Every GoPro Million Dollar Challenge - $5,000,000 awarded

Watch as GoPro award $5,000,000 to creators all around the world. I was lucky enough to win the GoPro Million Dollar Challenge with the arrow shot in the HERO11 video (11:37). It was a dream come true, after trying for 5 years and submitting so many shots. I thought I'd win it every year, and every year was met with both heightened excitement and disappointment.

In my final submission, I came to realise that GoPro had given me so much already, and the journey of creating all my shots was enough. I was determined to be happy for all those amazing creators out there, and celebrate them, even if I didn't win.

And that was the year I won.

Each year I studied previous winners. Each year, before the next MDC, the GoPro Media Team would put out a video on how to shoot for it, and I rewatched it over and over. I connected with past winners. I gleaned tips from everywhere.

I ended up realising there were a few common aspects of winning videos. Some, but not all, are:
short bursts of vibrant colour,
rotational movement,
heightened emotion on faces of the subject,
highlighting the unique features of the latest GoPro model,
things that have never been done before,
shooting with the highest possible quality with a crystal clear lens,
and that most shots were between 0.5 and 2 seconds.

I had created a lot of FPV content over the years, but when I heard Abe Kislevitz randomly mention that they receive a metric tonne of FPV videos, I decided to not shoot a single FPV shot for the HERO11 MDC. This was a large departure for me, as my very first submission was following a skipping rock with an FPV drone.

The following year, I sent in the world's first FPV follow of a golf ball shot. That didn't win, but GoPro contacted me to use it in the MDC promo video for the next year, which I was so stoked about. I followed arrows. I followed a kicked soccer ball (Fabio nailed this shot a year later, and won with it). I followed a boomerang. I followed golf balls. Anything that I felt interested in, I'd go out and make it happen.

My process involved keeping a list of my very best ideas, from the time I didn't win, until the next MDC was announced. Then I would go out and shoot these ideas in order of least-risky to most-risky, because if I destroyed my camera at the start, that would suck! GoPro replace broken cameras if you have the GoPro Subscription, but I would lose time waiting.

The arrow shot took a number of days to complete. It was actually my last shot to get, partially because my wife didn't like the idea at all. She'll hate me for writing this! haha. Initially I created wings on the front of the arrow, by cutting up a K-Mart foam plane, because I figured the weight of the GoPro would mean the arrow would need extra aerodynamic lift.

That turned out to be a horrible idea, and didn't work at all.

When buying carbon arrows, the shop owner told me to be careful about the arrow snapping on release, sending shards of carbon through my wrist. A Google search proved he was right. The extra weight of the GoPro may cause the arrow to flex so much that it could snap.

So in the video - you can see me shaking, because on every draw, I was thinking of those photos of people with shards of carbon straight through the base of their thumb!! You'll also see that I 3D printed a wrist guard to hopefully deflect the arrow if this were to happen.

I contacted a local arrow club to get the shot. They proceeded to tell me the shot was impossible, and they wouldn't let me try. I told them I'll still make it happen, and shot it in a park a couple of hundred metres away.

I got the shot and was stoked with it. But I knew I needed to get the shot of the arrow hitting the target. Only problem was - there was 1 week to go in the competition, and it rained SOLID for an entire week.

The afternoon before submissions closed, the unthinkable happened. It stopped raining. I told my bro - we gotta get to the park! So we raced down and right when we set everything up, the sun came out for 20 minutes, and we got the shot!! I could not believe it and was thanking Jesus all the way home. After we finished, it rained again.

The GoPro Media Team did an incredible job of making both shots look like they were taken on the same day, despite the lighting being radically different (the target shot was soaked in golden light). And when they merged it with the BMX shot going down the tunnel - it brought tears to my eyes.

It was 11pm here in Australia when the video was released, and I was able to share the experience with my, now late, father, and all my family. That was such a special moment that I'll forever treasure.

Thank you, GoPro. For inspiring me to become a better filmmaker, for building such a vibrant community (it really is a family), and for giving so much back to creators all around the world.

Chapters
0:00 HERO7 Black
2:08 HERO8 Black + MAX
4:25 HERO9 Black
7:07 HERO10 Black
10:00 HERO11 Black + Mini