Interview by Monica Staniec
Photos by Colin Kennedy, Dayla Corcoran and Bucky Fukumoto
Colin Kennedy’s short film “WOOD” was nominated for “Best US Skate Film” at the festival. Six Skateboarders are choreographed as they skate through a stark world composed of white void and thousands pieces of chopped firewood.
We caught up with the very creative and talented director.
Hi Colin, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Please introduce yourself.
I’m 31 years old. I was born in New York but moved to California when I was 2. We moved up and down the California coast for a while, and then we finally settled in a suburb a few minutes east of Los Angeles called Whittier (which is where both of my parents grew up). Right now I live in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Silver Lake. I moved to this side of town about 9 years ago right after my daughter was born.
I originally got into skateboarding because of my older brother. He started skating with a group of friends when we moved to Whittier and they were all pretty good, so I looked up to them and wanted to be able to pester them and follow them around. Eventually I met my own friends who skateboarded and the rest is history.
What got you into skate filmmaking?
It was pretty much a natural transition. Skateboarding and documenting it go hand in hand. When I was about 14, everyone in our group would take turns filming each other. Eventually I realized that I enjoyed filming the tricks almost as much as doing them myself. I started to focus more on technique and style and by the time I was 17 or so, I was completely obsessed with making skateboard films. In addition, I tore the arch of my foot when I was 17 and so I was off of my skateboard for about 3 months.
During that time, I filmed my friends a lot more and I was able to borrow some nicer equipment than the gear I owned. Once you start using better gear and you’re able to see your thoughts translated and manifested (in better quality) on film, the excitement and feeling of satisfaction becomes even greater.
What are some of the challenges when filming a short?
Filming skateboarding is almost always a challenge because of the number of variables involved. Some days the skaters aren’t able to land a trick. Some times there’s an injury involved. I’d say the biggest challenge is keeping everyone motivated and in good spirits. As physical as skateboarding is, it’s even more of a mental game, so if you can keep someone’s head in it, than you’ve got a good chance at getting what you need for the shot.
What inspired the theme for wood?
The theme for Wood came from DVS’ former art director, Matt Deak. Matt really wanted to do something minimal that gave a nod to the design aesthetic of the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. I’m a huge fan of that same style and so we started discussing how we’d go about it. From the beginning we knew we wanted to use a lot of wood in our set and Matt had been especially keen on the idea of stacked firewood. Once we decided to used stacked firewood as our primary set design element we were faced with the task of getting enough of it. Lucky for us, the first lumber yard we called happened to be owned by a guy who liked skateboarding and the next thing we knew we were having truckloads of it dumped at the set all for the low low cost of some promo DVS shoes.
What have you been up to since finishing Wood?
Since Wood, I’ve been doing more commercial work, all based around skateboarding. I’ve done a number of commercials for DVS Shoe Company as well as a spot for Fuel TV and one for Red Bull.
What projects are you working on right now?
As of this moment, I’m in a transition between jobs so my projects are on hold. As of this week, I just finished a 9 year stint at DVS Shoe Company as their New Media Creative Director and starting next week (the end of January) I’ll start my new job as the Vice President of Creative over at Theberrics.com I’ve got some projects planned though, so it shouldn’t be too long before I’m working on something.
What are your 3 favorite movies?
I can’t tell you what my favorite movies are because I like too many, but I can tell you the worst movie I’ve ever seen, it’s called Serendipity.
What’s your favorite breakfast meal?
English Breakfast tea with cream and sugar, fried eggs, veggie sausages and some sort of bread to dip into the egg yolk. If I’m out of that stuff, then it’s Lucky Charms.
What’s on your iTunes right now?
This might be the hardest question to answer. Honestly, my iPod is set up like a Goodwill. There’s tons of crap everywhere you look, but sprinkled here and there are under-appreciated gems waiting for the right person.
Check out Colin Kennedy’s Wood: