Giant Robot Store and GR2 News

It started by accident when I contacted my friend Tim about showing a independently made skateboard video called “The Working Man” at the Chicago film festival that he runs. He said, sure, but asked me to curate an entire program to go with it and I accepted the challenge. After the packed spring 2012 showing in the Windy City, the pack of new, independent skateboard films went on to enjoy successful screenings at film festivals in Honolulu and San Diego–a pretty cool run that I was stoked by and proud of. I not only was able to give attention to the awesome work of my creative friends but promote skateboarding videos as an art form and more than a niche genre for sweaty guys who roll around sideways. So when Judy at Asian Cinevision asked if I’d like to bring the program to this summer’s Asian American International Film Festival, how could I say no? It will include the same core of movies: • “The Working Man” and “The Perfect Time” by Pity Corp., reimagining Downtown Los Angeles through the lens of skateboarding • The Brotherhood: Chicago by Wing Ko, featuring Jesse Neuhaus, Stevie Dread, and Eric Murphy • Ben Clark and Langdon Taguiped’s “Traveling Sounds” and “Wide Angle Sounds” with Ray Barbee and Mario Rubalcaba • “Willy vs. Jo Koy,” pitting legendary Pinoy skater Willy Santos against big-time Pinoy comedian Jo Koy. As usual, there will be a local element mixed in. This time it is a world premiere by skate documentarian RB Umali. • “N.Y. Revisited 3 Remix” features some of the city’s most beloved spots and skaters, including Jefferson Pang, Keith Hufnagel, Danny Supa, Chris Keeffe, Bobby Puleo, Karl Watson, Vinnie Ponte, Ben Liversedge, Anthony Correa, Maurice Key, Joey Alvarez, Spencer Fujimoto, Todd Jordan, Gino Ianucci, Quim Cardona, Rodney Torres, Fred Gall, Peter Bici, and Harold Hunter. Animal Style Revisited will show one time only on Friday, August 2 at 8:30 pm at Anthology Film Archives. Get more information and preorder tickets at asiancinevision.org. Share, and hope to see you there!
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It started by accident when I contacted my friend Tim about showing a independently made skateboard video called “The Working Man” at the Chicago film festival that he runs. He said, sure, but asked me to curate an entire program to go with it and I accepted the challenge. After the packed spring 2012 showing in the Windy City, the pack of new, independent skateboard films went on to enjoy successful screenings at film festivals in Honolulu and San Diego–a pretty cool run that I was stoked by and proud of. I not only was able to give attention to the awesome work of my creative friends but promote skateboarding videos as an art form and more than a niche genre for sweaty guys who roll around sideways. So when Judy at Asian Cinevision asked if I’d like to bring the program to this summer’s Asian American International Film Festival, how could I say no? It will include the same core of movies: • “The Working Man” and “The Perfect Time” by Pity Corp., reimagining Downtown Los Angeles through the lens of skateboarding • The Brotherhood: Chicago by Wing Ko, featuring Jesse Neuhaus, Stevie Dread, and Eric Murphy • Ben Clark and Langdon Taguiped’s “Traveling Sounds” and “Wide Angle Sounds” with Ray Barbee and Mario Rubalcaba • “Willy vs. Jo Koy,” pitting legendary Pinoy skater Willy Santos against big-time Pinoy comedian Jo Koy. As usual, there will be a local element mixed in. This time it is a world premiere by skate documentarian RB Umali. • “N.Y. Revisited 3 Remix” features some of the city’s most beloved spots and skaters, including Jefferson Pang, Keith Hufnagel, Danny Supa, Chris Keeffe, Bobby Puleo, Karl Watson, Vinnie Ponte, Ben Liversedge, Anthony Correa, Maurice Key, Joey Alvarez, Spencer Fujimoto, Todd Jordan, Gino Ianucci, Quim Cardona, Rodney Torres, Fred Gall, Peter Bici, and Harold Hunter. Animal Style Revisited will show one time only on Friday, August 2 at 8:30 pm at Anthology Film Archives. Get more information and preorder tickets at asiancinevision.org. Share, and hope to see you there!
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My curated program of skate shorts had its third and final showing at the San Diego Asian Film Festival on Saturday afternoon, and it still hasn’t gotten old. Having skateboarding-related or -inspired videos made by friends alongside indie flicks like Daylight Savings and old-school kung-fu classics like Five Fingers of Death is not only cool but important. It puts a niche genre into a larger context, and hopefully exposes skate video junkies to other forms of moving pictures while turning on film festival folks to the energy and aesthetics of skateboarding. (Above, left to right: Me, Wing Ko, Tad Suzuki, Eric Matthies, Ben Clark, Willy Santos.)

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If you missed my Animal Style/Son of Animal Style program of indie skate shorts by friends in Chicago or Honolulu, you have one more chance. It’s showing as part of the San Diego Asian Film Festival on Saturday, November 3 at 1:00. From noir to pop, documentary to music, skateboarding to comedy, it’s pretty rad. And the skaters? The Working Man Tad Suzuki, SGV’s John Lee, Jesse Neuhaus, Stevie Dread, Eric Murphy, Ray Barbee, Mario Rubalcaba, Willy Santos, and Honolulu’s own APB crew are there, in order. Don’t blink or you might miss cameos by Salman Agah and Jef Hartsel, as well. Check out the program, buy tickets at the festival webpage, and see you there. Pass this on to friends in S.D., too!
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The best thing about editing Giant Robot magazine was being able to share the rad things that friends do. And make new friends that do rad things. That’s how I feel about my first sizable “solo” project, assembling (and sometimes even participating in) excellent shorts that friends have created and then complementing them with works by new friends. So while the Animal Style (Chicago) and Son of Animal Style (Honolulu, San Diego) skate video programs have given my crew an outlet for their hard work, they have provided me with fodder to keep engaged, keep pushing culture.

And is there a better place to do it than the Hawaii International Film Festival? No other fest balances East and West, high and low, or big budget and indie like HIFF. And while it makes sense for the latest iteration of the Animal Style program to show alongside the long-awaited Bones Brigade: An Autobiography, it’s even cooler that it is on the same roster as Cloud Atlas, Tai Chi 0, and The King of Pigs. It puts skateboard movies in the same conversation as “real” cinema. And with guys like Spike Jonze, Mike Mills, Jason Lee, and even Sam Lee coming from the world of skateboarding, why not?

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