| By Robert
Janis
Extreme Velocity: Mountains
& Mud 2 Series Continues Where It Left Off Down
and Dirty
Tahoe Films, Ltd. has released the second,
all 4x4 quad film, in the Extreme Velocity:
Mountains and Mud video series. The DVD
showcases a huge variety of ATV riding
throughout North America.
Thomas Opre, a cinematographer and owner of
Tahoe Films, Ltd., directed the video.
Opre started Tahoe Films 17 years ago. The
company specializes in shooting national
television spots, dealer/product sales films,
documentaries, and producing national print
advertising campaigns, and feature films for the
motorized outdoor recreation products trade,
which includes ATVs, snowmobiles, and personal
watercraft. The company also produces films for
the hunting and fishing industry.
Thomas Opre has produced and/or directed
projects for Sea Doo watercraft, Sea Doo Jet
Boats, Procraft Marine, Suzuki Outboards, Unocal
76, Ski-Doo Snowmobiles, Ford Motorsports,
Suzuki Motorcycles, Celebrity Boats, Polaris
ATV, The Discovery Channel, Bombardier ATV,
Arctic Cat Tigershark, Pizza Hut, Chevrolet, and
Mastercraft Boats. He produced and released
Extreme Velocity: Mountains and Mud, the first
ATV Xtreme action video in the series, last
year. The film was recently nominated for an
Xtremey Award for "Best Quad Video of the Year."
“The purpose of the Mountain and Mud Series
is to highlight the great sport of off-road 4x4
quad riding all over North America and hopefully
all over the world,” said Opre. “We wanted to
showcase all the different types of terrain that
riders have available to them. Also, we felt
that it was important since there is no other
type of sport DVD series that encompasses
strictly 4x4 quad, sport riding.”
The video includes quad riding in British
Columbia, Canada, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah,
California, Texas, and Louisiana. Shooting took
place throughout most of 2006. It took almost
eight months to compile the footage.
In each region, Opre filmed riders who are
serious about the sport of ATV. “We shot stuff
in the deepest mud in the south where one of our
big sponsors is Highlifter Products of
Shreveport, Louisiana,” said Opre. “They have
some amazing ATVs that are lifted with 28-inch
tires to go through the mud. It is incredible
the kind of modifications they can do to an ATV.
“Because of what they can do with the
modifications, the riding is really intense,”
continued Opre. “We were able to showcase Team
Highlifter and Team Bad Company, which are teams
that compete in mud cross racing and various
other types of mud ATV events. We shot both
teams riding in the Mud Creek ATV Park outside
Jacksonville, Texas where they hold the ATV Mud
Nationals.”
Opre was also able to include snow riding in
Montana and big mountain riding in British
Columbia. “We were able to include some alpine
trail riding,” said Opre. “We were actually up
on the tops of 8, 9, 10,000-foot peaks and
ridges. We shot some magnificent, beautiful
scenery, plus it took some real intense riding
to get there. Think major pucker factor!”
California was the location for all rock
crawling footage. Opre said, “We met early last
year with guys from the website ATVobsession.com.
They are basically a group of enthusiasts out of
central California who like to take their ATVs
to places no one has ever gone before in the
rock crawling world. These guys took me to
Fordyce Creek, which is north of the
Rubicon-Tahoe area, and they did some insane
rock crawling. They rode over mega boulders and
up through granite shoots. It wasn’t super fast
stuff because it’s pretty dangerous. However,
you can see the skill level of these guys.
Because of the way they have their ATVs rigged,
they are able to do great riding and go places
with ATVs where any normal person wouldn't even
think of taking an ATV.”
Opre has created a network of sponsors who
supported Mountain and Mud 2. “We’ve been able
to pitch the DVD series to several businesses
that have a vested interest in the sport. One is
Polaris. Their dealer level, Kurt's Polaris of
Missoula, Seeley Lake, and Missoula, Montana (kurtspolaris.com), has helped us with
equipment and finances. Highlifter Products
(http://highlifter.com) jumped in big time once
they saw the quality of the filming and the
entire scope of the series.”
Recently, Warn Winches (warn.com)
joined the list of sponsors and is supporting
the production of Mountains and Mud 3, which
Opre has just started filming, having already
completed shoots at the ATV Mud Nationals in
Texas and rock crawling in Moab, Utah.
Businesses associated with the sport can
become a sponsor by simply contacting Opre. Go
to the company website
(www.tahoefilms.com) for contact
information.
Mountains and Mud 1 & 2 are being distributed
by Impact Video, which is based in California,
Platinum Distributing of Montreal, Canada, and
Highlifter Products. It will soon be available
to dealers in the Parts Unlimited catalogue.
“The distributors put it in their catalogs,
and ATV dealers buy them and then sell them to
consumers,” explained Opre.
You can also get access to the video through
the Internet through various means including
direct from Tahoe Films, Ltd. (www.tahoefilms.com)
where you can always find great package deals,
or you can log on to
www.totalvid.com and
download any of the Tahoe Films' videos. A
seven-day rental costs $3.99. You can also
purchase the videos from that website. If you
had rented the video, the $3.99 fee will be
deducted off the price.
Opre added that he is upgrading the Tahoe
Films website
(www.tahoefilms.com) so you will be able
to download videos. “We hope to have the
capability up and running by the end of the
year,” he said.
The future looks bright for Tahoe Films and
their work to promote ATV riding. The company
has been in contact with a television cable
company about producing extreme ATV action
programming for that cable outlet. “We are in
negotiations now,” commented Opre.
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