Name: John Smetana (JsFilms)
Age: 25
Hometown: Glenbrook , Blue Mountains, Australia
Years Riding: 4
Setup: Ironhorse Yakuza kumicho Type R
Why you Care: he won the first ever Banger Contest on Rip TV. If you haven’t seen the gnarly vid he filmed, check it out on the right.
So what’s the story behind your banger video? Who is he, what happened to him afterwards?
The guy in the banger video is Chris Barlow, a fellow rider and friend. Our crew had been scoping areas to build a new gap for a while until we stumbled upon a secluded spot in the pine forests of Oberon. Within a week of finding the location we constructed the run in and north shore. We all stayed the night on location so we could get a solid session the following day. Basically after a solid number of successful landings by the other riders Chris stepped up for his first attempt at something that was really pushing his limits and after little warning he took off and yeah crashed hard. He spent 2 weeks in Intensive Care and 2 months in hospital, with one missing kidney, ruptured lung, broken pelvis and wrist and many other nasty problems. Chris recovered fully and is riding again. The fact that he even survived is a huge miracle.
I heard something about the crash being on 60 Minutes?
Yeah the 60 minutes crew got hold of a short video i had cut for Chris and pursued the story. They took us all back out to the area and did a story on the event.
How/when did you become interested in filming instead of just riding?
It all started when i borrowed a mate’s HandyCam to film a bit of local riding and progressed from there.
Tell me about your project, “Exposure”.
Exposure is an idea we had to quite simply expose the local riders and tracks that most people never hear of. The film is shot on the lower east coast of Australia and is funded by our wallets and a few local bike stores and clothing shops. (trailer)
When can we expect it to be ready for sale?
The film will go on sale in a little while when we finish shooting / editing, etc.
Do you think sites like Rip are more helpful in promoting this kind of video than sites like youtube?
Definitely sites like Rip cater to a certain genre that is often missed on main-stream sites. Rip helps create a fantastic rider network that most sites aren’t interested in and don’t understand.
Can we expect to see more stuff from you soon?
Yeah keep checking back, I’ll be posting up events, road trips and other riding vids soon.
If anyone is interested in camera techniques or gear we use I’m more than happy to answer any questions and if you’re a rider in the broad Sydney region and you can ride hard email me (jsfilms@mrldigitalmedia.com) so i can get you on board!
If you think you should be featured in The Riport, email GrrlRippr@Rip.TV
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