Introducing: Scott Marshall
December 30th, 2010
By Factory Jackson in Features
Having just completed his first full-length feature ‘Speed Kings’ Scott Marshall has got the attention of the mountain bike world. When the trailer for Speed Kings arrived on the net a few months ago, I knew straight away that I had to know more about this guy, where he’s come from and what makes him tick. Scott is a filmmaker who doesn’t rely on the zip lines, helicopters and other advanced techniques pioneered by the Collective and perfected by what is now Anthill Films and the Coastal Crew. Scott has proved that with the right angles, quality editing, patience and capturing the lifestyle and feel of our sport, he can produce something very special indeed.
The production levels of the work coming out of Canada is breathtaking, and they really have done wonders for mountain biking, but since Alex Rankin left to pursue new pastures there has been something missing in the current crop of mountain bike videos. Watching more of Scott’s work confirms that this guy is everything a lot of us hoped he would be. The UK has always been a hot bed of creative talent, Dirt magazine, Sprung Video and the Earthed series. Recently the UK has produced many great bike videos, but they’ve always been in the shadow of their Canadian and American counterparts, however none have come close to the Earthed mantle. Scott is no stranger to the parallels people are making between his work and Rankin’s. But far from being an imitation, Scott’s work is very much of the here and now and merely has a resonance of Rankin’s work about it, and he’s the first one to do it right since Earthed 5.
Interview: Olly Forster
Photography: Jacob Gibbins / Various kindly provided by Scott Marshall
Scott, tell us a little about who you are, where you’re from and where you live now?
I grew up in the outskirts of Edinburgh in a little mining town called Gorebridge. I got into mountain biking as a young teenager after going to watch a race at Hillend Ski Centre. After watching the competitors it seemed like a really exciting sport to be part of and from then on I was hooked, getting my first bike (a second-hand Giant Box 2) a couple of months later. I got a Saturday job in a bike shop in Dalkeith shortly after where the manager helped with sponsorship and kitting me out to get started racing. Over the years the filming gradually took over from the racing and now I am based just outside of Manchester where I am working as a self-employed videographer.
Edinburgh is often described as the London of the North, a pretty cool place with stuff always going on, how is life in Manchester and are you used to the tropical climate yet?
We’ll as I write this it’s currently -10 outside with several inches of snow, so there isn’t a massive difference right now! I’ve been in Manchester for a few months now but unfortunately I’ve been too busy to explore and see much of what the city has to offer… It’s on the list of things to do over Christmas.
You’ve done some work for MTB Cut before and during the filming of Speed Kings but when did you first get behind a camera and start filming, what triggered the decision to put the bike down?
I properly got into filming back in 2006. Before that I was racing the Scottish series with my mates. After a while they decided that they didn’t want to do it so I raced a few on my own but it wasn’t the same. I was still really passionate about the sport so when I could I’d head along on a Sunday race day with my camera and shoot some video. I put a few online and these soon caught the eye of Stu Thomson. Stu was in the process of setting up MTBcut and asked if I’d be interested in helping shoot some content for the site. That pretty much set everything in motion.
After such a hectic year did you get a chance to get out on your bike at all? Watching people shredding 24/7, it must be tempting to drop what your doing and join in?
Yeah there have been so many days I felt like that! I had to sell my 2 bikes to finance the film so I didn’t really have a choice though haha. I managed to scrape together a bit of money about a month ago to buy a 2003 Intense Tazer. It’s a bike I always wanted when I was younger so I had to have it.
Speed Kings was all financed by you, I can imagine this wasn’t an easy undertaking keeping on top of your cash flow, what advice would you give to someone thinking about going out and making a full length film?
The money side of things has been very difficult and stressful! I’ve had to give up a lot and it’s only thanks to my girlfriend feeding and watering me for the past few months that I have made it this far. I think if your looking to produce a film the best thing to do is start on a small scale. Watching as many films as you can (not just mountain bike films but all genres) is an important part of doing as much pre-production/research as you can on the style and look of your intended film. It’s also vital to try and prepare your-self for every eventuality. At the end of the day Mountain Biking can be very unpredictable, not least because of the weather!
Did you find the riders pretty receptive to working with you as a ‘new guy’ and was it a bit strange to be working with all these people, whom I’m sure like most, were the guys and girls you’ve been watching in other peoples footage for years?
All the riders were really up for filming. I think because some of them had watched or knew I had produced videos before helped. It was pretty strange filming a couple of riders. I’d watched them in so many videos before and for them to be on my shoot with me telling them what to do was pretty bizarre.
Who did you enjoy filming the most and who would you like to work with on the next project?
