Move over Netflix and Hulu, there’s a new streaming platform in town. Launched by Tahoe locals on October 3, 2023, Airtime Streaming features a collection of indie-made winter sports films and documentaries. For just $3.99 a month, you can stream ski and snowboard films and documentaries, along with exclusive content such as interviews with the athletes and filmmakers.

“The idea came from when I was back up in Lake Tahoe, not last winter, but the winter before.  I was coaching the Free Ride team at Sugar Bowl, and made a documentary called Room and Board, about the housing crisis in the Lake Tahoe area through the lens of the ski and snowboard community.  And, in making that film, I got to know a lot of filmmakers involved in the ski and snowboard industry up in Tahoe and started learning about their experiences. I saw a terrible gap in the distribution of these films, “says Airtime Streaming founder Elizabeth Cameron.

After shooting the documentary, Room and Board, Cameron became interested in the economics of the film industry.  So, she applied to USC’s MBA program, which focuses on entrepreneurship in the media space. She received a full ride scholarship.  Cameron says the program has been like the support system needed to launch Airtime Streaming.

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Because the ski and snowboard community is woefully underpaid, Airtime Streaming works on a revenue share model, where all films that join before the October 3 launch date, will receive a 40% revenue share.  Films joining after the launch date, will receive a revenue share of 40%, depending on whether or not a film is exclusive to Airtime Streaming.  The platform hosts a multiple collection of 20 licensed films, spanning four continents and eight countries.

When asked how filmmakers get their films on Airtime Streaming, Cameron said, “I’ve just been reaching out to filmmakers, largely through people that have screenings, or any sort of film tour for their films.  And I’ve been doing a lot of connecting with people via Instagram.  People reach out to me as well, and that’s been exciting.”

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The content available on Airtime Streaming is a mix of both scripted movies and documentaries.  The films range from 4 to 50 minutes in length.  One film focuses on Nellie Steinhoff, a snowboarder in South Lake Tahoe, directed by Steve Seime. Another film is about a ski maker in Scotland.

Cameron’s passion for skiing and snowboarding is a personal one; she’s been doing it all her life.

“I lived in Tahoe when I was little, in Incline Village.  And then my family moved to Massachusetts, where then, my dad was like, ‘What are you going to do now?’ So, I started ski racing. And so I ski raced all through high school,” explains Cameron.

Cameron said that the barrier to create a ski film has dropped drastically, and it keeps dropping every year, with the ease and affordability of technology that makes creating this beautiful content feasible.

A major goal that Airtime Streaming hopes to achieve is to enable filmmakers to receive long-lasting revenue for their work, that will eventually lead them to become less dependent on brand and partnership dollars to fund their creative visions. Airtime Streaming strives to build community and help support skiers and snowboarders, as well as filmmakers, in doing what they love doing the most of, and that is expressing themselves creatively on the slopes and through the lens.

“I really hope it continues to grow, and that we can keep putting more dollars back into our filmmaker’s pockets, and also hoping to create a shift in norms of how people are compensated is the goal as well,” adds Cameron.

To learn more about Airtime Streaming, visit the website http://www.airtimestreaming.com. To sign up for a subscription visit https://watch.airtimestreaming.com.