Si vous vous intĂ©ressiez dĂ©jĂ au snowboard dans les annĂ©es 90 et dĂ©but 2000, il y a de grandes chances que le nom de Kingpin Productions vous Ă©voque de bons souvenirs sur VHS. En effet de 1994 Ă 2004, Kinpin a sorti 17 films ! The Warriors, The Revival, Destroyer ou Back In Black, des vidĂ©os qui ont marquĂ© l’histoire du snowboard et rĂ©vĂ©lĂ© un paquet de grands riders. L’homme derriĂšre cette production s’appelle Whitey McConnaughy et en plus de ça, il a fait un paquet d’autres bonnes choses dans sa carriĂšre comme collaborer avec le meilleur magazine de snowboard de tous les temps qui s’appelait Blunt, rĂ©alisĂ© des clips pour des groupes de rock prestigieux, des pubs TV et Ă mĂȘme terminĂ© Ă Hollywood avec l’Ă©quipe de Jackass. Whitey poste rĂ©guliĂšrement de belles pĂ©pites de l’histoire du snowboard sur son compte Instagram et vient aussi de ressortir la mythique vidĂ©o The Revival en version remasterisĂ©e. Vous pouvez suivre son travail sur ses sites www.kingpinproductions.tv et whiteyfilms.com. On est ravis qu’il nous ait accordĂ© une interview qui parle de l’Ăąge d’or du snowboard et fera plaisir aux passionnĂ©s !
Toutes les photos sont la propriété de © Whitey McConnaughy
Quand as-tu commencé Kingpin Productions ?
Jâai lancĂ© Kingpin en 1992 quand jâavais 22 ans et ça sâest fait un peu par hasard. Je viens de Washington DC et jâai grandi en faisant du skate. Jâai eu une planche en bois Burton Backhill Ă 14 ans que je ridais dĂšs quâil neigeait. Je mettais des Vans montantes et des pantalons camo bien punk. Ils nâont pas autorisĂ© le snowboard dans les stations sur la cĂŽte est jusquâĂ mes 18 ans, Ă lâĂ©poque oĂč jâĂ©tais Ă la fac. Mais dĂšs que lâon a pu faire du snowboard en station, on nâa plus jamais voulu skier. AprĂšs la fac, jâai dĂ©mĂ©nagĂ© Ă lâouest avec un pote vers San Diego. Jâai rapidement rencontrĂ© un crew de skateur de piscine lĂ -bas. Mon objectif Ă©tait de mâinstaller dans le Colorado en dĂ©cembre afin de devenir un pro snowboarder. Mais quelques mois avant de bouger dans le Colorado, je me suis cassĂ© la cheville en skatant une piscine et jâai eu droit Ă 9 vis et une plaque. Je suis quand mĂȘme allĂ© dans le Colorado avec Stevie Alters et un pote de Washington. Stevie avait 18 ou 19 ans et il Ă©tait sponsorisĂ© en flow par un reprĂ©sentant Burton local mais il dĂ©chirait. Il Ă©tait bien meilleur que les vieux pros de lâĂ©poque et meilleur que tous les autres riders que jâavais vu. Jâai rapidement rencontrĂ© pas mal de nouveaux arrivants Ă Breckenridge comme Jason Gerardi aka J1, J2, Nate Cole, Chris Todd Fransen, Dave England, Cody Dresser⊠Jâai vite compris que les vis et la plaque dans ma cheville me faisait trop mal quand je voulais rider Ă fond donc jâai vite abandonnĂ© mes rĂȘves de pro rider. Et je savais au fond de moi que mes nouveaux amis Ă©taient bien meilleurs que moi.
Comment Ă©tait-ce Ă lâĂ©poque de filmer une vidĂ©o de snowboard ?
Je me souviens avoir vu le teaser dâune nouvelle vidĂ©o de snow et trouver que ça avait lâair vraiment nul et que ça ressemblait Ă un mauvais film de ski. Je me suis dit que je pouvais faire mieux que ça et jâai dĂ©cidĂ© de le faire. Je nâavais pas dâargent, pas de plan mais jâavais une camĂ©ra et jâai commencĂ© Ă filmer mes potes. Le nom Kingpin vient de la piĂšce sur un truck de skate qui porte le mĂȘme nom. A lâĂ©poque le snowboard Ă©tait tellement nouveau et frais. Tout le monde essayait dâinnover et tout Ă©tait Ă crĂ©er. Les gens Ă©taient crĂ©atifs, ils coupaient et modifiaient leur board et leur fixs. Cette nouvelle gĂ©nĂ©ration avait de lâavance sur lâindustrie en terme de design et de style. Ils nâont pas seulement changĂ© la façon de rider des gens mais aussi le shape et la fabrication des snowboards. Je ne dirais jamais au combien des gars comme Roan Rogers, Nate Cole, Steve Alters ou Dale Rehberg ont changĂ© le snowboard.