It was a pleasure working with everyone. I really enjoyed filming the Matt Simmonds and Joe Smith Section. I had been on at Matt for a while, but we couldn’t get dates to fit and when we got round to it he only had his hardtail. We managed to rope in Joe Smith on his cross-country bike and headed out to see what we could film. The section turned out better than expected… I hope two of Britain’s rising stars agree! As for the next project, I do have a few riders I’d like to target. If I can pull in the support for next year I’d like to film with Minnaar, Mic Hannah, Nico Vink, Gwin, Blenkinsop, Fairclough etc. But we’ll just have to see what reaction Speed Kings gets.
With all the travelling involved, where was your favourite destination and why?
Looking back on it, it has to be South Africa in 2009. At the time it was pretty nerve-racking. I travelled on my own and landed in Durban an hour from the race site in Petermaritzburg. The plan was to blag a lift from the airport but unfortunately by the time I arrived most of the teams had arrived and made their way out. I ended up taking the dodgiest taxi ride of my entire life!!! The car had a misfire, we almost broke down on the motorway, we got lost in the centre of Petermaritzburg and we stopped at so many petrol stations trying to find directions. Luckily I’d printed out a map and managed to find out where we were. Navigating us to my B&B, I ran inside thinking “what the hell am I doing here?”! Every day I’d walk down and back from the track passing houses with 6ft barbwire fences, signs saying the property was protected by armed guard and growling guard dogs! Culture shock? Yeah just a little! But it was an amazing adventure. The race was brilliant and I met so many great people. It was great to have a track that differed from the classic alpine scenery of many of the European stages so it’s great to see it back on the schedule for 2011.
We’ve talked before about the comparison between your work and that of Alex Rankin, how do you feel about this?
It’s obviously a massive compliment. Alex is still regarded as the best Mountian Bike videographer of all time and I’ve always been a massive fan of his films. He managed to shoot action like no-one else and without using any fancy dolly’s, crane’s, steady-cams etc – it was all him and camera. I really respected that. Although really flattering, being compared to Alex has brought added pressure. I don’t want people to think I’m trying to straight up copy what he’s done. I’ve only ever went out and shot as I shoot. It just happens that my style is similar to his.
Have you always had an interest in filmmaking or was it some thing you stumbled into by chance?
It’s been a gradual development from enjoying art at primary school, to graphic design and photography at high school, Multimedia at college and then a job in TV/Film production.
What was the first mountain bike video you watched and thought “that was the bollox!”?
Looking back it was probably ‘Earthed 1’ way back in 2004 kinda time. It showed so much good riding and it was all shot in such a great way, with amazing music to match. It just made me want to go out and ride!
How does it feel to have finished Speed Kings?
Hmmm… on one hand it feels really good to have finished the film. There was a point after returning form Mont St Anne World champs where I thought I wasn’t going to be able to make the film. So many riders had picked up injuries or didn’t have the time to film. Getting through that month or so and producing something final is a big relief. On the other hand I am my biggest critic and It is really hard to know when to stop and say ‘that’s it…film finished!’
I think anybody who creates something from scratch and puts all their time and effort into it, to then release it into the public domain must have mixed emotions between excitement and nervousness, how are you doing right now or is the worst over?
It’s definitely been an emotional rollercoaster putting Speed Kings together. When I released the trailer I never imagined it getting the response it did. For my first attempt at a film to generate so much interest has been amazing, but it has built a huge amount of nerves. It’s been a massive process putting Speed Kings together, from researching styles and looks, to speaking to potential sponsors, organising shoots, editing, designing art work, building DVD menus, organising duplication and distribution, advertising and web designing etc. I’m really excited about the Premiere on Saturday. For me that’s when the nerves will reach their peak. It will be the first time the public and people from the industry will see the film and it’ll be really exciting to get their reaction.
It’s a sick video and everyone’s going to be stoked when they see it, so what’s next for Scott Marshall?
I’m currently trying to sort a few things for next year. I’m hoping to pull in some support and put together a second film along the same lines as Speed Kings featuring a few more international riders. I’m also in talks about producing a 100% British mountain-bike film featuring the British Downhill Series along with well-known faces from the past and present. So a possible two films hitting the shelves end of next year along with a few team videos along the way. We’ll just have to wait and see!
Time for those obligatorily interview shout outs!
I’d like to thank Dave Barton at Burgtec, Billy Thackray, James Renwick and Kate Marley at Dirt Magazine/Mpora, Dave Franciosy at the British Downhill Series, all the riders who made Speed Kings Possible and my girlfriend Holly for putting up with me and my stupid Macbook clicking away until the wee hours every night!
Thanks Scott, all the best with Speed Kings and your future in the industry and we’ll be keeping up with you on your blog right here, on Factory Jackson.
Speed Kings is available from December 10th from www.scott-marshall.co.uk