‘Everything It Takes’

WILLOW — Musher Mary Helwig said she isn’t racing the Iditarod this year, but her rookie run will forever be on replay, thanks to Willow writer and filmmaker Jennifer Hawks.

“Everything It Takes,” Hawks’ debut film, is a full-length documentary about the 2016 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and everything it took Helwig to get to the starting line — from rebuilding her first home after it burned to the ground in the Sockeye fire to reluctantly accepting a game-changing gift halfway along the Iditarod Trail.

“I couldn’t start small,” Hawks said with a smile, recognizing the ambitiousness of her first project.

Last week, at Helwig’s new home — just a short walk from 31-time Iditarod finisher DeeDee Jonrowe’s house — Hawks said she studied film in college, and has wanted to make a film for “decades,” but didn’t have the time or money for it. She worked as a news reporter and photographer in her home state of New York for years before trekking across the continent in search of adventure and inspiration.

That came when she moved to the Yukon Territory and in with musher Michelle Phillips, who started racing the Iditarod in 2010.

“It became clear to me pretty quickly, there’s a lot of work involved, … even for a non-rookie, to get to any race every year, much less Iditarod,” Hawks said.

The preparation itself was enough fodder for a film, she reasoned, but Hawks wanted to further integrate herself into the mushing community first. She moved to Alaska in 2003, and even without a sled or a dog team, seemed to fit right in with the Mat-Su Valley’s mushers.

“I think there’s something about their nature that I identify with, that sense of independence and the love of outdoors and love of animals, and that wanting to challenge oneself — those are things I relate to, even though I’m not a musher,” she said.

It would be several years before Hawks and Helwig would meet, but when she did lay eyes on the cheerful-looking blonde, Hawks knew she had found her star.

“I met Mary shortly after the fire, and immediately I thought about her for the project, because I knew the camera would love her, but there’s also this soft inner strength that comes through immediately,” she said.

A musher’s journey to the Iditarod starting line was a “compelling story already,” Hawks said, but the fact that Helwig was doing it as a rookie who had just lost most of her racing gear and her house in a wildfire added multiple poignant layers she wouldn’t find anywhere else.

“I really felt like, if this was gonna happen, this was my one opportunity to make it work, and thankfully Mary was very into doing the project,” Hawks said.

As willing as she was, Helwig said most of the filming went by in a blur.

“There’s so much of last year I don’t remember because everything was so stressful,” she said.

Helwig did recall a few vulnerable moments that made being filmed difficult, but it was always Hawks who called for a break.

“It was hard, because part of me just wanted to walk in front of the camera and give you a big hug and just make it all go away,” Hawks said.

But Hawks resisted, not wanting to inject herself into the story.

“To give the story justice and to give Mary justice, that was the challenge for me,” she said.

That wasn’t the only challenge, of course; budget was quite another.

According to Cultural Weekly magazine, documentaries selected for the annual Sundance Film Festival in Utah — the largest independent film festival in the U.S. — have an average budget of about $400,000, and most indie films have an average crew of 100 people (including costumers, actors and set designers).

By contrast, “Everything It Takes” is essentially a one-woman, one-camera show that took two years and less than $5,000 to make, Hawks said.

“Hopefully you can’t tell it’s a one-person production,” she said.

In addition to Helwig, Phillips, Wasilla musher Kelley Griffin and Scott “The Mushin’ Mortician” Janssen are featured in the film, which, at the time of the interview, was still being edited. Though Helwig hasn’t seen the final cut or much of the 15 hours of raw footage since she lived through it, she knows the movie will be an invaluable keepsake.

“On a personal level, it’s kind of my journal for the year, in a way,” Helwig said.

She said she also hopes the film “will be an inspiration to people,” which Hawks said was her goal, too.

“Life’s got a lotta challenges, and … having an example of someone who can battle through those and get to the other side to make their dream come true I think is a great example to everybody,” Hawks said.

Hawks said she’s never run dogs by herself and doesn’t plan to start racing — “I’m already poor,” she joked — but has further immersed herself in the culture of mushing by taking on more responsibilities for races like the Knik 100 and 200. She can also continue to live vicariously through mushers like Helwig, who’s big racing goal for this season is competing in the Kobuk 440 this spring.

She’ll be back for Iditarod 2018, she said, but hopefully not in the same position as last year. After 13 days, 8 hours, 51 minutes and 30 seconds out on the trail in 2016, Helwig received the Red Lantern award for last place.

“I want (that) to be a one-time thing. I think it was very fitting for this year (though),” she said.

To learn more about musher Mary Helwig and her journey to and through the 2016 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, see the world premiere of “Everything It Takes” at Janssen’s Mat-Su Funeral Home, 6901 E. Blue Lupine Dr. in Palmer on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. Tickets are free but must be reserved online at www.everythingittakesthemovie.com.

For more information about the screening, which will take place in the chapel, contact Janssen’s Mat-Su Funeral Home at 745-5477.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.