By Doug Trumm

Junior Noah Ferche hauled a camcorder along during a wakeboarding excursion on a stretch of the Mississippi near Sartell, Minn. Five years later, he found himself in Miami filming some of the best wakeboarders in the world. What started out as a hobby may have turned into a career.

Juniors Ferche, Chris Donnelly and Mike Welter and University of Minnesota-Duluth student Nick Lodermeier call themselves HSF Films. Last week they returned from a trip to Florida during which they filmed Board Up Miami, a wakeboarding festival. They are editing their footage and will create a one-hour show to be aired May 2 on the SunSports network.

The show could put HSF Films on the map in the extreme sports community. Their success is all the more unlikely because the four main members are largely self-taught.

A growing hobby

Ferche and Lodermeier attended Sartell High School and met in 7th grade.

The pair have been making movies since middle school, but in high school they started taking themselves a bit more seriously.

“In 10th grade, we started wakeboarding,” Ferche said. “And we thought, ‘let’s make a movie like the professionals.’”

Meanwhile, Donnelly, who attended Monticello High school, and Welter, who attended Sauk Rapids-Rice High School, were also experimenting with wakeboarding and camera work.

Over the next five years, they turned themselves and their friends into wakeboarding stars — at least in their videos.

Their camera work was a way to improve their wakeboarding. Wakeboarders often film each other because reviewing footage helps them learn new tricks, catch mistakes and improve their techniques, Donnelly said.

Taking lumps

Wakeboarding, and even filming wakeboarding, can be dangerous.

“We have had many mishaps filming and riding,” Ferche said. “I myself have gotten busted up pretty bad riding.”

Ferche almost made it on the MTV show “Scarred” for his array of injuries.

“I’ve cracked my ribs, needed six stitches near my eye and three by my nose, broken my nose, torn my meniscus, lost a chunk out of my arm and a chunk out of finger and suffered a few concussions — I think I got them all,” Ferche said, laughing

Donnelly has also suffered serious injuries and once needed to undergo brain surgery after a head injury. Cameras also need medical attention occasionally.

“We dropped one camera in the water and used a blow dryer to save it,” Ferche said. “It works, but it doesn’t turn off so we have to take the battery out to turn it off.”

College paths

At St. John’s, Ferche met Donnelly and Welter, who were his floormates on Tommie 3. They soon began wakeboarding and filming together.

Ferche and Donnelly eventually decided on communications majors, while Welter chose accounting. Ferche and Donnelly continue their study of film and were able to take some digital video classes with Br. Simon-Hoa Phan.

Ferche does much of the editing on his personal computer, but they have also utilized Sommers Digital Film Studio at St John’s when they wanted to add special effects.

Ferche, Donnelly and Welter said if they turn HSF Films into a full-time business, their majors would help them to fill the necessary roles. With a degree in accounting, Welter could handle finances, and Lodermeier could use his marketing major for promotion.

Expanding operations

HSF Film did a snowboarding film this winter, which was hampered by a lack of quality snow.

Earlier this month, they finished a snowcross (snowmobile racing) video for Ben Lindbom, a 16 year-old who attends Rocori High School. The film will be used to entice sponsors for Lindbom to compete in the XGames, Ferche said.

HSF Films is interested in filming any extreme sport, Ferche said, but there are limitations. Longboarding, although popular on the campuses, isn’t ideal for extreme sports videos, he said.

“It’s harder to make a video on that,” Ferche said. “Not too many tricks are involved.”

Filed under: Lifestyle, Variety by Tan Tuohy