James Gabriel is the owner of Steamboat-based videography company, Whistle Bird Productions. Many of his films are rooted in philanthropy after he documented a trip to Palisade, California to donate an RV to a family who had lost their home in the 2018 fires. Photo courtesy of James Gabriel.

On a warm April day in the Texas Hill Country, it’s a few minutes past 1:30 p.m., but the midday sun isn’t casting its typically harsh glare. Instead, the sun is completely concealed by the moon – a brief yet extraordinary event that Steamboat photographer Noah Wetzel traveled to capture. Inspired by stories of the legendary solar eclipse of 1878, Noah dreamt up a thrilling Western outlaw chase scene to photograph at the exact moment of totality. The final shot is epic, but the behind-the-scenes foot-age of how he achieves this feat is even more so.

“Eclipse Outlaw Chase” is a 46-minute documentary highlighting more than 1,000 hours of work to realize Noah’s goal. When he debuted the short film at Wildhorse Cinema last October, nearly 100 community members turned up to support him. “In Steamboat, there’s a great appreciation for art,” Noahs ays. “My main motivation is creating that singular, powerful, timeless and surreal image. And when you’re creating from a standpoint of just doing it because you love it, I think that’s where art exists.”

"Eclipse Outlaw Chase" documents the process of capturing a photograph during 2025's solar eclipse.

Noah’s sentiment is a familiar one, echoed by several homegrown filmmakers who are building a body of documentary work that celebrates beautiful storytelling. For James Gabriel, owner of Steamboat videography company Whistle Bird Productions, filmmaking became an accidental hobby. When the former actor-turned-radio producer (he honed his skills on KFMU) decided to document his time repairing a 1989 Fleetwood Jamboree RV to donate to a Paradise, California family who lost their home in the 2018 fires, his footage drew widespread local attention. James then connected with Denver resident Woody Faircloth, who had the same idea, and began filming his many trips to California to assist those who were displaced.

“Every time he went somewhere, he’d say, ‘James, can you come help me?’” James recalls. “Not only was I the filmmaker, but I was the mechanic and the driver. I started to look back at my past, at everything I’d learned how to do, and realized I was doing them all for this cause. I want to produce content to bring awareness to what’s going on in our country.”

One of James’ recent films, “Humble River,” captures the effects of devastating flooding from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. The survival stories are powerful, told with inspiring attitudes that blend heartbreak with optimism. When wildfires ravaged communities in Los Angeles last year, James hit the road with Woody again to connect with families who might benefit from an RV donation through his charity, EmergencyRV. “It’s my calling right now to be a documentary filmmaker and give a voice to others who don’t have one,” he says.

Austin Lee Hilde and Marco Cuevas’ work also lives at the intersection of art and philanthropy. Marco, a Steamboat Springs Middle School teacher, and Austin, a local filmmaker whose resume includes a Super Bowl TV spot for Amazon’s Alexa, are currently producing “Skating Towards Hope,” a feature-length documentary about ministry work Marco started in Cuba. NVS (Nueva Vida Skate) Ministries unites faith-based families and communities through skateboarding.

"Skating Towards Hope" is a feature-length documentary about skate ministry work in Cuba. Photo courest of Marco Cuevas.

“It’s so much more than a sport,” Marco says. “It’s a tool for connection and outreach. Skateboards are basically impossible to find on the island. We only formalized the nonprofit this past year, but we’ve expanded to nearly 10 chapters in different Cuban cities and have been able to build two skate parks, including what I believe is the country’s first truly proper, modern skate park.”

Austin films skateboarders zipping through parks and streets in the humid Cuban climate with a 10-pound camera strapped to his body, often so exhausted from the heat that he only sleeps a few hours a night. “It can wear you out,” he says, “but it’s so much fun. In Cuba, everything has been forgotten and abandoned. For these kids to have something they can embrace, practice and excel at is everything.”

For each of these documentarians, the physically demanding risks are always worth the reward. Noah logged countless hours trekking uphill through snow and rocky terrain to a clearing near Grizzly Gulch in Utah for his documentary, “The Grizzly Column Project.” It was all in the name of research, trying to determine if the shot he envisioned was possible. It would feature professional freeskier and X Games gold medalist Tom Wallisch skiing up a man-made column of snow after nightfall, with Mount Superior towering majestically in the background. Because the shoot was at night, Noah also spent time testing a new photography technique in a Steamboat park beforehand. With a wireless flash strapped to a drone, he could illuminate an outdoor scene from hundreds of feet in the air. “You kind of feel crazy sometimes,”he says. “It’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears that go into this.”

While filming in California, James once found himself surrounded by flames, unsure how he would escape. He says it comes with the territory of being boots on the ground. “It’s really extreme and dangerous,” he says. “Some of it can be a nightmare. But I have to see it for myself.” It’s the rawness of the experience, and the emotional magnitude of the aftermath, that motivate James to tell his stories. “These people have lost everything and don’t have anyone to talk to. It’s very humbling, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

When projects like these come to fruition, the audience gets to see a fraction of what the filmmakers see – yet their work is so impactful as to generate buzz locally and beyond, and inspire financial donations, resources or volunteer outreach for those with a charitable focus. (To date, thousands of dollars have been raised to bring the stories in “Skating Towards Hope” to the big screen.)

Ultimately, these films are amplifying important causes and spotlighting the artistic talents that are shaping Steamboat’s creative future. “That’s the cool thing about filmmaking,” Noah says. “You get to carve out a story, a passion project, a narrative, exactly how you want. It’s a beautiful art form.”