Kingpin est la production qui a offert leurs premiĂšres parts Ă des futures superstars comme JP Walker, Jeremy Jones, Ingemar Backman, Scotty Wittlake, Iikka Backstrom ou Gigi Ruf. Comment as-tu dĂ©couvert ces nouveaux talents.Â
Je pense que ce qui nous permis de dĂ©couvrir tant de riders talentueux ce que nous avions envie de les filmer. Les autres grosses productions de lâĂ©poque comme Fall Line, Mack Dawg ou Standard filmaient principalement les gros noms du moment et je filmais les rookies. Jâai toujours prĂ©fĂ©rĂ© filmer des riders que jâaimais personnellement et que je trouvais intĂ©ressants. Tout le monde Ă©tait pote dans notre crew et je pense que câest ce qui distingue Kingpin de beaucoup dâautres productions. Il nây a jamais eu de tensions ou dâindividualisme dans notre Ă©quipe. Et câest vrai quâon a lancĂ© la carriĂšre de pas mal de pros comme Stevie Alters, J2, Ninja Jay Isaacs, Ingemar Backman, Mikey Leblanc, Cody Dresser. Kurt and Jeff Wastell, JP Walker, Gigi Ruf, Scotty Wittlake, Chad Otterstrom, Ali Goulet, DCP et bien dâautres.
[youtube id=”mqLLQNJSExU” width=”620″ height=”360″]
Il y a-t-il eu de la rivalitĂ© entre toi et Mack Dawg pour avoir les meilleurs riders ? On avait lâimpression que Kingpin Ă©tait la vidĂ©o M3 et Mack Dawg la vidĂ©o Forum, et que câĂ©tait un peu la rivalitĂ© entre les deux marques les plus cool de lâĂ©poque.
Je ne pense pas quâil y avait de rivalitĂ© mais on Ă©tait vraiment moins sĂ©rieux que Mack Dawg. On voulait des bons tricks dans nos films mais je trouvais plus important que lâon sâamuse que quâon soit orignaux. Jâai toujours prĂ©fĂ©rĂ© les skateurs avec de la personnalitĂ© et du charisme que ceux qui sont super techniques. Des gars comme Neil Blender ou Mark Gonzales Ă©taient mes idoles quand jâĂ©tais jeune. Câest pour ça que J2 Ă©tait dans tous nos films. Il nâĂ©tait pas le meilleur rider mais câĂ©tait celui avec qui tout le monde prĂ©fĂ©rait trainer. Je mâen foutais quâil ne fasse pas de 900, il faisait parti du crew et rendait nos films meilleurs.
Quels sont tes vidĂ©os et parts Kingpin prĂ©fĂ©rĂ©es ? As-tu ressorti The Revival parce que tu la considĂšre comme ta meilleure vidĂ©o ? Vas-tu en ressortir dâautres en ligne dâautres vidĂ©os du catalogue Kingpin ?
Il y a plusieurs vidĂ©os Kingpin qui me sont chĂšres. Sexual Chocolate a Ă©tĂ© la premiĂšre qui mâa permis de voyager Ă lâĂ©tranger et de shooter en 16mm. Jâai bossĂ© dessus avec Ken Block qui a fait la cover. Avant Sexual Chocolate, je filmais seulement en Super 8 et la seule façon de me le payer Ă©tait de voler les bobines au supermarchĂ© de Boulder dans le Colorado.
[youtube id=”z9BycLokR48″ width=”620″ height=”360″]
Substance Ă©tait un moment important pour moi. Le rĂ©sultat Ă©tait trĂšs cool alors que câĂ©tait sorti en milieu de saison et ça mâa permis de me faire remarquer par lâindustrie. Câest lĂ quâIngemar Backman a commencĂ©. The Revival est aussi spĂ©cial car juste avant ce film jâavais arrĂȘtĂ© les vidĂ©os pendant 1 an pour me consacrer Ă Blunt Magazine. Dave England et moi avions dĂ©mĂ©nagĂ© les bureau de Blunt de Los Angeles Ă Portland et malheureusement Blunt a coulĂ© 6 mois aprĂšs. Je ne savais mĂȘme pas si jâallais refaire des vidĂ©os de snowboard Ă ce moment-lĂ . Puis lâĂ©tĂ© aprĂšs jâai reçu un coup de fil de Sessions qui voulait que je mâoccupe de leur film. Jâai laissĂ© cogiter lâidĂ©e, puis appelĂ© quelques autres marques et ils voulaient tous faire quelque chose, donc je me suis dit quâil fallait refaire un film ! DâoĂč le nom, The Revival car câĂ©tait le renouveau de Kingpin. Une autre de mes vidĂ©os prĂ©fĂ©rĂ©es est Destroyer. Nous avons dĂ©pensĂ© pas mal dâargent en faisant toutes ces intros bien marrantes. Nous avons beaucoup filmĂ© Ă New York juste pour profiter de la ville et se marrer entre potes avec lâargent des sponsors. Et au final la vidĂ©o sâest super bien vendue donc ça valait le coup.
