5 Minutes with ... Benoit Milot

May 17, 2005

By Danny Brault

Quebec freestyler Benoit Milot in action at the Deschambeault National.

Photo: Allison Kennedy

At age 16, Benoit Milot first began his addiction with freestyle, by throwing his legs over the handlebars and clicking his heels together. Now the young Frenchman has become arguably the most prolific FMXer in Canada. Milot was once a top pro rider, but gave up racing to focus all his energy on FMX. Since then he has competed in competitions in the U.S. and even Greece. This past summer, after speaking with ‘Mad’ Mike Jones, Milot came up with the idea to create his own free-ride video and show people what he can do on a motorcycle. The movie is called Ben Milot Invasion and was released May 10. The video features Milot along with the best FMXers in the business such as Travis Pastrana, Mike Jones, Chuck Carothers and Jeff Fehr. The director of the movie is 26-year-old Felix Trepanier, who has experience covering the Canadian nationals and producing music videos. We spoke with Milot about his new video, his thoughts on it and whether he will be making a sequel.

RXC: Benoit, when did you decide to make your own freestyle movie?

Benoit Milot: I spoke to Mike Jones last year, when he came to a jump show at a Quebec provincial last year. I started talking with him and he said, ‘Man, you should do a freestyle video like me and you could sell a lot here in Canada.’ After that I talked with Felix [Trepanier], the director of the movie, and asked if he would like to be a partner. He was pretty excited about it and we started filming last summer.

What’s your relationship with Felix?

I’ve known him for two years, through Canadian motocross and he did some work with me for freestyle shows—so he was the perfect guy for me. He didn’t do just the camera work, but everything.

What’s different or unique about your movie Invasion?

We tried to use just good quality shots throughout the movie, not just little bits of everything like in Crusty movies—sometimes their filming isn’t always real clean.

Who else helped you out along the way to produce Invasion?

Pierre Corbeil, promoter of the Montreal Supercross. We used his studio and computers and he helped me out a lot.

Were there many interesting experiences while filming the video?

In Guatemala in a hotel room one night with Clifford [Adoptante], Kenny Yoho and the rest of the crew were in a room chilling with the camera rolling. We were having some fun and in the end of the video you’ll see a clip of it when Clifford is talking with these big, fake plastic teeth—it was funny (laughs). But I mean Germany was pretty cool, being in Guatemala on the beach and being at Pastrana’s place for a week were all good.

What are your goals for Invasion?

I’d like to sell at least 4,000 to 5,000 videos in Canada, and my sponsor Shark helmets wants to distribute the movie in Europe—it would be great if they did that.

Any plans for a sequel?

Oh yeah for sure. This one was good but this summer we’ll start filming a new one. But we have to see if this one works good first, if it sells here and in Europe.

What has the response been so far, regarding Invasion?

So far it’s pretty good, when I watch Crusty or a Terrafirma videos I see a part that is too long and boring. But in my new video, I couldn’t find anything like that and all my friends said the same thing. It’s only 45 minutes long, it flows well and before you know it—it’s over.

Good talking with you Ben and good luck with Invasion.

Thanks man.

To view the trailer for Invasion and learn more about Milot, go to www.benmilot.com

Milot is already considering making a sequel to Invasion.

Photo: Allison Kennedy