User:Jenntuerk/ChipMabry

Chip Mabry (born 1971 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a documentary producer and director living in Portland, Oregon. He moved to Portland in 2007 and changed his career from advertising to documentary production. His first effort as executive producer/producer was the Nike SB sponsored Rip City (2009), a documentary about Portland skateboarding culture. Rip City followed the lives of Chet Childress, Dave Tobin, the creators of Portland’s legendary Burnside skate park and other Portland skaters throughout the summer of 2008. The film debuted on Fuel TV in March of 2009 and was one of thirty sports films accepted to the 2009 X-Dance Film Festival where it was nominated for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Original Music.

In 2010 Mabry released Brutal Beauty: Tales of the Rose City Rollers, adding director duties as well as continuing to serve as executive producer and producer. The year and a half embedded documentary followed Portland, Oregon’s roller derby team as they competed to make the national tournament in Philadelphia. The film debuted at Portland’s Hollywood theater in January 2010. In April 2010, Brutal Beauty won the Programmer's Choice Award at the Crossroads Film Festival and the Festival Director's Choice Award at the Indie Spirit Film Festival.

Both Rip City and Brutal Beauty make no use of narration and employ relaxed interviews in settings where the subjects are most comfortable. Both are known for portraying the city of Portland as a character almost as much as the subjects interviewed. Mabry uses a tactic of forming close relationships with subjects (opposed to the detached methods of many documentary makers) and studying their lives for months before cameras are allowed in. His films are also known for their use of local Portland independent music and both films have featured the work of Portland musician John Askew.

A Mississippi native, Mabry however has chosen to make Portland and its subcultures the focus of his work. He is a 1993 graduate of Mississippi College where he was one of four graduating students inducted into the Student Body Hall of Fame and was named Mr. Mississippi College. In college he was roommates with Chicago sports writer and non fiction author, Dayn Perry, his close friend since youth.