Tom Jenkins: a 30-second mountain bike sponsorship reel
Tom was shortlisted for a mountain bike sponsorship and needed a 30-second athlete video to match the sponsor's brief. Here's how we planned, shot and cut it for the scroll.
Port Macquarie, NSW2 min read
Some briefs arrive fully formed. This one arrived as a message from a proud dad. Tom Jenkins is a seriously committed young mountain bike athlete, and he had just been shortlisted for a sponsorship opportunity. The first round was a written application answering questions about his riding and what he gives back to the mountain biking community. The next round was a 30-second video.
His dad's note asked for three things: advice, direction and a quote to help pull together a short athlete promotional video. The sponsor had sent a brief describing what they wanted, and Tom had a draft of his written answers. What he needed was someone to turn all of that into thirty seconds that actually felt like him.
Starting with the brief, not the camera
Thirty seconds goes quickly. Before we planned a single shot we went through the sponsor's brief and Tom's written answers line by line, pulling out what the sponsor wanted to see: skill on the bike, personality off it, and a sense of where Tom is headed as a rider.
From there we built a simple structure. Open with impact so the reel earns the next few seconds. Show the riding at its most technical. Then slow down enough to let Tom himself come through. Every shot had to do a job, because there is no room in a 30-second edit for anything that doesn't.
Shooting for the edit
Mountain biking is fast, loud and hard to frame. We planned the shoot around a few key features of the trail so we could ride each line more than once, film it from different angles and keep the best take. Low tracking shots sell speed, wide frames show the terrain, and close detail on hands, tyres and dust gives the edit its texture.
We shot everything with a vertical 9:16 delivery in mind. Sponsors increasingly share athlete content straight to Instagram and TikTok, so the reel needed to work on a phone first.
Cutting it to thirty seconds
The edit is where a reel like this lives or dies. We cut to the rhythm of the riding, let the sound of the trail carry the transitions, and kept the colour grade punchy without losing the natural tones of the bush. The result is a cinematic sponsorship reel that hits the brief, fits the format and still feels like Tom.
It's the same approach we take with every short-form edit in our social reels and shorts work: plan for the platform, shoot for the edit and make every second count.
The gallery
Alongside the film, we photographed the session so Tom has stills for his application, socials and any sponsor media kits down the track. Clean portraits with and without the helmet, plus a few frames that show off the jersey and the brands already backing him.
You can view Tom's full gallery here.
Need an athlete or sponsorship video?
If you or your kid are chasing a sponsorship, applying for a grant or building an athlete profile, we'd love to help you work out the brief, plan the shoot and cut something that stands out. Get in touch and tell us what you're working towards.
