It’s back country. It’s street. It’s broken boards, broken bones and broken laws. It’s “Sooner or Later,” and it’s premiering Friday at the Kent Stage.

Kevin Castanheira, a junior exploratory major, is the director, cameraman and editor behind “Sooner or Later.” This is his second snowboarding film, and it is headlining with the new Transworld Snowboarding movie, “In Color.”

“Once you premiere with a bigger name, you reach a broader audience,” Castanheira said.

Sponsors provided boards, bindings and boots; they made the movie financially possible. The riders put up the money to travel, and sponsors gave them the gear they needed to ride.

Castanheira spent the past two years filming the parts for the movie. He traveled across the country — from Kent to Lake Tahoe, Calif. — with his riders. Three of those riders, Dan Morrison, Ryan McNerney and Brendan Hayes, are from Kent State.

Castanheira and Morrison, senior managerial marketing major, were watching McNerney, senior accounting major, in films when they were 15 years old. Later they all became friends and started riding together.

When only a few months have snowboarding weather, it’s difficult to juggle school with the traveling and filming.

“Your GPA definitely drops,” Morrison said. “If you’re dedicated and want to make it happen, your school is going to suffer.”

The “snowboard first, ask questions later” mentality also takes a toll on their bodies and their records.

“Injuries are something the riders definitely have to deal with and cope with,” Castanheira said.

On the first day of this past season, Morrison broke his hand going a little too big too early. McNerney broke his board and his ankle during filming when he didn’t have enough time to turn and crashed into a tree.

Then there is the fact that sometimes riding street spots is illegal.

During filming, Castanheira, Morrison and two others were arrested in Beachwood for criminal trespassing. The charges were ultimately dropped, and they got their bail money back.

Getting arrested is one of the risks they take to produce a good film, and the illegal spots are where they get a lot of the footage.

“We’re not actually going to resorts, it’s just cities,” Morrison said.

They talk to locals to find the best spots to shoot. There are a lot of local spots in the film, but they also traveled to Pittsburgh, the upper peninsula of Michigan and Minnesota.

They set up generators, lights and cameras when they find a spot they like, and they hit that spot until they are satisfied.

“When everyone’s at a party on a Friday night, we’re at a street spot till two in the morning,” Morrison said.

Castanheira said they don’t script the film, but they always have some idea of what kind of tricks they want to see at certain spots.

After the bumps and bruises, after the arrests, after their GPAs head slightly south, the guys behind “Sooner or Later” are left with a film two years in the making, and that’s all they really wanted in the first place.

“Getting to see the footage,” Morrison said, “is almost as rewarding as doing it.”

Contact Nicole Aikens at [email protected].