Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
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?
The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival just ended and now I’m wondering what to do. Sounds like a good time to share some pictures. Of course, my focus was on my pals from The Working Man enjoying a moment in the spotlight.
I spotted my good friends Tadashi Suzuki (the star) and Wing Ko (co-director) before the shorts program began, and had a good time hanging out with them, saying hi to friends, and looking forward to their artful skate video’s hometown premiere.