It was a very unusual tightrope for me as a filmmaker and participant. Tommy Guerrero grew up in San Francisco, California, where he learned to skate its hills, streets and sidewalks instead of pools and ramps. SkateBoarder magazine died. I was hyper aware of that. Lance is sponsored by Flip Skateboards, Spitfire Wheels, Nike skate shoes, Independent Trucks, and Bones Bearings. Rodney's flatland ollie was years ahead of the industry and sport, and so he proceeded to just use this new lever to move the entire skate world into the third dimension. Lance's combination of video visibility and contest successes created enough popular demand to earn him a pro model with Powell-Peralta much sooner than expected. He asked me a few things at the beginning and the way he posed the questions had a certain direction and I took another direction and kept going and he just went with it. I wrote questions for around 45 different individuals. difficult maneuvers look easy and accessible to all. RM: Yes. Over the next nine years, Bones released eight more groundbreaking videos, including Future Primitive, The Search for Animal Chin and Ban This—all of which are must-have titles in every skateboarder’s visual canon. https://www.slugmag.com/podcast-player/112971/episode-352-picnics.mp3. When we formally began and had a meeting at LAX, we had that discussion and Stacy asked, "Who do you feel comfortable letting in?". Soon after joining the Brigade, Lance won the Upland Combi-Pool contest and then the Tahoe contest with his board literally ablaze. They got broken up and took the bruises, but kept going until they got what they wanted. The boys that had made up his Bones Brigade are now men with careers and benchmarks of their own. The Bones Brigade Video Show is a 1984 skateboarding video, produced by Stacy Peralta and Craig Stecyk. Some of the members of the team were very original. Many older skaters made fun of the way he skated, because he was focused on learning new maneuvers instead of just stylizing maneuvers they had already perfected. Skaters crawl out of sewers, skate back alleys and decrepit ditches. It makes a difference. Tony happened to be in Dubai and we talked for a long time. How has the experience been with the Brigade after the film? And he kicked ass at it. Everybody is taking something different from it. Stacy was very clear and he gave me his word and I believed him—again, this is not a reflection of me doubting Stacy one iota—but the reality is that these things have a mind of their own. Lance [Mountain] broke down in his interview, which made me break down. This contest and those that followed, created a new resonance and excitement that changed the industry once again, and demanded new Pros and new companies to represent this new street skating direction. One of the reasons that this movie could even happen is because Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Steve Caballero and myself were the first skaters ever to have product on the market from the beginning of the ’80s and we never left. Tommy is also known as a talented musician and guitarist, gaining recognition from Rolling Stone Magazine, and producing 7 albums and a number of acclaimed singles. I think Stacy is the only one who would have gotten it out of us. TH: I don’t think my success has changed my outlook on skating. Whatever had happened was being covered up and written over to try and sell a product for tomorrow. You might be able to bring a documentarian who’ll make a technically better documentary, but they won’t capture the spirit or the feeling of what skateboarding about. Skateboarding history hasn’t always been available because the coverage, the articles written, were being done to market a brand. Tony Alva Steve Caballero Shepard Fairey Tommy Guerrero Ben Harper Tony Hawk Christian Hosoi Mike McGill Lance Mountain Rodney Mullen Stacy Peralta George Powell Ian MacKaye. Officially retired, Stacy surprised himself by enjoying nurturing his team even more than his own pro career. It seemed like it was going to be more of a celebration of our time, not anything so deeply emotional and personal. Only six copies of the deck … Powell Peralta weathered the depression until a new generation discovered skateboarding in the mid-'80s. This film isn’t just a look back on the glory days—we’re still doing it. And he made sure of that throughout. Rodney's nickname in Florida was Mutt, which lead to his first pro deck graphic of a robotic dog. TH: Absolutely. If you'd like to see more vintage listings like this one, please check out my other items , … At the end of the first day, the crew was absolutely stunned by what they'd heard. The skateboard community as it is today and that sense of belonging—this is it for me. They formed Powell Peralta and each owned their own side of the company coin. When six teenage boys came together as a skateboarding team in the 1980s, they reinvented not only their chosen sport but themselves too - as they evolved from insecure outsiders to the most influential athletes in the field. Did you realize early on that you'd have to convey the evolution of skating's disenfranchised culture for everything to make sense? Are people asking you to do the next one about The Bones Brigade?” He said people were already mentioning it to him and he was like, "No way! The lightning crown and snake were included after a discussion between Mike and artist Vernon Courtlandt Johnson (VCJ) to represent Floridian elements. It's about overcoming obstacles. 