[vimeo id=”477331643″ width=”620″ height=”360″]
Parle nous de ton lien avec Blunt et Big Brother Magazine.
Jâai Ă©tĂ© trĂšs impliquĂ© dans Blunt. Ken Block lâa lancĂ© en 1993 et je lâai rencontrĂ© juste aprĂšs quâil ait fini le premier numĂ©ro. Je lui ai dit que je voulais contribuĂ© au magazine et je lui ai proposĂ© plein de contenu. Depuis jâai travaillĂ© sur chaque numĂ©ro de Blunt jusquâĂ sa fin. Ken Block a fini par vendre Blunt Ă Big Brother / World Industries pour se concentrer sur DC Shoes et jâai continuĂ© avec Blunt. Je suis devenu le photo editor et jâai engagĂ© Natas Kaupas comme directeur artistique, ce qui Ă©tait et est toujours incroyable ! Le reste du staff Ă©tait celui de Big Brother. Jâai aussi filmĂ© pour la deuxiĂšme vidĂ©o Big Brother ce qui mâa conduit Ă travailler sur le film Jackass 8 ans plus tard. Puis Rocco le boss de World Industries a vendu Blunt Ă Larry Flynt et jâĂ©tais toujours lĂ . On a ensuite engagĂ© Dave England que je connaissais depuis 1992 Ă Breckenridge comme Ă©diteur.
Regardes-tu toujours des vidĂ©os de snowboard ? Pourrais-tu refaire un film de snowboard un jour oĂč te consacres-tu uniquement Ă tes nouveaux projets ?
Je ne suis pas sĂ»r de refaire un jour un film de snow. Jâaime toujours rider et je suis encore trĂšs pote avec les riders de mes anciens films. Jâadore revoir ces gars, surtout si câest sur la neige. Jâaimerais peut ĂȘtre aider une production existante et y apporter ma touche pour faire quelque chose de nouveau.
————
English version below
When did you started Kingpin Productions?
I started Kingpin Productions in 1992 when I was 22 and it came about pretty haphazardly. I’m from Washington DC, I grew up skateboarding there. I got a wooden Burton Backhill when I was about 14 and would ride it whenever it snowed. Iâd ride it wearing hightop Vans and these punk camo pants of mine. They didnât allow snowboarding at any resorts on the east coast until I was 18 and by that time I was in college. But once we could snowboard at a resort, we never thought about skiing again. After college I drove out west and moved in with a buddy of mine down in San Diego. I quickly fell into a crew of pool skaters there.My plan was to move to Colorado in December that year to become a pro snowboarder. But a few months before I was going to move to Colorado I broke my ankle skating a backyard pool and had to get 9 screws and a plate put in it. I moved out to Colorado anyway and ended moving in with Stevie Alters with a buddy of mine from DC. Stevie was only 18-19 then. Stevie was just on flow from a local Burton rep but he ripped so hard. His skill level was eons ahead of the old school pros at the time, definitely better than anyone I had seen. I quickly met a bunch of new Breckenridge transplants; Jason Gerardi aka J1 and then J2. Nate Cole, Chris and Todd Fransen, Dave England, Cody Dresser… I soon realized that the screws in my ankle made it way to painful to ride aggressively, so the pro thing was out the door. Plus, I knew in my heart that these new friends were way better than me.
Â
How was it back then to shoot a snowboard movie?
I remember seeing a trailer for a new snowboard film and I thought it looked so corny, like a crappy ski film and I said, I can make a better movie than that. Â So thatâs what I decided to do. I had no money, no plan but I got a video camera and started filming my friends. I took the name Kingpin from the kingpin bolt on a skate truck. Back then snowboarding was so new and fresh. Â Everyone was trying new shit because everything was new. People were cutting, modifying their boards, bindings, being inventive. These new riders were way ahead of the industry in terms of design and style, they changed not only the way snowboarders ride but the way snowboards were shaped and made. I can’t say enough about how people like Roan Rogers, Nate Cole, Steve Alters, Dale Rehberg and those guys changed snowboarding.
