Words by Matt Masson.
Jyosei is the Japanese word for woman.
JYOSEI is a short film about eight womens month-long trip to Japan last year.
Maddie and Laura told NS about the trip, the movie and their thoughts on women in freeskiing.
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So who first thought of making JYOSEI?
We had wanted to do projects in the past, but nothing ever really happened.
She floated the idea of going to Japan together.
I thought that was an awesome idea, so I took that seed and ran with it.
Within a week I was like: Laura do you wanna be filmer and editor!
She was immediately like: oh Im so in!.
It was just the perfect combination of elements that lit a fire and everything just flowed really easily.
Maddie and Laura
Why did you choose Laura?
M:Laura and I have known each other for a little while.
Laura, you must have been pretty stoked to make a movie like this?
Thats how Im approaching this.
The need for that question to be asked in the first place answers it.
Being underrepresented is not something you are often aware of if you arent the one being affected by it.
There is nothing likeJYOSEIout yet, at least that I am aware of.
Its a void within the realm of content in freeskiing that we are able to fill.
Theyre the ones with leverage.
For example, my photos are often seen by thousands of people.
That gives me the ability to transfer that attention to the subject of my work.
For that reason, being aware of why I share an image has become important to me.
If you have the ability to uplift someone, even if its just on social media, you should.
Skiing might be 1 in 10 but production it has to be 1 in 100.
For me, personally, Ive found that all my favorite team managers, have all been women.
I just think we need to open up more opportunities to get more photographers and get more editors.
To me Im just like: well pick up a camera or start editing.
Its an art form, its a pure art form.
Photography speaks to me so beautifully.
Filming, everything, its just pure art.
Look atRomance, look at the trailer, look at the poster for it.
Thats f*cking art man.
Id love to see more girls getting involved in that regard.
Is equality, or lack thereof, still a big issue in freeskiing?
Maddie and Steve Stepp did a really goodInstagram liveabout it a while ago after that Sierra post came out.
but theyve been doing it for twenty years.
If their project is not 20 times better than ours then thered be something wrong.
But how f*cked is it that were 20 years behind?
I just think opportunity breeds quality.
You cant learn to ride a bike if you dont have a bike!
If you give us opportunities to go and film, thats how you help progress the sport.
And that goes down to zero if you eliminate one of those.
There’s such a contradiction when guys talk about women’s skiing.
Don’t tell us we’re not the same and then expect us to do the same things.
You shouldnt appreciate womens skiing by comparing it to mens skiing, because theyre not the same thing.
I feel like were on a precipice though: watchingXGamesBig Air this year was amazing.
All the girls doing dubs.
you might see theres progression going, the girls are in the street.
I just hope that people are excited for that to exist.
Photo: Maddie Jones
Your focus was mostly on street, was that a conscious choice?
But street isnt really represented, so I felt we had to focus on that.
Look at girls snowboarding, they had a girl invited toReal Snowthis year.
Will this be a series/annual thing?
Thats not to say that I dont love it and its not my baby.
Do you already have a vision for the next movie?
Theres just so much stuff that I want to make.
M:Shes also 20!
Just gonna throw that in there.
L:But I do have a really strong idea of what I want to do, immediately followingJYOSEI.
I just want to do bigger and better.
M:I cant imagine a day where Laura doesnt say that though!
Which is a great thing about her.
We cant wait to see it.
