I was lucky enough to be part of the University Snowsports scene back in the day, which, aside from the drunken student stereotype, was a hotbed of ski and snowboard talent and a great place to meet influential people in the snowsports industry. I went to Loughborough University for my Masters year, which is the top university in the country for skiing and snowboarding and has developed so many talented people I now stay in touch with.
I caught up with one of them, Jack Tompkins, last week. Jack is a filmmaker and video producer based in Windsor. He studied Sports Management at Loughborough and after graduating went on to work as a video producer for a top sports agency in London before starting his own media company Kingdom Visual, which he has been building for the past three years.
Outside of video he manages Ski The Kingdom, which is a non-profit organisation developing freestyle skiing in the UK. It works to promote, develop and support UK skiers and our UK domes and dryslopes.
PC: Alex Winslade
How did Ski The Kingdom come about?
Ski The Kingdom started back in my university days. Loughborough has an incredible snowsports club full of people who really love to go skiing and snowboarding, whether it’s in the UK or abroad. A group of us were skiing regularly at Tamworth Snowdome and became really good friends. We swapped stories about the different slopes we’d visited up and down the UK and thought it would be a fun project to try and make a video at each one. Over the past five years the core group and mission hasn’t changed and it’s become our way of trying to make a real difference to the UK freestyle scene.
Who is your favourite skier or snowboarder you’ve had a chance to work with?
I don’t like to play favourites as I very luckily get to work with a whole range of skiers and snowboarders, as well as call lots of them my good friends.
If I had to pick one it would be James ‘Woodsy’ Woods, his love for skiing is infectious and is the most genuine and down to earth person you’ll ever meet. Even though he has such a busy schedule travelling and skiing all over the world, he still makes time to come back and keep the UK ski scene progressing. I really respect that.
PC: Will Tucker
How is the UK ski & snowboard scene looking at the moment?
I’ll use the opinion of someone far more qualified than me for this one! I asked this question to Rob Embling (Planks Team Manager and someone who’s worked tirelessly supporting the UK scene for decades) and he said it’s stronger than it’s ever been.
For me every time I go to a dryslope or dome session I keep seeing new faces so hope that’s a good sign!
Favourite riding tune:
“Hostile Gospel Pt.1 [Deliever Us]” by Talib Kweli
It was Tom Wallisch’s song for his part in Level 1’s ‘Refresh’. It reminds of the time I was first really getting in to skiing and brings back that feeling.
PC: Simon Nieboark
One word of advice for any aspiring filmmakers looking to get into the snow industry?
People.
It’s a cliché but a lot of the time it really is who you know. Chat to everyone, be respectful and always think about what you can do to help other people.
Here is the official trailer for the Ski The Kingdom Film: God Save The Scene and watch the full video here.
