The Bones Brigade: An Autobiography is the latest documentary from filmmaker Stacy Peralta (Riding Giants and Dogtown and Z-Boys). It tells the surprisingly emotional story of how Peralta, a pro-skater in the 70s, went on to create his own team of very young skaters in the early 80s called the Bones Brigade. He’s the guy that discovered, nurtured and supported skaters such as Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, Mike McGill, Tommy Guerrero and Lance Mountain to name a few. This is their story. 

Peralta kindly took the time to have a chat about the making of this documentary. 

RC: Whose idea was it to tell this story, and why did you think the time was right to do so? 

SP: Tony Hawk and the other five Bones Brigade members who appear in the film asked me sometime around 2003 if I would consider making the film. I told them no at the time. Over the years they kept coming at me to see if they could kindle my interest. Finally in 2010 Lance Mountain called me and he finally convinced me.  

The timing is correct now considering these five individuals are all middle age and that experience they shared together in the 80s is still very much alive within each one of them. To wait any longer would have probably jeopardized the project. 

RC: This isn’t just a story about an incredible team of skaters who re-invented and re-invigorated skating in the 80s, it’s also a film filled with very personal, coming-of-age stories. Did you anticipate how emotional this film would be for everyone to make?

SP: I did not anticipate how emotional it could or would be until I sat down with Rodney Mullen during our pre-interview session we did before we began shooting the film. As I listened to Rodney speak at that meeting I began to get an idea of how willing he was to speak and how much he had to say; in a sense how much he wanted to express and get out of his system. I think being in the film and opening up in the way he did was a way for him to make sense of that experience and to find some form of resolution. So as a result of that meeting with him, I scheduled his interview to be done on the first day of shooting (we shot for six straight days, five interview subjects per day). I knew if I began with Rodney that our film would be off and running in the right emotional direction which would then infect the others (as they would end up hearing about his interview) and that would let them know that it is not only safe but welcome for them to be open, vulnerable, and honest. 

RC: What was it like being a kid looking after kids? 

SP: In one sense I had to grow up pretty fast as I had a lot of young kids to be responsible for and accountable to – I took it very seriously and looked after all of them in so many ways; I fed and housed them during contests, coached them during events, helped manage their young careers. I wore many hats in doing that job but it was a total dream come true and a dream fulfilled. 

RC: Do you see kids innovating skating today like the Bones Brigade did in the 80s? 

SP: Sure. Many kids all over the planet are creating quite amazing moves and techniques today. The only difference is that the Bones Brigade in the 80s had a much more empty canvas – the sport was so new back then that the opportunities for invention and innovation were plentiful and seemingly endless. This of course allowed skaters like Tony and Rodney not only to invent individual moves but to invent an actual vocabulary of moves which would play a huge role in skateboarding’s development. In the case of Mike McGill at that time, inventing the McTwist allowed him to invent a maneuver that would singlehandedly usher in a new age of what was considered possible. Prior to the invention of that trick no one thought going upside down or doing a 540 on vertical was even remotely possible. 

RC: What was it like for you, going back through the archive footage and Bones Brigade videos?
 
SP: It was many things; emotional, funny, surprising but more than anything was how amazed I was at how much I had forgotten about. I looked at endless amounts of footage, hours upon hours upon hours of footage that I had personally shot back in the day and somehow I had forgotten I was even involved with it. There were so many sessions I couldn’t remember shooting.  That reason alone made the process of discovery and investigation even more invigorating because I was able to see a lot of the old material with fresh eyes.  

RC: When you were making The Bones Brigade Video Show or The Search for Animal Chin, did you ever anticipate you’d go on to make films like Dogtown and Z-Boys or Riding Giants? 

SP: Never. But then after I made Future Primitive I began getting offers out of Hollywood to do various action directing gigs. I took what offers came and soon thereafter began thinking of becoming a filmmaker. At that time I never thought of becoming a documentary filmmaker. Though, when I look back it was a process, one stone lead to another and fortunately I was paying enough attention to notice which stones to jump onto and which not. 

RC: These days your busy producing and directing documentaries, are you still involved in skateboarding? 

SP: I skate a few times a week, purposely. It’s something I need to do for myself as a person. I’m still involved with my company Powell/Peralta but only on a limited basis, nothing like I was in the 80s. George Powell and I discuss projects and brain-storm together and when the right projects come up I get involved. For many years now I’ve had a short-film idea I’ve wanted to do with Lance Mountain; a silent film in black and white. Lance and I have been talking for a while about it and we will probably shoot it sometime at the beginning of this coming summer. 

Once again, thanks for taking the time to talk to us! Bones Brigade: An Autobiography screens on Rialto Documentary, Thursday 20th at 8.30pm