In 1978, a mechanical engineer named George Powell who had developed new skateboard products teamed up with one of the most popular skaters of the era, Stacy Peralta, to create Powell Peralta. By 1984, skaters Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Steve Caballero, Lance Mountain, Tommy Guerrero and Mike McGill were the most dominant skateboards in the young sport. Deemed the “Bones Brigade” by Peralta’s long time creative partner Craig Stecyk III, the team became cult superstars via a series of low-budget amateur skateboard videos. By the mid’80s, the videos were distributed all over the world exposing a new generation to skating. For context, “The Search for Animal Chin” remains the most successful skateboard video of all time.
“Bones Brigade – An Autobiography” really pulls at the heart strings as skateboarding runs through my veins. Have the scars to prove it. These guys are/were my idols. The godfather Stacy Peralta has crafted what looks to be a moving documentary as a follow up to his award-winning documentary “Dogtown and Z Boys.” Bones Brigade members share thoughts on how this group of outcasts took the world by storm and pushed the sport into a new era.
The film premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival and will get a limited theatrical release in October due to overwhelming fan demand, before its online and DVD release in November. Peralta turned down all of the conventional offers for film distribution after Sundance in favor of doing it independently. A successful digital campaign was launched encouraging fan participation to push things forward. The trailer below and a free (yes, FREE) download of “The Search For Animal Chin” was unlocked just recently after fans shared thousands of Bones Brigade related photos on Instagram. Support!