[youtube id=”jGkV_oEZV9U” width=”620″ height=”360″]
Kingpin seemed to be the production who gave their first part to future superstars like JP Walker, Jeremy Jones, Scotty Wittlake, Iikka Backstrom, Gigi Ruf⊠How did you discovered these new talents?
I think the reason that we were able to discover so many great talents is that we were willing to film them. The other companies at the time; Fall Line, Mack Dawg, Standard were mostly filming established pros and I was filming the new kids. I always preferred to film riders that I liked personal and I thought were entertaining. I think that is one thing that separated Kingpin from a lot of the other film companies; that our crew were all good friends. There was never any tension or oneupmanship in our group. Stevie Alters, J2, Ninja Jay Isaacs, Ingemar Backman, Mikey Leblanc, Cody Dresser. Kurt and Jeff Wastell, JP Walker, Gigi Ruf, Scotty Wittlake, Chad Otterstrom, Ali Goulet, DCP and just some of the pros we helped get started.
Was there some rivalty between you and Mack Dawg to have the best riders? From an outside point of view, Kingpin seemed to be the M3 movies and Mack Dawg the Forum movies and these were the 2 coolest companies at this time.
I donât think there was any real rivalry between Mack Dawg and Kingpin. We were definitely less serious than Mack Dawg. Sure, we wanted good riding in our films but I was more concerned with having fun and being unique. Iâve always been more of a fan of skaters with personalty and character than technical prowess; skaters like Neil Blender and Mark Gonzales were idols of mine as a kid. Thereâs a reason J2 was in every single one of my films, itâs not because he was the best rider (he wasnât) but he was my favorite rider to be around, on and off the snow. I could care less that he wasnât going to do a 900, he was in our crew and it made our films and filming better.
What are your personal favorite Kingpinâs movies and favorite parts? Did you re released The Revival because you consider it like your masterpiece? Are you going to release online more movies from the Kingpinâs catalog?
There are a few Kingpin films that are special to me. Sexual Chocolate was the first film where I got to travel overseas and shot 16mm film and I got to work with Ken Block (he did the box layout). Before Sexual Chocolate I only shot Super 8 film and the only way I could afford it is by stealing it from the King Supers grocery store in Boulder Co. Substance was a big break out film for me. Â It turned out great (it was a mid season release) and made even the industry elites take notice. Ingemar Backmanâs breakout part was in Substance. The Revival is also special. Right before that film, I had taken a year off from making snowboard films to focus on Blunt Magazine. Dave England and I moved the Blunt offices from LA to Portland Oregon that year and ironically Blunt magazine went belly up about 6 months later. I didnât even know if I was going to make another snowboard film at that time. Then that summer I got a call from Sessions to see if I’d like to make a Sessions team film. I thought about it, then called a few other companies and they all wanted to do something, so I said, fuck it, letâs make a film! Hence the name, The Revival, Kingpinâs Revival. My other big favorite would have to be Destroyer. We had so much fun making that film. I had very little money with the Revival but after that films success I was able to increase our budget by 9 times for Destroyer. Â We spent the money doing all these ridiculous bits and sketches. We filmed a bunch of stuff in NYC for no other reason than to go to NYC and have fun with my friends on our the sponsors dime. Destroyer also crushed sales wise, which was nice.
You seemed to be linked with Blunt magazine. Were you part of it? Was Blunt and Big Brother the roots of Jackass? How were you involved in Jackass shows and movies?
And yea I was a big part of Blunt Mag. Ken Block started it around 1993 and I met him right after he had finished the first issue. I told him that I needed to be a part of the mag and started submitting as much stuff as possible to him. Â After that I worked on every issue of Blunt until itâs end. Ken Block ended up selling Blunt to Big Brother/World Industries so he could focus on DC Shoes and I went with Blunt. I became the photo editor and we hired Natas Kaupas as our Art Director, which was and still is incredible! The rest of our staff was the Big Brother staff. I also shot some stuff for the Big Brother video Number Two when I was there, which led to me working on the Jackass films about 8 years later. Rocco (World Industries) then sold Blunt to LFP and I went there. Â At that point we hired Dave England as editor. I had known Dave before that since 1992 when we met in Breckenridge.
[youtube id=”kaujTOhvgcA” width=”620″ height=”360″]
Do you still watch snowboard movies? Could you make a new movie someday or are you fully devoted to shoot music video, comedy and commercials now?
Iâm not sure if Iâd make another snowboard film again. I still love to ride and Iâm still good buds with most of the riders in my film. Itâs always such a pleasure to connect with any of those guys, especially on the hill. I would love to help out an existing company, try to add to flair, do something new.
Â