PHOTO: BRETT SIMON
As a writer/newsletter creator/ranter I’m supposed to use my “platform” every late December to recap the year. I’ve found this impossible during pandemic times as every month is a year, every day is a month, and sometimes both occur in hyperspeed and you wonder how time can be so fast but also tedious at the same time. Also, it’s draining to dive back into what’s already happened.
But check this out, despite my relative inactivity on Substack in 2021, you can still go through the archives and track what’s happened or go to Quartersnacks… that probably makes more sense.
Anyway, as much as my brain enjoys discussing the current state of skateboarding, sometimes it’s nice to go back. No, not to a simpler time–I dislike framing the past as simple as it really downplays the reality that no matter how “simple” you view 10,20 or 30 years ago, the world has always been complex, rife with injustice, and a slimy work in progress with occasional bright spots.
I’ve been wanting to interview Jacob Rosenberg for a while and the opportunity arose so rather than get all misty about our youth, I wanted to drill into Jacob’s experience working on seminal skateboarding videos including H-Street Hokus Pokus, bLind Video Days, and the first three Plan B videos among others.
What ran is a sliver of our rolling conversation after a very rough self-edit. I’m telling you, this shit is hard. Part of me just wants to run 10,000 words in its entirety with all the “you knows” and “rights” and “for sures” but hey, that’s not how we take in the written, albeit digital, word these days. Sure, I could drop the entire audio file on here for those interested but that would require editing and me enjoying the sound of my voice, two things that aren’t going to happen anytime soon, so instead. I’m going to link to my conversation with Jacob below but I wanted to preface it with a few notes and then you’re free to ditch this newsletter and read on (if you like).
The skate video medium is young—we’re talking decades old—and with social media and video sharing platforms it’s always changing and evolving. In the digital era, video has become democratized and that’s powerful, so powerful that those who didn’t experience the days prior might not realize how epic this tool they have at their disposal is. Let me assure you that I’m not going to veer into old person territory but what I will say is that growing up skating in the late-’80s, I didn’t know anyone with a video camera. Period. Not a filmer, not a skater with a video camera, I didn’t know a human who had enough money to own one and it wasn’t until later in the early-’90s that I met skaters who had cameras to document their skateboarding but check this out…
I was so blown away that a kid my age had a VHS camcorder that I punished this fool every day about making a video. In my head, seeing the tricks we were trying on television would inform our style, our skill, and our approach. Like, how the fuck do you really know if you’re skating fast or have power or if your arm is doing some weird shit if you don’t document it and critique it. Well, despite my campaigning, said friend would never film us because, in his words, “None of us are doing anything worth filming.”
In this person’s head, if you weren’t on some Frankie Hill/Pat Duffy stuntperson shit, there was no reason for him to lug a boxy, heavy camera around. Dreams crushed, the end.
So yeah, that sucked but what doesn’t suck is that it’s relatively easy to film yourself skating now and if you like, track your progress. It’s pushing skating in new directions, it creates connectivity, and sometimes, it tells a fantastic story. That’s it. That’s the thread. Great skate videos are great stories, even if the story is just badass skateboarding set to great music.
I love the skate video medium. I love seeing where people take it. And also, I love the history of skate videos because digging back into things I’m passionate about gives me an appreciation for the past, present, and future.
So there it is. Jacob Rosenberg was kind enough to offer as much time as we needed to look back at his work and experiences filming for the videos that shaped modern skateboarding and that… that is also pretty fucking badass.
HERE IS A LINK TO SAID INTERVIEW. THANK YOU FOR READING, SUPPORTING, AND ENJOYING SKATEBOARDING.