Taglines It’s all downhill from here.
Cleo Brown, a ski town local in her early 30s is living the dream. Well, unless you ask her. She’s an aspiring adventure filmmaker, but since arriving in town 10 years ago has had zero success. She bartends at a local joint, and lives with two rowdy roommates who are a decade younger. And while she still dabbles with her camera, in general, she’s stuck in life. But when the women get evicted from their rental after throwing a massive afterparty, and find themselves living in Cleo’s ex-boyfriend’s van until they can afford a new pad, they must get creative to elevate out of their situation.
Lucky for them, an infamous, annual 72-hour ski doc competition called Hot Lapse is about to go down. It brings the best of the best in the professional ski world to compete for bragging rights and a boatload of prize money. Cleo’s self-limiting beliefs prevent her from applying, but the edit from their afterparty shenanigans that Cleo posted to instagram catches the eye of the event organizer (or so she thinks), and Cleo is invited to compete in the competition.
Director’s Statament
Weak Layers is the combination of the hilarious events of the last decade of my life. I have worked in every aspect of the ski industry and seen all there is to see – and not all of it is the epic pow shots we see in mainstream movies. It has historically been a bro-eat-bro world, a macho world, but women are getting louder about it every day. This movie is the story of one woman’s journey (accompanied by her rag-tag unit of girlfriends, ten years younger than she is) to find her voice against this backdrop of industry posturing.
Weak Layers shows us what is really happening in ski towns, not just the glossy version of it. It celebrates the real folks that live there – the “nobodies” – the ones that have dedicated their lives to driving a snow plough or bartending or housekeeping so that they can ski, pursue their passions, and connect with their community. My hope is this movie inspires some young, sassy, smart girl to go out and be herself. If it accomplishes that, it’s a win.
About Katie Burrell
Recently hailed as the “Queen of Fun” by Outside Magazine, Katie Burrell is a comedian, writer, director and influencer based in Revelstoke, BC. Her unique brand of comedy famously roasts the stereotypes and cliches of mountain culture.
She has toured extensively in the US, Canada and Europe, performing stand-up, and her film work has been featured in top tier festivals such as Banff Mountain Film Festival, Whistler Film Festival and Kendal Mountain Film Festival. Katie was the director and breakout star of award-winning short films Dream Job and Coach, and has created viral brand content for brands such as Arc’teryx, Backcountry, Patagonia, Kari Traa, Red Bull and Volkl.
Weak Layers (2024)
Directed by: Katie Burrell
Starring: Katie Burrell, Jadyn Wong, Chelsea Conwright, Evan Jonigkeit, Neal Bledsoe, Charlie Manoukian, KC Deane, Kevin Alain, Darius Devine, Scott Gaffney, Josh Gold, Debbie Dutton
Screenplay by: Katie Burrell, Andrew Ladd
Production Design by: Jeff Curry
Cinematography by: Ryan De Franco
Film Editing by: Anna Rottke
Costume Design by: Dacy Kolsky
Makeup Department: McKenzie Morrison
Music by: Cody Westheimer
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Greenwich Entertainment
Release Date: January 5, 2024
Visits: 1
