Deathbowl To Downtown National Tour

The perspectives on skateboarding and skateboarders around the world are all very unique.  Sure many of us have similar ideals on why we skate, but the landscape changes when the landscape literally changes.  Here in Southern California, we’re lucky enough to have great weather all year long while those in the Mid-West must deal with the harsh conditions of sub zero weather.  Besides weather, the other major factor in how to look at skateboarding is the terrain.  And some of the most creative skateboarders in my mind, come from the East Coast.  Have you seen what they are usually up against?  Cars, pebbles, cracks, uneven pavement.  Skating under those conditions would be a complete nightmare and basically depressing for most of us but something that the East Coast skaters have learned really well is how to adapt to their environment.  While most of us would scoff at the idea of skating a six-inch cracked up curb in the middle of the street, the East Coast skaters embrace it. 

“Deathbowl To Downtown” chronicles the New York City experience as a skater.  As we saw in the Dogtown documentary showing how skateboarding evolved in California, “Deathbowl To Downtown” does for NYC.  There will be a national tour screen the documentary.  Check out the press release below. 

Deathbowl to Downtown chronicles four decades of life in New York City and showcases the emergence and influence of the urban skateboarding scene as it evolved in the gritty streets of the five boroughs.  With narration by Chloë Sevigny and musical tracks provided by the Beastie Boys, Drunk Injuns, Minor Threat, Eric B. & Rakim, Wu-Tang Clan and the Talking Heads, among others, Deathbowl to Downtown is the first feature length film to show the rise of skateboarding from a New Yorker’s perspective. Scripted by Jocko Weyland (author of The Answer is Never: A Skateboarder’s History of the World), Deathbowl to Downtown traces the untold and historically rich story of how skateboarding evolved in New York City, beginning in the mid 1970’s with a group of skaters known as the Zoo York Crew and then developed into its present day form.  Deathbowl to Downtown shows how New York skaters made due with the harsh realities of the city’s urban landscape and unintentionally helped shape the face of modern skateboarding.

In addition to candid interviews with dozens of prominent and influential skaters, Deathbowl to Downtown also features architects and scholars, who shed light on how the city’s urban planning unknowingly led to the development of terrain that was quickly
adapted by skateboarders looking for their own version of the California dream.”

When we first showed the film in New York, the reception we received was overwhelming.  The cultural aspects of skateboarding we explore in the film make it something that you don’t have to be a skater to enjoy,” noted Buddy Nichols, co-director of the film.  “We’ve made some minor tweaks and can’t wait to take it on the road to show it and skate in other cities.”

Screening Dates and Locations are as follows:
9/8 – Los Angeles: Director’s Guild of America
923 – Chicago: The Vic Theater
9/24 – Minneapolis: Oak Street Theater
9/27 – Austin: Alamo Drafthouse
9/29 – San Francisco: The Castro
10/1 – Portland: Cinema 21
More details on times and the skate shops Buddy and Rick will be
hitting up can be found on DeathbowltoDowntown.com.