Revolver and Biscuit’s International Collaboration Sets Sail

What does assembling a team of young sailors to compete in one of the world's most hallowed regattas have to do with running a modern production company? For Revolver's Michael Ritchie, the answer is: everything.

The most intense race of Michael’s life wasn't for a client, but on the open ocean – and it became the perfect metaphor for his company's philosophy: that true success in business, like in sailing, depends on partnership, a young crew, and navigating unpredictable conditions with soul.

Revolver, the film production company, is only one of the Revolvers in Michael’s life; the other is a yacht designed by his father and built from scratch.

Coming from a sailing background, Michael’s side project ‘Revolver’ was invited to contest the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, held once every two years.

In what was some of “the most extreme racing” he’d ever done, Revolver went up against a field featuring 18 Olympic medallists at the world’s most competitive amateur regatta, in the best sailing waters in the world.

Naturally, Revolver, the film company, sponsored the effort. But it wasn’t alone, with longtime US production partner Biscuit joining the party, turning the multinational film partnership into an open-water collaboration.

“[On] one side we had Revolver and on the other we had Biscuit,” Michael explains.

It worked in a fundraising sense, but also as a manifestation of the companies.

“It’s a look at what we do in production together, in a sense,” he adds.

“Having said that ... this crew was much more sailing oriented than the film crews.

The opportunity to bring a crew of young sailors to the hallowed waters of the New York Yacht Club, Michael says, was the highlight of the experience.

“Running another team of people or another little company to actually try to achieve a goal with it … Sometimes you want to take some legacy out of what you do.”

“Fear of the future and AI and all these other things [can’t stop you] injecting your soul into a project if there's a way to do it… for Revolver, things like that are all the difference.”

The collaboration with Biscuit came along “super easily” he adds.

“I said, guys, we're doing this. And they said, we are in. They pledged their support, having no idea what the project was about. They knew the relevance of it.

“That's why it becomes such a signifier of a relationship – that they were willing to jump in and support it like that.”