The third and final film by Ryan Flett Media showcasing Kootenay free skier Trace Cooke has dropped amid the challenges posed by Covid.

The Covid pandemic has made for some interesting times but it’s clear that we are all in it together and that’s the name of the latest short film to feature Kootenay free skier Trace Cook. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 ski season abruptly ended early for Cooke and all locals of Nelson, British Columbia, but a movie still came together

In the third and final film of the series produced by Ryan Flett, Cooke reflects on how fortunate he is to have grown up in a supportive family and community that shares a love for the mountains and skiing. The three-minute film “In It Together” documents where Trace is at in his career and how he’s dreaming of the next big adventure. We caught up with Flett to ask about how this all came together in the midst of a global pandemic.

Hey Ryan, great work getting the film out during Covid? How did the pandemic impact the creation of this?

This season, Trace and I committed to doing a three-part web series but when COVID shut the Kootenays down in mid-March we had to stop filming for our final episode. Regardless, we wanted to stay true to our plan for the winter and released this episode as a reflection piece on the winter and Trace’s upbringing. It touches on what is currently happening in our world and how it has made Trace think about everyone he knows and how fortunate he is.

What were some of the other challenges involved in its creation?

We wanted to respect social distancing and safe practices so we decided that we would not film any more skiing. We still needed to film an intro and outro to the edit but access to snowy conditions was limited. We decided to shoot the ski shots and interview outside my house, which is located quite high above Nelson and still had some snow. But to tell you the truth, by being limited it made us focus in on what was possible and use what we had. It came together quite seamlessly once we adapted our plan.

Love the throw-back home movie clips. How much footage did you have to go through to get these? Were there any other gems left on the cutting room floor?

Trace had sent me a single digital clip that was 20-minutes long. It must have been a copy from a VHS at some point as it had that stop-and-start feel to it. There were definitely some gems that didn’t make it into the edit. Trace and I wanted to showcase old footage of his family in one of the episodes and it worked perfectly for this one.

What have been the short-term impacts on your creative process and what do you think some of the long-term impacts will be?

Right off the bat, all my summer projects were cancelled or postponed but it has been a great time to work on developing projects I never had the time for. I’m also quite fortunate as a creative that I am quite diversified. Even when film projects fall through I have the ability to work on social media or website contracts. In regards to the long term, I believe that this upcoming year will be tight for many people and businesses but I’m into developing ideas and projects now to pitch to businesses once they are ready to get back at it.

What’s next for Trace and for you?

I loved working with Trace this season. He is talented, humble, motivated, and is my favourite athlete I’ve ever worked with. We are going to be working together again next season and we have a couple projects that we are planning so hopefully we can convince some organizations and brands to get on board for our endeavours.