How to One-Man-Crew it like an Olympian

For his new film Olympic Dreams, filmmaker Jeremy Teicher was granted unprecedented access to one of the most exclusive residences in the world. This is a location so rare that it's only available once every four years. A place where pheromones course through the veins of some of the most beautiful and physically talented people alive: The Olympic Village. Teicher and his partner Alexi Pappas were provided a grant and, perhaps equally valuable, permission to shoot anywhere they wished at 2018's Winter Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Pappas, an Olympic track star in her own right, stars in the film with the always hilarious Nick Kroll. The two are the only actual actors in the film, playing a young cross-country skier and a volunteer doctor that fall in love over the course of the winter games. Everyone else who appears in the film is either a competing Olympian or unknowing passerby. For this reason, it was crucial the production had the smallest footprint it could possibly get away with. The opportunity wouldn't be without its challenges, however. Namely, Teicher would be shooting an entire narrative film in a chaotic foreign location, entirely by himself. NFS sat down with Teicher and Pappas to discuss the most important parts of one man crewing, what gear to bring along, how to make things easier for yourself in pre-production and, at the end of the day, why it may be a better idea to bring at least one other person along to help.

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