In a world of one minute or less content that leaves as much of an imprint as a passing leaf in the breeze, to go out and create a film in multiple countries is a rarity.
Yet that’s what Hunter Paull and Matt Begg have done. Completely self-funded and filmed throughout New Zealand, the USA, and Canada, its production values run high. Free from sponsor requirements, creativity runs rampant. From art direction, to shots, edits and of coursethe riding, ‘When does the Trend End’ is something special and well worth watching on a bigger screen that what fits in your hand.
Its here we best let the film and their manifesto speak for themselves…
We began making this film to capture our style, culture and view of mountain biking.
From the time when we started riding, the culture has changed drastically. We feel that authentic culture has disappeared while “commercial” mountain biking is all we see in the media. Reality TV shows, Vlogs, quick turnaround reels, bike review after bike review, and disposable videos, all to satisfy the vanilla culture of mountain biking. This current “trend” that the mountain biking industry is going through is not healthy for the sport as it just seems to be one big corny advertisement. We now have a rapidly growing sport heading in the wrong direction. We understand that the growth of mountain biking is inevitable, and these things support the development of the sport, which is great, yet we cannot let these become the number one way of representing the sport. The only culture that most people know is this mind-numbing disposable content. People cannot wait for the next superficial Vlog or a copy-and-paste cliché reel that is trending to flow through their feed. Yet much more goes on within the scene. So much art, exciting individuals, and many talented riders with unique styles, yet no current pathway in the industry supports this outside of being an “influencer. The film we are creating is not an answer to this issue. It is a self-expression of how we view the sport, and hopefully, it can inspire people to do their own thing rather than feeling like they have to fit the mould of the current-day “pro” riders that the industry has created. We want to thank all the individuals and crews out there for staying true to what they believe in. It is keeping “real” culture alive.”
Cheers,
Hunter & Matt. Featuring Matt Begg, Billy Meacleam, David Mcmillan, Jacob O’Donoghue-Price, Nils Hieniger, Hayden Zablotny, and Hunter Paull.