Josh Berman
For most of the last two decades, Josh Berman has been the master of his own domain. Director, cinematographer, expert skier, snow safety specialist, backcountry jump builder, video editor, producer… you name it, Berman has handled it for his Denver-based production studio, Level 1.
His filmmaking expertise combines a hefty dose of outdoor flavor with a well-refined focus on action, and an ability to capture the “in-between” moments with a raw, documentary-style that helps humanize the athletes he’s often filming. In the edit bay, Berman and his small team in the Rocky Mountains craft feature-length movies that have helped define winter sports culture, and establish a genre of film that ski & snowboard audiences have come to love, the “annual” ski flick. However, despite long-standing success spending winters filming in the furthest reaches of the mountains, and autumns touring those movies around the globe, changes in the media landscape required Berman to reevaluate.
That’s right about when Trevor Kennison entered Berman’s life… in a big way. The end result is a new, 105-minute feature documentary film called Full Circle, now streaming on Netflix; a movie about “post traumatic growth,” it follows Kennison’s incredible journey following a spinal cord injury while snowboarding in the Vail, Colorado, backcountry in 2014. From being a “weekend warrior” rider and plumber, to becoming a world-class athlete redefining what’s possible as a disabled athlete, Kennison’s story inspires on every level. And Berman welcomed the filmmaking challenge with open arms.
At the time, Kennison had just jumped off a 60-foot cliff, called Corbet’s Couloir, at Jackson Hole, in his sit-ski. The stunt landed him on SportsCenter and captured the attention of the masses.
In this exclusive interview, you’ll hear from Berman about how the four-year project, Full Circle, came to life & why the relationship he built with Trevor during production continues to resonate…
