PONY CANYON

INTERNATIONAL LICENSING

SEASON OF SNOW

Original Title

銀色のシーズン
Gin iro no sh?zun

INTRODUCTION

From the creators of “Umizaru 2: Test of Trust”
The biggest hit film of 2006 (Japanese box office \7.1 billion)
Love and Adventure on the Roof of Japan!

Following his number one blockbuster hit of 2006, “Umizaru 2: Test of Trust”, which drew an audience of 5.35 million and earned $62 million at the box office, Eiichiro Hasumi takes his flair for high action storytelling from the depths of the ocean to the snow-capped peaks of the Japan Alps, with “Season of Snow”, an uplifting tale of frustration, hope and redemption.

“No Guts, No Glory. Go for it!”

“Overcoming great challenge” became the operative theme in the making of Season of Snow according to director, Eiichiro Hasumi. “It was an incredibly demanding project that really forced everyone on the staff to summon the best of their abilities, from writing a completely original screenplay to shooting in the very unpredictable and uncooperative elements of the Japan Alps. Earning the full cooperation of the township of Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture, the ski capital of Japan, Season of Snow was shot over a three-month period completely on location in Nagano, the Niseko ski resort in Hokkaido, famous for its powder snow, and in Canada for some of the film’s most spellbinding ski footage. Tasked with making a film that would surpass all expectations as spectacular visual entertainment, Hasumi gathered around him an expert crew to help him prepare 7,000, 10-ton trucks of snow and a full-fledged mogul ski course similar to that used at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano. Top skiers from around the world came to lend credibility to the skiing action while the “Spidercam” crew flew in from Hollywood with their first ever collaboration in a Japanese production to provide groundbreaking camerawork, including the use of a special aerial ropeway system capable of sending a suspended camera through the air at breakneck speeds to capture skiing action like never before.
The result was absolutely breathtaking.

STORY

A struggling town in the Japanese Alps finds itself in a desperate search for tourists to its publicly-run ski resort. Unable to compete with the swank resort on the other side of the mountain, local officials and inn owners have struck upon an idea to offer a wedding-and-ski package, complete with a wedding ceremony at a charming snow chapel they have built on the mountainside. The town welcomes its first customer in the beautiful Nanami Ayase (Rena Tanaka) who has arrived ahead of her fiance so she can learn to ski down the ceremonial “rice shower” slope without falling. The townsfolk’s biggest concern, however, lies with three young down-and-out local skiers who constantly disrupt life in the town with their skiing antics and shady schemes to wring money out of unsuspecting visitors. One of them is Gin Shiroyama, a former world class mogul champ who was the local hero until a terrible spill effectively ended his career. Feeling guilty for the tremendous pressure they placed on him, the townspeople have chosen to leave Gin alone, letting him get away with anything. But they’re quickly running out of patience. When Nanami hires Gin as her skiing instructor, it sets into motion a snowballing chain of events that could change everyone’s future for the better, if it doesn’t bury the town first.