Skip links

VIDEO PROJECTS

FRIENDS OF TIMBERLINE

Play Video

The Project

Timberline Lodge is a living, breathing ecosystem that belongs to everyone. Within and beyond its walls are many moving pieces, people, and institutions who together make up its history and its future — and at the center is Friends of Timberline, a nonprofit organization committed to the preservation of the historic Lodge for generations to come. 

 

Founded in 1975, Friends of Timberline works in partnership with the United States Forest Service and R.L.K. and Company to pursue to the physical preservation and restoration of the Lodge and its grounds as well as documentation and archiving of Lodge history, use, art, artifacts, and furnishings.

 

This project consisted of two phases across 2021 and 2022, the final outcome being an hour-long documentary marking the 50th anniversary and organizational history of Friends of Timberline.

 

The final full-length film and cutdowns will contribute to the organization’s growing archive to preserve the histories of some of its longest-standing members, while also reaching outwards —  telling a larger story of Timberline and the many artists, architects, ski enthusiasts, workers, stewards, and visitors of all kinds who have touched and been touched by the Lodge across its rich history. 

 

 

Our Approach

For the past 50 years, Friends of Timberline has carried the responsibility of Lodge stewardship across all their programs and initiatives, thinking deeply about the intentions of the original artists, architects, and workers to honor the past as they pave the way towards the future. This is why many members see themselves as stewards and refer to the Lodge as a “living museum.”

 

Taking this concept to heart, the living museum served as the thematic driving force of the film, with the larger narrative and structure mirroring the complex web of relationships, projects, and visitors that together make Friends of Timberline what it is. As such, we wanted the central stories of the film to weave together in nonlinear ways, moving between group members and projects to offer a variety of perspectives that together paint a picture of the rich and complex people and histories behind Friends of Timberline and the Lodge as a whole. 

 

Making the documentary was a long-term project that we split into two phases: initial interviews and research, and production. We began the project by doing extensive reasearch on the organization and the lodge, reading articles, sifting through hours of archive content and speaking with members. We then filmed a series of interviews with various board members and colleagues of the organization to discover what would be a best narrative to piece together to tell a cohesive but concise story. We made transcripts of the interviews and proposed a series of filming days and additional interviews we would like to capture to produce the story. We gathered and confirmed appropriate use of archive video/ photo content and made a couple of trips up to the lodge to film new content. After 8 total filming days we organized and cut down hours of footage to bring the story to life. We additionally incorporated original animated sequences and added a creative blend of archive footage with the same framing of new clips to illustrate how the lodge has been so accurately preserved over many decades.

 

Our final deliverables saw us produce an hour long video, a shorter cut down to be shared with education institutions, and shorter cut downs for Youtube, web, and social platforms. The full length film will be published and broadcasted in 2025.  

The Result

“Friends of Timberline is very pleased with its association with Bridge City Media. 
The process went smoothly, with productive regular meetings to plan content and review drafts and timely receipt of raw footage.  The FOT members who were interviewed and videoed uniformly complemented on the professionalism of BCM’s personnel.  The end products met FOT’s desires well, and will be aired beginning in late 2024.”

— Michael Gentry, Project Coordinator

Erik Croswell: Director

Brandon Katcher: Director of Photography, Lead Editor, Drone Videographer

Quincy Woo: Assistant Editor

Anchitta Noowong: Assistant Editor

Elaine Akamian: Animator

Cassidy Keola: PA, Sound

Mattie Ngo: PA, Sound

Mona Eskayo: Creative Planning, Research

Teri Walters: 2021, Phase 1 Project Manager

Anthony Hamblin: 2021, Phase 1 Videographer