Michael Menten directed 2021 WMFF feature “Northbound.” We asked him a few questions, see our Q&A conversation below:
What is in your gear bag/kit?
Northbound was shot on a RED Scarlet with Leica R Primes, an Inspire 2 Drone w Zenmuse X7 and a Black magic pocket cinema 4K as a b-cam for the tight shots. Our biggest issue with this shoot was fighting the elements from above and below. Every piece of equipment was packed in a pelican hard case.
What item can you not live without?
My fly rod.
How do you choose music for your films?
I set the tone with my editor and usually let him/her take the first crack at the music selection. Usually, I am pleasantly surprised with the outcome as they are the ones with an objective opinion.
Most necessary character-quality for a director?
Big picture thinker.
Who has been most influential in your directing career?
No one in particular but YETI Presents has always inspired me to tell stories of like minded people.
Favorite on-set memory?
Watching the first fish being hooked from a monitor. it is rare to see footage of steelhead being hooked on the fly. It took us 3 days of searching for that one moment. I didn’t even care that we did not land it.
Craziest on-set/en route to set adventure?
We were jetboating up a river that had barely any water due to the freezing temperatures. There was a tree that fell across the river and we had to jump over it with 30K of equipment in the boat.