A filmmaker on a mission to introduce lumberjacks to the world

AUBURN — When Breanna Wing was a middle school student making videos with her friends, she didn’t know she would one day be working on a documentary about competitive timber sports and the Maine women involved in them.

“I went to high school in Auburn, and I think that’s where it all started,” Wing recalled.

In 2002, Wing received her first laptop at Auburn Middle School. Soon she was editing her first short film on her laptop. “When I was in high school in Auburn, the laptop initiative came from then-Governor Angus King. My class was one of the first to receive laptops,” Wing said. The laptops came with iMovie, an amateur video editing application that Wing used to her advantage.

“I was doing a service-learning project on the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society. I wanted to show his current building because I knew they were trying to raise money to build a larger building that could house more animals without having to go back to euthanasia,” Wing said. “I shot a very short video that was on the news and presented to Governor Angus King.”

The film was associated with raising money for an animal shelter, which later led to the construction of a larger building. “At a very young age, I saw how film could not only arouse emotion and concern in people, but most importantly change a community and the world. I was hooked,” Wing said. “I’ve always loved movies. But when I saw what I could do editing after school on these laptops, I became obsessed.”

Since then, Wing has been involved in several Hollywood productions over the decades, both behind and behind the camera. Still chasing the same level.

“I ended up moving to Los Angeles to go to film and television college,” she said. “And then, when I was in college, I made another documentary. The film was shot in Cameroon and tells the story of the illegal bushmeat trade and endangered primates. Once again it was a profound experience. So I continue. I also love storytelling, big blockbusters, action movies, indie favorites, but that love of community and making a difference and wanting to leave the world a better place stays with me.”

This time, Wing hopes to change things for the better with a documentary about lumber sports in Maine and lumberjacks, the term for women involved in the industry.

“My family started sending me videos of my future sister-in-law Hanna throwing axes and having wood cutting competitions, and I thought, ‘What’s going on?’ It’s fascinating,” Wing said.

She returned to Maine with her cinematographer and producer, Indiana Underhill. “The Fryeburg Fair hosts Lumberjack’s Field Day. This was our starting point. We went to the Jigger Johnson LumberJack and Jill festival in Gorham, New Hampshire,” Wing said. Over the course of a week, she interviewed as many wood athletes as possible.

“The more I learned and the more I met these women, the more I fell in love with them because they are an inspiration to me,” Wing said. “They give me so much strength because they are doctors, lawyers, CEOs, stay-at-home moms and librarians. They are single mothers pursuing a master’s degree in neuroscience. They are firefighters. These are busy women who manage everything and still play a physically demanding sport.”

And then she delved into the history of lumberjacks.

“I started learning the history of where it all came from; how in 1942 men went to war and women went to the forests to help keep the timber industry afloat. “Many of these women during World War II had similar emotions and themes of female friendship, independence, strength, camaraderie, and watched their bodies change and become strong,” Wing said. “It’s analogous to what these athletes are doing.”

“Ax Woman: The Modern Lumberjill” aims to be a fast-paced documentary, but it aims to accomplish a few more things.

“Many loggers are redefining society by how they deal with social perception, their physical strength, identity and family responsibilities,” Wing said. “They challenge gender norms.”

“We want kids to be excited, be able to spend time outdoors, be active and stay healthy,” she said. “Many wood sports do just that, especially from log rolling to handchopping. It teaches kids not only the sportsmanship aspect, but also tool safety and gets them excited to get outside and have fun.”

WOODEN SPORTS IN MAINE

Wood sports have a growing community in Maine.

“Everyone approaches it in their own way,” said Alissa Wetherbee, a logger from Maine involved in the documentary. “I got into timber sports because I grew up in Maine. While cutting firewood with my family, I learned how to use a chainsaw and an ax and learned about different species of trees.”

Wetherbee and her husband, Mike, run the Ax Women Loggers in Maine, which is made up of more than 30 loggers who travel across the country for timber-related sports.

“I started going to local fairs and festivals when I realized they celebrated forester’s day or lumberjack’s day,” she said. “Through this, I met more and more women who were part of the community. We learned more and more together and from each other.”

“It’s amazing how wood sports have grown in popularity among women over the years,” Wetherbee said. “When I started about 20 years ago, there weren’t as many women in the sport as there are now. We were allowed to compete and were welcome in most competitions, but we entered them knowing that we were competing against men.

“In incidents like chopping, a big, strong man is most likely to beat up a woman,” she added. It takes a lot of technique, but as you can imagine, there’s also a lot of strength involved. Now almost every competition you enter has women’s events.”

Even with a growing presence in wood sports, female athletes cannot support themselves solely on wood earnings.

“Sometimes I like to call wood sports a very expensive hobby,” Wetherbee said. “The axes we buy cost a thousand dollars, and we have to pay a lot to go to various competitions. You can very easily destroy an ax if you hit a knot in the log. Things are very expensive,” she continued.

Wages do not cover the expenses associated with timber sports, largely because rewards are disproportionate to loggers. “It can sometimes be frustrating for women starting out in the sport to know that they have to spend several thousand dollars to buy their own equipment, and they will probably only win half as much as their male counterpart could win in competition,” Wetherbee said.

“The crosscut saws are probably $3,000 apiece. If you want to win a few events in big competitions, you can earn $1,000 a day. “It’s a good day to compete if you break even for all the money you spend,” Wetherbee said.

Their band earns more from performing. Lumberjacks will be hired in various places to organize shows. “We’ll invite our own women’s team and let them compete against each other or we’ll do lessons for kids, like log rolling lessons,” she said. “It’s primarily what we do and that’s why we travel so often. We will try to organize competitions between these events whenever possible.”

As of 2021, Wetherbee and the lumberjill community are working to get the publishers of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary to recognize the word “lumberjill.” “It has to be very organic. You have to get it out of there. You can’t just contact the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and say, “Hey, we want this word there.” In fact, they conduct their own research from the very beginning. It takes seeing it in print and hearing people say it,” Wetherbee said.

She believes the key to continued growth is to get more women involved in the sport. “Now that it’s more fun, it’s definitely easier to involve more and more women in the project,” she noted.

“The timber industry is not as sought after anymore, Wing said. “But I think this is a really great way to take it into a different context and make it fun and a sport,” Wing said.

“We are just starting to raise money,” she said. “The funds we raise through donations will help us continue shooting as we have made our sizzling film and learned a lot. I’ve spent the last year writing, researching, and developing concepts and stories. Once we raise the money, we can continue shooting. We plan to return to the Fryeburg Fair, New Hampshire, and participate in many forest events throughout New England.”

“I also want to address the sustainability aspect of the sport. There is a very long story to tell,” Wing said.

Wing has big plans for the documentary.

“My ultimate vision is theatrical releases that will lead to streaming platforms,” said the director. “It would be fantastic if a streaming platform or studio took an interest in us and made it a very viable project very quickly. Right now it’s an independent documentary, very grassroots. We are lifting with runways, maintaining the true character of the Maine I was born and raised with.”

For more information about Wing’s documentary “Ax Women: The Modern Lumberjill,” visit axewomenfilm.com.

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