Author's Note: This interview originally appeared on Yahoo! Sports and Yahoo! Entertainment several years ago. All publishing rights now belong to me.
This week the skate documentary “Highway Gospel” will be shown at the Ottawa International Film Festival in Canada. For those skate fans unfamiliar with the skate documentary, it focuses on a group of BC skateboarders. Among them are World Championships of Slalom Skateboarding’s Executive Co-Chair and course designer Claude Regnier as well as skaters Bricin “Striker” Lyons and Jody Wilcock.
The film was directed by Jaret Belliveau and Craig Jackson, both of whom skate. Belliveau graciously took time out of his schedule to sit down for an interview. We talked about the skate documentary, his advice for aspiring film makers, longboarding and the skate scene in BC.
Here’s what he had to say about it all:
Gonzalez: How has the downhill and slalom skateboarding scene in BC changed since you first immersed yourself in it?
Belliveau: The scene has changed a lot since we started filming, I don’t know much about the slalom scene in BC in particular but I know that the Slalom scene seems to be exploding in North America and Europe. As for the Downhill scene in BC, every year it just seems to be getting bigger and bigger. There are more races every year and a lot of this is to do with Bricin Lyons.
Gonzalez: I read that you took up skateboarding at the age of 21 and found it cathartic when dealing with your mother’s cancer. What was it about longboarding that brought you comfort during that time?
Belliveau: I find longboarding completely engrossing, when you’re bombing down a hill you cannot think of anything else other than staying on your board.
Gonzalez: Your film’s title “Highway Gospel” alludes to a similarity between religion and downhill skateboarding. What similarities do you see between the two?
Belliveau: Well the title came from an understanding that most of the people we were documenting treated skateboarding like their religion.
Gonzalez: Do you still skate and if so how often? What are some of your favorite skate spots?
Belliveau: I haven’t been skating a lot lately because we have been working on editing “Highway Gospel” but I do have a couple favorite spots in Halifax, one being the back side of citadel hill in downtown Halifax.
Gonzalez: Other than Hot Docs, where else can people watch “Highway Gospel” within the coming months? Do you plan on releasing it on DVD and if so when and where?
Belliveau: Well the film is playing at the Ottawa International Film Festival on the 19th of August and we are hoping to be screening in Halifax at the Atlantic Film Festival this September. The film has just picked up distribution in Canada and we plan to have DVD’s available by early 2012.
Gonzalez: Over the years how many skate films have you made?
Belliveau: This is the first film I have ever directed or shot.
Gonzalez: Do you have any other films that you are currently working on? If so what are they and when do you expect to release them?
Belliveau: I am currently developing a documentary film in New Brunswick about a rapper, actor, porn star and Canada’s first action hero. I am hoping to be wrapping this film by early next year.
Gonzalez: What emerging trends are you seeing in independent film making?
Belliveau: I haven’t noticed any trends myself that I could talk about in any depth.
Gonzalez: When it comes to film making equipment, what cameras and lens do you prefer?
Belliveau: I prefer using camera’s that are small and have wide lenses.
Gonzalez: When you are heading out for a day of filming what are five essential items you always take with you?
Belliveau: When heading out to film I need lens cleaner, water, model releases, avocado & tomatoes sandwiches and my sound guy.
Gonzalez: What camera equipment would you recommend to an aspiring skate filmmaker?
Belliveau: Well I would recommend that they get whatever they can afford because the camera equipment you us is the least important part of making a film.
Gonzalez: What words of advice would you offer aspiring filmmakers in regards to capturing the perfect skateboarding action shot?
Belliveau: Be ready to capture the moments.
Gonzalez: Thus far, what has been the most memorable moment of your film making career?
Belliveau: My most favorable moment so far has been our Premier at Hot Docs this April. We were lucky to have all of our subjects fly in for the event, which made it quite a memorable experience.
Gonzalez: Do you still keep in contact with the Coastal Longboarders portrayed in the film? Have you, or they, seen a change in how the general public views skateboarding and skaters as a whole since the film’s release?
Belliveau: I still talk to Bricin, Jody and Noah but I am not sure if anything has really changed in the way the public see’s longboarders. Skateboarders have been having confrontations with the general public since its inception in the early 1960s; I doubt a movie can do much to change this.
Gonzalez: Do you think that overall today’s skate films add to the general public’s misconception about the nature of skaters and skateboarding or detract from it?
Belliveau: Skateboarding is a multi facetted sport and there are ton of different images being promoted in films today but with that being said most people only hear and remember the bad stuff anyways.
Gonzalez: Let’s change gears a bit. If you could cook and have dinner with five famous people, living or dead, who would you choose and what meal would you make?
Belliveau: John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Gandhi, Anne Frank and Albert Einstein. I would have a selection of Fresh fish from Atlantic Canada and lots of wine.
Gonzalez: If could only be remembered for one thing in this life, what would you want that thing to be and why?
Belliveau: I would want to be remembered as a kind person because that is how I have been raised.
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