Behind the Lens: Producing a Sharp Magazine Athlete Film with SailGP Sailor Tom Ramshaw
When Sharp Magazine came to us to produce a video profile on Tom Ramshaw, the brief was simple on paper and harder in practice: capture the identity of a world-class athlete in a few minutes of film. Ramshaw races for Canada's NorthStar SailGP team, piloting an F50 catamaran that hits speeds north of 50 knots on hydrofoils — and Sharp wanted a piece that matched that intensity while still feeling personal.
Here's how we approached it, from concept to final delivery.
Starting with the Story, Not the Shot List
Before any gear gets packed, we ask the same question on every branded or editorial film: what does this person actually want to say, and what's the most honest way to show it? With an athlete profile, it's tempting to lean entirely on highlight-reel energy — fast cuts, big water, dramatic music. We didn't want to skip that, but we also didn't want it to be the whole story.
So we developed a few creative directions before the shoot, each with a different emotional register — one leaning cinematic and stripped-back, another built around motion and speed, a third focused on Ramshaw in his own words. Presenting options up front, rather than locking into a single treatment, let Sharp's editorial team weigh in early and made sure everyone was aligned before a single frame was shot.
The Shoot: A Sailing Club Dock, Real Light, Real Athlete
We shot on location at a sailing club dock — no studio, no green screen, just Ramshaw, his gear, and the water he actually races on. That choice was deliberate. An athlete profile lives or dies on authenticity, and there's no substitute for shooting someone in the environment where they actually do the work.
Working dockside means working around tide, wind, boat traffic, and a subject who has exactly one window of availability between training and travel. It's the kind of shoot where the pre-production planning — knowing your shot list, knowing your light, knowing exactly what you need before the camera rolls — matters more than any piece of gear in the kit.
Editing: Letting the Edit Find the Tone
Post-production is where the different creative directions we pitched actually got tested. We cut a first version, gathered feedback, and refined a second pass — adjusting pacing, trimming interview moments, and making sure the final film matched both Ramshaw's personality and Sharp's editorial voice. That back-and-forth, V1 to V2, is a normal and healthy part of the process. The goal isn't to nail it in one pass; it's to leave room to react to what's actually working once you see it cut together.
More Than Just Video: Fashion Photography on the Same Shoot
The brief from Sharp wasn't limited to film. Alongside the video, we delivered a set of fashion-driven still photography featuring Ramshaw — the kind of polished, editorial-style imagery a magazine needs for print and digital alongside a profile piece. Shooting video and fashion stills in the same session means working two disciplines at once: lighting and composition that hold up as both motion and frozen frames, a wardrobe and styling sensibility suited for print, and a pace that respects an athlete's limited time without sacrificing either deliverable. Being able to walk onto a single location and come away with both a finished film and a magazine-ready photo set is exactly the kind of full-service production Sharp was looking for — and it's a capability we lean on often for editorial and brand clients who need more than just one format out of a single day.
Why This Kind of Project Matters
Athlete and personality-driven films are a different discipline from straightforward commercial work. You're not selling a product — you're representing a person, often to an audience that already has strong opinions about who that person is. It demands a tighter creative process, more intentional pacing, and a willingness to let the subject's real personality lead rather than imposing a template on top of them.
Producing this piece for Sharp Magazine — built around one of Canada's SailGP athletes, at a moment when the sport is getting more visibility in this country than ever — was exactly the kind of project we like taking on: high stakes, a real story, and a client who trusted us to bring the creative vision, not just operate the camera.
If you're a brand, publication, or athlete looking to tell a story like this one, get in touch — we'd love to talk about what we can build together.