24, 9:30 p.m., Rose Wagner, Salt Lake City Jan. 26, 9:00 p.m., Screening Room, Sundance Resort Jan. 27, 11:30 a.m., MARC, Park City Jan. 28, 3:30 p.m., Peery’s Egyptian Theater, Ogden. Rodney is like Chopin where he invented the studies. Powell became interested in skateboards through his son and began tinkering with homemade designs. Rodney grew up in Florida, where he learned to skateboard at 10 years old. They also invited Christian Hosoi, Bucky Lasek, Kevin Staab, Tom Schaar, Lizzie Armanto, Clay Kreiner and Nicole Hause. Tommy's deck was successful, and so for his second model, this concept was updated by Vernon Courtlandt johnson (VCJ) to the more widely known version of the Flaming Hot Rod Dagger reproduced here. Tommy's pro model became widely popular as street skating took off, displacing vert skating altogether in the late 80s. Some people saw us as examples of doing what you love despite the status quo. (Think 1970s-era porno with skating instead of sex. It ended wrong. She figured that if anyone had any issues with me as the filmmaker or the guys making their own film in a sense, then telling them upfront should set it straight. I had Sean Mortimer come in first because I knew he'd give the general overview of the Bones Brigade experience. This time we’re really talking about what drew us into doing something so different. Visually, it doesn't look anything like Dogtown. Today, Bones Bearings and BONES wheels are among the strongest and most respected brands in skateboarding. SP: It gave me an insight into the story. I had so much trust in Josh. Tommy also plays with a group called Blktop Project that includes Chuck Treece and Ray Barbee. In a lot of ways, I’m one of the guinea pigs of how far can you take this and at what age do you cease being effective or progressive. I voiced these concerns upfront and Stacy gave a long pause, not because he needed to deliberate but to give these concerns their space. I don't know who else I could have opened up with. We didn’t need to revisit it. A decade after that, George passed down his skateboard to his son, who promptly complained that his relic ride sucked compared to newer models with urethane wheels. Tags: steve-caballero; tony-hawk; mike-mcgill; lance-mountain; Rodney Mullen - Gracias LA … Due to his ventures at the time, including the Hollywood adaptation of the Zephyr Team (Lords of Dogtown) and his reluctance to portray himself, Peralta believed that the time wasn’t right and respectfully declined. Not one of the participants on their own can overshadow the others and take whole credit for this being a thing of value. You've got to connect with the person next to you. TH: Yeah. Why would you go outside of that? Thanks for your advice, but I'm out. I've literally watched Stacy Peralta's Bones Brigade: An Autobiography half a dozen times in the past two weeks. How far back had you been planning it? When that happens, the crew comes to work excited and creates a vibe that is tangible to people walking onto the set. There was a Roller Boogie crew, a guy that juggled chainsaws, the hacky sack champions and us, as skaters. It was during this transition that we lost the Bones Brigade. During the 1980s, skateboarding was self-contained and survived by relying on an instinctual DIY ethos. The street style revolution created opportunities for many smaller companies to focus on this new skate paradigm. Every other pro has had product for five years, ten years, dropped off, maybe come back decades later. Stacy Peralta flowed Mike some product, and a magazine photographer captured an image of McGill at Marina Del Rey skatepark, which was later picked to be the centerfold in Skateboarder Magazine. No other pro had pulled the e-brake on his own career and it confused fans to no end. Bones Brigade member! It's important to have that tonal mixture. My wife says that I've ruined it for so many middle-aged skaters and that they'll never look at Animal Chin the same way again. I called Tony to basically tell him that I was going to pull out of the documentary. Shot on 3/4 inch video, the idea was to reach the consumer in a way that a one-page magazine ad had limited. What were your initial thoughts upon seeing the first screening? Both Tony and Rodney invented an entirely new vocabulary of maneuvers in skateboarding. I don’t mean spiritual in a religious way, I mean that they connect with it and that's exactly what happened by properly sequencing the interviewees. SP: One thing I learned from Dogtown was that I didn't want this to be us patting ourselves on the back. I went through the Powell Peralta archives, which represents thousands of photos, and I looked through all the skate videos I made, including hours and hours of outtakes. David Krisor and Dayhana Cardenas and thier coveted “Rollerbones” poster signed by all Bones Brigade members. Immediately, I was engaged with the feel of the movie and its authenticity. Finally, it was Mountain who put things into perspective a year ago when he said, “We’re all now older than you and [Tony] Alva when you made Dogtown. His day job revolved around the aerospace industry and he employed its high-tech approach to making aluminum skinned decks and the first double-radial wheels called "Bones" due to their rare white color. I had a sense of it during the interview, but I had no idea how deep everyone else would go. Unfortunately, accomplishments like this mutated hideously when transferring outside the skateboard bubble and an adult dedicating himself to a kiddie fad made him snicker bait for non-skating peers. Nobody can document skateboarding better than a skateboarder. “It premiered in Tony Hawk’s parent’s living room. This successful design lasted until 1989 and would be the final Mullen model produced by Powell-Peralta. Aside from the original Bones Brigade members - Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, Tommy Guerrero, Steve Caballero and Rodney Mullen - Powell Peralta gave birth to the careers of Ray Barbee, Frankie Hill, Guy Mariano, Rudy Johnson, Gabriel Rodriguez, Danny Way and Colin McKay. “In a sense, it was time for us all to move on. Other teams and skaters were great, but their package or their storytellers were not as talented. Sean was the first person on the first day and Rodney was the last person on that day because I knew Rodney had the potential to blow the crew away with his emotional, psychology and articulation of his experience. At the time, none of us knew if skateboarding would ever come back or if it was gone forever. TONY HAWK: I was excited. This January, Stacy Peralta returns to Park City to premiere his fourth Sundance documentary, Bones Brigade: An Autobiography. This year, Peralta brings another skate documentary to the festival with some friendly faces in tow. Skateboarding has only grown better for all of us involved. My thoughts were so loud that I didn't know what was going to come out of my mouth because I was so overwhelmed emotionally. What was next was a revolution in skateboard marketing. The video was based on a day in the life of Lance Mountain and his skillful and comedic skating greatly increased his visibility and popularity after the video was released. Skateboarding has so many nuances and unwritten codes. Tony is the founder of the Tony Hawk Foundation, which offers guidance and financial grants to those striving to start skate parks in low-income areas. LM: I just felt that it would be good and what people wanted. When I saw the other guys opening up and how it was woven together … I didn't question much at that first screening. In order to sustain his occupation in skateboarding, Peralta went into business with engineer George Powell. Thus, Guerrero was one of the first to have a pro street model. LM: Yeah, because in some sense the chapter was never finished. Not to bash anything, but it’s like the difference between the documentary on Dogtown and the movie about Dogtown. Bones Brigade: An Autobiography. Tommy Guerrero. Steve has followed skating's many turns and changes flexibly enough to reinvent himself over and over during his 35 year career. WakeInFright. After the first screenings, Tony Hawk commented a few times on how unexpectedly personal the film was for him. In 1977, Stacy Peralta was a 20-year-old champion skateboarder with the world's best-selling skateboard model. Additional screening times for Bones Brigade: An Autobiography: Jan. 22, 12:00 p.m., Temple Theatre, Park CityJan. In 2009, Tony Hawk was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in Simi Valley, CA. This film shows that for anything to be of a certain value, have impact over time, it takes people being very passionate and working together combining different sets of skills. A month had past and it was enough time for an interview to come out and it raised flags [about the film] that were very much beyond Stacy's control. The acting quality was pretty much the same though.) The Bones Brigade had the best package for telling the story of that era. Photo courtesy of Powell-Peralta I knew the inner workings. Steve has many pro models with Powell-Peralta Skateboards and continues to live in the San Jose, CA, area with his wife Rachael. Steve Caballero was picked after placing fifth in a contest. There is a certain comic ownership to burning oneself. TH: It’s definitely been a catalyst for us to start working together again because we want to help promote the film, but also assess each other’s interest levels in doing reissues and how far we want to take this nostalgia. Bones Brigade: An Autobiography documents the lives of the original Bones Brigade crew that included Tommy Guerrero, Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, Mike McGill, Steve Caballero and Rodney Mullen. Tony called it "a global mission" in an email, but he couldn't make it work. "I sometimes think how remarkable my parents were because if my son spent the greater part of his day riding a pogo-stick, I'd worry about him.". I started with Sean so that my crew could understand the film we were making. Glen Friedman and I were talking on the phone, months before production began, and he began ripping apart The Search for Animal Chin. I do this with most of my films. They used to travel the world together, stuffing themselves into budget vans and cheap hotel rooms.