By John Pellan, Attending the ATV Nationals as a spectator, racer, promoter and member of the media since 1984
December 8, 2008
The Factory gives you an opportunity to get to know the stars of the movie. In this first screen shot, Jeremy Lawson, who finished with the season with a top five (the best of any Team Can-Am rider) demonstrates how he mounts his ATV.
I just checked out the hottest new DVD in the ATV scene, “The Factory”. Wow, I’m impressed! Premis really hit one out of the park with this baby.
Before I explain why I enjoyed the film so much, first thing’s first… On behalf of the entire industry, past present and future, thank you Can-Am for taking ATV racing to a higher level.
The movie can probably be considered a sequel to Beating the Odds, a documentary about four up and coming privateers, but to me The Factory is more like the Dust to Glory movie of the ATV industry than a documentary.
The film does a nice job of taking you through the season and into the lives of Can-Am’s Epic and Warnert factory-backed teams as they compete for the first time in the ATVA Grand National Championship Series. Despite signing 3-time Pro National Champion John Natalie, Can-Am’s virgin voyage on their brand new Can-Am DS450 equipment was anything but proven. What’s more, half of the other new riders on Team Can-Am would be racing their first year in the pro class. I think it’s these elements that make the movie all the more interesting. And since The Factory is shot in high-def and each of the rider’s mechanics are equipped with wireless microphones the viewing experience is all the better.
The movie features an interesting walk through at Warnert Racing in St. Cloud, MN. The Warnert half of the Can-Am Team was lucky enough to grab up rookie pro Cody Miller and veteran pro legend John Natalie. The two worked together very well. In fact Cody mentions in the video that there’s no one in the industry that could have helped him more than John Natalie.
As he did in past productions, Premis Industries President, Brad Phillips assumed all the Executive Producer roles for the The Factory, while Director Brandon Boulay, who also played a role with the Carpe Diem 3 and Beating the Odds titles, grasped the film as his personal baby and did a fine job of entertaining me throughout the entire length of the video. In fact I found myself rewinding several times.
“I am truly proud of this film,” remarked Brandon Boulay. “We have a lot of creative people contributing to this project. We’re determined to raise the bar for action sports films and push our limits as filmmakers and artists. Our goal was to produce a film about ATVs, not an ATV film. I know we succeeded!”
Carey Duku is the Warnert/Can-Am Race Team Manager. I especially enjoyed hearing from him throughout the movie. I was also impressed with what he brings to the table at Warnert/Can-Am. His credentials are quite impressive. He’s a five time pro Canadian motocross champion, and has two SnoCross Championships as a mechanic.
