Get it over the lip one more time. Get it over the lip.
You committed to it.
I guess you'd say I'm a skateboard video maker. I also run a distribution company
called "Theories of Atlantis." I do a series of videos called "Static" and so I
we made a website for each video, and after like the third video it hit me
that we should maybe just have one website you know and instead of calling
it after the video we named it "Theories of Atlantis", which I could give you an
hour-long explanation of why it has that name but I'm super fascinated about like
conspiracy theories. In the early to mid-2000s skateboarding had blown up.
There was, you know, like there's MTV shows you know was weird that
skateboarding got to this like corporate point. It was inevitable that skaters
were gonna become disenfranchised with that. The goal was to give a home to the
underground and like independent stuff.
In skateboarding, a filmer is basically a
cameraman but the role of filmer goes so much farther than that. He's like the guy
who basically organizes everything, he motivates everybody. Without that filmer
a lot of skaters who never have been discovered you know because that guy's
kind of the conduit for the industry to see, you know
what's going on. It brings exposure you know to a local scene.
My brother was a skater before I was so I was always surrounded by it as a kid and I would
watch his videos before I skated. I was not really interested in the skating at
the beginning there was something about the videos themselves in the way music
and the art direction would pull some kind of emotion out of you. Like the
first "Stereo" video called, 'A Visual Sound.' Its just all jazz music and is shot on super
8 and just the way it was captured it brought you into like a whole other
world and then the "Alien Workshop" their first video called 'Memory Screen', just
so beautifully put together he edited it on two VHS decks from one to the other,
which is baffling. Those two things had such a big influence on me as like
wanting to like give somebody else that same experience. What's so exciting about
street skating in a lot of ways, is you know finding these things that aren't
intended for skateboarding but so miraculously all line up perfectly.
I'll see something like that nobody else will understand why I'm looking at it but
it's just like ah this is amazing this thing set up so perfectly. What I like
about it and I think a lot most skaters like about it is that this stuff isn't
intended for this.
"We're heading downtown right now. I've got about a week and a
half till the video premiere so we're kind of in crunch time."
"What's up? How's it going?"
Luke Malaney is one of the newer riders on the Traffic team.
The trick he's been trying, I think it's almost impossible it's just the thing he's landing into is
so steep. I've never seen anybody do anything into that bank that way. Some
skaters have a different way of seeing things all together you know like
different ways you can approach it Luke has kind of a unique eye for that stuff. You
just never know because it's probably 60% skill and 40% chance
"That was so it." Does his board hit the crack in the ground at the right angle to
where it positions his feet just right so that he's able to ride out?
In New York City which makes this city literally the hardest city I've ever
filmed in is the pedestrian factor you know it's just so many tourists so many
people and you can't get mad at them them because it's just you know one of
the ones whose aren't supposed to be there. He tried it for for ages and just
it just didn't work out.
"You didn't choose an easy one." There's a lot of time
invested and pain and agony and stress to amass that's the 45 minute project.
It's just the way it goes I mean it was like four hours probably that we spent
there trying it. If you add up all those tries it's got to be in the hundreds.
A skate video in its entirety is typically 35 to 45 minutes the average
single trick is around two and a half to three seconds long once it's edited down
in a video. You see how much goes into just getting one clip, you know they
shoot a whole movie in a matter of months you know whereas it takes two
years to make a normal skate video. "He's landed like 20 of them and just hits the
ground like a sack of potatoes it's like so hard to control it you know."
Ricky is like, I would call him the Godfather of East Coast skateboarding. He
just had a very different approach.
The thing that I think everybody remembers
Ricky for there was a video called 'Eastern Exposure' still to me hands-down
it's the best like street skating video part of all time. When that video came
out so many skaters either identified with it or change the way they skated
because it was a whole new thing.
"Going to Hudson and Canal." "You guys are all skating up there or what?" " Yeah."
Before today I know he hadn't filmed in at least three to four years. Now you
know he's like has a full-time job three kids it's a very delicate thing you know
trying to film with him here to finding something that can like really showcase
his style and his skating's but that he still came that he's capable and he'll
have the confidence to do it.
"Man that thing is sticking too hard."
It's well known Ricky has like he has a lot of attitude
and he's got very strong opinions. Ricky's not afraid to to say something
that's going to be unpopular or it's a piss people off.
"Do a kickflip."
"I'll do it right now you (expletive) douche." "You have YouTube channel?"
"Yeah I got a YouTube channel."
So to the people like me who so appreciate you know his personality and his style
and skateboarding we just want to see him on a board skating you know I don't
care how difficult the trick he does is and with this short amount of time you
know it's like we're what a week and a half out from the video premiere and we
still don't have any clips of him.
"Go! You're not going to get in trouble for (expletive) crossing the street. Jesus (expletive) Christ."
There's a lot of like days where I'm like finally it's a Saturday morning I'm
like dude I just want to chill but I still feel like there's a mission you
know that is unaccomplished.
"Oh my God dude!
(expletive) awesome clip."
"I'm worse than when I (expletive) started when I was (expletive) 14."
Its more common than not that we spend an entire day out filming and we don't
we don't get anything.
The premiere for the video is coming up really soon and
we're gonna do it at the white hotel they have like a rad little theater
underground. Still have to make sure that it's good make sure the skaters are
happy with their music and get it mastered to a DVD I'm sure it's gonna be
filled with a few pitfalls but we'll see how it goes.
The premiere for the video is tonight. This is basically the world premiere.
"Thanks everybody for coming out we're stoked you guys are here hope
you guys enjoy this is everybody who's here knows
what goes into making the state video it's crazy that we have this many people
who are down to support you know all our friends here so thanks everybody for
coming out. Trying to be like sentimental."
"I guess we're going to just play the video. Thanks for coming out."
That's kind of like the most rewarding
part of the premiere is seeing how everybody reacts and now always before
premiere it I remind you know the people in the audience like this is rare
to have all of us together experiencing this video for the first time see
nowadays everybody's at home watching everything on their laptops so to see
all this stuff culminated into one video make noise make everybody know you know
that you appreciate what you're saying because it is a struggle we all go
through for this purpose, you know for this one night.
The premiere was awesome. We had like more people than the theater
could hold I'm really stoked on how like the guys came through with footage you
know the fact that we've gots got some awesome clips of Ricky
right at the last minute you know really helped make it feel complete.
"Stoked. I'm happy with how it went."
For the last three videos
I swore is the last video I'm ever gonna do and once you finish it you're like
there's no way I could ever do that again
but you start burning for that feeling of being able to create that experience
again you have an idea of like and that song would go so good to that you know I
mean you just start picturing things in your head and it's like well what where
else am I gonna do that you know and I mean people are gonna be making big
fooling videos like they were but people are coming back to it a little bit
because it's hard to really create a moving experience in a short you know
30-second Instagram clip. The best video is the past ten years the majority of
them were small independent things from kids you've never heard of. They were
making far more interesting stuff than all the big brands. Any businessmen who
came to see what we're doing at Theories of Atlantis would be like wait hold on a
second what there's only something like 16 million skaters in the world and
we're catering to maybe 5% of that the videos we make the things we film the
skaters we work with by choice the brands we carry it's all done out of
respect for this this history and the ideals that we all believe in and people
like Ricky started or or influenced us from in the beginning you know the guys
who paved the way and the guys who gave skateboarding its identity and created
the culture. Ricky in my opinion contributed a ton. He in my opinion has
gotten the least amount for it. It's rewarding to help promote the people and
styles that have been so meaningful to me growing up the things that gave me
like something to believe in and something inspired me and and to help
hopefully create new things like that.