A series of weekly podcasts about the global Roxy snow team launches this week. We spoke to their producer Josie Clyde, formerly of Chunkyknit Productions, about what we can expect to see in the series. Details on how to get the podcasts are at the bottom of the interview.

How did you get involved in this project?

ChunkyKnit Productions has always had a great relationship with Roxy and making the snowboard films has been a really important thing for their riders, so when we said we were not going to make a full blown film last season, we started talking about the options. Podcasts seemed like a great way to do something new and exciting.

How many podcasts are you doing and when can we see them all?

25 podcasts will be released over the winter. The first one is released on September 3 and they go out weekly until the middle of February 2008. Each podcast is around three minutes long.

Which riders are involved and what will we see them doing?

All of the Roxy snowboarders were involved with the project and even some of the skiers. It was really great to bring everyone together. So apart from the usual Euro Roxy girls such as Kjersti Buaas, Lesley McKenna, Margot Rozies, Lisa Wiik and Tania Detomas, you'll also see the American riders: Amber Stackhouse, Erin Comstock, Alexis Waite and, of course, Torah Bright. You will also see some of the young Roxy girls. You probably will have never heard of them before but they are the rippers of the future that is for sure!

What countries/mountains can we expect to see?

We did trips to Kicking Horse in Canada, Hemsedal in Norway, Park City - USA and Laax in Switzerland and Niseko, Japan.

Are all the episodes finished or are you still going to be shooting through this
season?

Yes we are all finished We shot from January until April 2007 and edited in May and June. But as all the girls are wearing this year's range (Winter 07/08) we couldn't release the podcasts until the kit was on the shelves! Hopefully we will be filming again for them this season but we’ll have to see how many people watch the podcasts though!

Roxy team rider Margot Rozies

Did you shoot all the material yourself?

I worked with Adam Gendle from Lockdown Projects as my main cameraman which was great fun! I was producing and shooting photos which you can see on some of the new Roxy adverts.

What input did the riders have into what kind of scenarios and footage you
shot?

We have worked with the Roxy girls for so long now that we are all really familiar with the filming process, but we do talk over what we aim to create with each podcast so they know what kind of things to say to camera. If the conditions aren't good, then the girls usually come up with some mad skit idea and then we'll spend the day having fun, trying to make a little film.

If you look out for "Good/Bad Day for the Roxy girls" and "Kjersti's Fun Park Competition" you'll see what I mean!

How much material do you usually end up with for each podcast and how do
you go about whittling it down?

We probably end up with over an hour of footage that has to be edited down into three minutes - but that is always the case when filming, because you don't want to miss anything. It becomes quite obvious when we are logging which footage should stay and what should go but it is always a big task to sit down and go through a winter's worth of tapes!

Do you shoot/edit any differently when you’re making a film which people
are likely to watch on an iPod or computer screen as opposed to their TV?

No we don't. I think if we decided that we had to shoot everything close up because the viewer might be watching it on a small screen, I think the filming would look pretty whack. Plus I love those distant shots. We'll see if we get any negative feedback about that but I've watched everything at "Youtube" size and it looks pretty good!

How different did you find it shooting short films as opposed to one long
film, as you’ve done in previous years with Chunkyknit Productions?

It was really different this year working on the podcasts, as opposed to making a full length film. It was less stressful as I didn't have to worry about premieres and manufacturing the DVD's and all the stuff that goes with releasing a film. And because Roxy wanted the podcasts to be fun and not just about snowboarding, there was less stress to get the epic snowboard footage.

We worked in short intensive bursts on specific Roxy film trips as well which I think is better for the riders and the film-makers rather than trying to film over the entire winter. Everyone was super motivated and I guess the Roxy girls felt this was really their thing rather than being part of a big big project.

What was your favourite experience shooting these podcasts?

Our trip to Kicking Horse, near Golden in British Columbia was fantastic. It had been dumping all winter and the conditions were epic. I have never ridden in snow that deep before.

It was the first time Margot Rozies had been free riding and she was super nervous but she had a really great trip and discovered a whole new way to snowboard.

It was the first time any of us had been skidoo-ing - proper backcountry style - and that was amazing, Long long days in remote Canadian canyons with perfect snow. It is an amazing area with great people who really love the mountains.

Any bad moments?

Kjersti Buaas dislocated her shoulder whilst trying to do a 180 over a bus, which was a bit grizzly. And the young spanish rider Suaray Fernandez knocked herself out whilst hitting a huge kicker in Norway. That was a bad moment. She was out cold for about three minutes and then had to be airlifted to the nearest hospital. Luckily she was fine but it was scary for everyone. I am taking an emergency first aid course this Autumn. I'm not sure why I haven't done that before because I always seem to be first to the scene!

How did you go about choosing music for these since the music rights for
podcasts are a bit trickier than for movies?

We decided to use Myspace to find music. As the podcasts are free to download and we want to distribute them as widely as possible, it was going to be a nightmare to license music.

So I started checking out bands on Myspace and I asked the good ones if they fancied working with us on the basis that we get to use some great new music on our podcasts and they get their music to a whole new audience. There are some great bands who have agreed to work with us so I hope everyone check out their Myspace pages when they hear something they like!

You’re now working under the name Yeti Five Productions. How did that
come about and why that name?

Over the past couple of years, I have started doing a more diverse range of video work and it wasn't all just snowboard stuff. ChunkyKnit is really associated with girls snowboard films and I felt I wanted to start a fresh company - so people could see we did more than just full length snowboard films.

I struggled to find a name for about three months. I was watching Channel 5 one night and I have pictures of Yetis on my wall - so that is how I got the name. It is a pretty weird name but then so is ChunkyKnit and I also work for a company called Retrofuzz so the weird name fits. My accountant thinks I am a lunatic for sure! Anyway check out the website www.yetifive.com

The podcasts are free and easy to download. Subscribe to the Roxy podcast channel on iTunes and get a new episode every Monday!

You can also watch them online at any of the following places:

Roxy Snow Team Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4647865771)
http://www.method.tv/
http://www.coolermag.com/videos/