See also:Go Skateboarding Day slideshow
Two of them -- David Reyes and Angel Ramirez -- have gone on to national and international recognition as pro skaters, while some of the others -- Trevor Uriona, Mikey Lentz, Greg Piloto, Spencer Semien and Mike Marks -- are potentially on the verge of same. The video also features local skaters Nial Frederickson, Sean Frederickson, Jordan Pride, Matt Kehoe, Alex Carrera, Julian Christianson, Jerel Roberts and Isiah Sanchez.
"It's tougher for these guys to film a video part nowadays, because they're competing with all the current talent that's around the world, and even a local shop team video can have a pretty far reach," says La, who has had parts of his own in previous 303 Boards videos but was happy to be on the other side of the camera for this one. "You have to be out there inventing new tricks at new spots, while also making them look good, and getting good footage and putting a whole part together can be a pretty long process. This film is the result of a few years of work from each of these guys. Personally, I like the role change from being filmed to being the director: This way I don't get hurt as much."La, whose aspirations include making feature-length films as well as elevating the skate-video game, says he's as inspired by Hollywood films as he is by recent skate videos, and is proud that Landrace is going to look good on the big screen at SIE FilmCenter. He shot most of the video with a new Canon 60D DLSR camera capable of shooting 1920 x 1080 HD video, paired with Magic Lantern software add-ons.
"What's special about this one is we changed everything up to HD footage and the result is super-cinematic, which really justifies having the premiere at a place like SIE, and everybody stepped it up for the occasion," La says. "Because of the higher detail, you're going to have a better sense of how hard and how incredible some of these tricks and sequences are, and you're going to be able to see the roughness in the cement, the grit, and be able to better appreciate how difficult a spot can be to skate, which is part of the essence of street skating."La says the success and longevity of the shop is very much a result of its videos and ongoing support of local skaters.
"The guys at 303 have been around for a long time and their shop has a good reputation because they're out there skating, they see who the best skaters are, and they pick the best in Colorado, the best they can find," La says. "They just love skateboarding, and each of these videos is a reflection of that. That's also why you see guys like David Reyes and Angel Ramirez coming back to give that support back, which helps out the shop and its reputation: Having Colorado locals go out to California and get recognized by the world definitely isn't a bad thing for us, especially when they're still willing to come back with parts for our videos."
Tickets for the premiere are $10 and include a copy of the Landrace DVD, a free drink courtesy of Rocky Mountain Soda and Peach Street Distillers, and entry to the 21+ after-party at Squire Lounge with performances by Cloud Catcher, Arctic and Medusa.
