details will be available once the film is in it’s final stages of production.
On a personal note: juggling my time is a huge hurdle in this project. I have 2 young kids, a husband, a career as well as ride time and event organizing. Unfortunately there are days when I have to set this project aside to make sure that all my responsibilities are being met.
Have you received a lot of support and funding, if so who?
We have received a lot of support from around the world! Emails, social media tags, press, phones calls, high fives from strangers on the trail, so much support!
There are so many awesome people and companies who’ve helped us through out production and with our funding!
Joe Towey, Koerner Camera Systems, Sweetlines, Joby inc, Kathy Rogers, RideSFO, Lauren Heitzman, Mary & Paul Hanks, Karen Omodt, the Praly Family and to many more rad people & companies to list here!
For a full list of cast, crew, sponsors, backers and locations check out our website at www.thesisterhoodofshred.com.
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| (from my set selfies), Cory, Nikita, and Meg. |
Find us on Facebook: The Sisterhood of Shred & on Instagram as @sisterhoodofshred
