Thanksgiving Break 2020: The Making of RELENTLESS

By Ryder Koch - November 15th 2021
​
Thanksgiving break. Some high school kids travel to spend the week with their family, others spend it locked away in their room. I spent my week making a film called RELENTLESS.

Each day went something like this: 
1) Wake-up
 2) Pack-up camera gear
 3) Drive to Chance Blackburn’s house
4) Drive to a motocross track
5) Shoot Chance riding until dark
6) Grab burgers on the way home
7) Prep gear, and repeat

It all started with a text to Chance, a local privateer motocross racer, wondering if he wanted to shoot a video with me. He promptly responded saying he was down, and we planned to meet at his house the next day and carpool to a local private track. I packed my things and threw my gear, and my 8-year-old brother Colton, into the car. It was only my second time meeting Chance, so I was stoked but a bit nervous. I’m generally an outgoing person but always looked up to all the local pros and fangirled when I saw them in person (Still do…).

My little brother Colton was just as excited as I was. He had played the Supercross video game as Chance and had watched him at our local track a few times. When we arrived Chance promptly fist-bumped Colton and gave him a signed jersey. That started off the day on a good note and was a glimpse of Chance's true selfless colors. 

Once we were on the road to the track, Chance was stoked, I was stoked, Colton was stoked… everyone was stoked. The weather was prime, track was perfect, and the lighting was all time. I was dialing in my settings while Chance warmed up. The conditions were great the first day, I was running across the track grabbing shot after shot, lens flare after lens flare. I couldn't get enough of it, and Chance was throwing down killer laps. After three or four motos, the sun was close to setting. We loaded up his van and headed out for his house. “What are you up to tomorrow?” Chance asked, “Absolutely nothing… I’m on Thanksgiving break for the rest of this week” I replied.

For the next three days, Chance and I would do this same thing, carpooling to a different track and shooting for the afternoon. Although the shooting was a blast (How could it not be, a Pro MX rider and prime lighting/track conditions), I grew very fond of our hour or so drives to and from the track. We’d talk about all sorts of things. Chance's early racing career, how he juggled school and pursuing success in the sport. We talked about where we were wanting to take our lives and careers, and saw a very similar path between us. It's fun looking back almost a year later, after spending most of the summer shooting with Chance across the northwest. Little did I know those days shooting would be the start of a very valuable friendship.​

It was the last van ride home on the last day of shooting and Chance was set to leave in a few days for Club MX, a training facility in the southeast. I had a gut feeling I should do a proper interview with him before he left. With no real vision for what exactly the film would be, we quickly set up my camera in his garage and shot the interview. I asked him questions the best I could, then packed up and headed home for the second half of any project: post production. 

Over the next few weeks, I spent an hour or so each night editing away, but couldn’t find the right pace or feel. I knew there was something there, but at times felt a bit hopeless anything of quality would ever come of this project. The pressure was on as Chance had already hyped me up to some of his sponsors that supported the project. Ryan from No-Toil and Davis from Aektiv were happy to blindly support the project with no promise of any actual end product. It took weeks to even simply think of a name. It was when fellow creative Jaxon Schriock suggested the name “RELENTLESS” that the project found a new flow.

I released the film on January 6th and if I’m being honest with myself… I thought it flopped. It accrued less than 400 views across all platforms it was released on and although I was stoked on the final project, it took a bit of wind out of my sails. Everyone says to ignore the numbers, but I was pretty dang bummed. I focused on the upsides and sent my film to all the big filmmakers in the industry. Many got back with a “Hey great job” or “Keep it up”, but Wes Williams said nothing at all, for like a month, then proceeded to send me a picture of him watching the film at his desk. He replied back with long in-depth paragraphs and left a comment on YouTube. It was this that made all the work put into the film worth it, and eventually led to opportunities with Wes and Vurb, such as shooting my first pro national this summer at Washougal. 

The recognition didn't stop there. The film was screened and nominated for the International Motor Film Awards in London, the All American Highschool Film Festival in New York, and as I typed this, I received the news that it was nominated for the World of Echo Film Festival against some other incredible moto films. 

In hindsight, everything worked out great. I gained a connection with Wes, leading to a pro national media credential and was nominated for two prestigious film festivals. Above that, I started a friendship and found a truly selfless and caring individual who happens to be incredibly talented on a dirt bike. I’d like to thank all those who watched and shared my film. Davis Law from Aektiv, and Ryan Jenson from No Toil for blindly supporting me, and Chance for being a mentor and friend this last year.