''Dogtown and Z-Boys'' is a 2001

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

produced by Agi Orsi and directed by

Stacy Peralta Stacy Douglas Peralta (born October 15, 1957) is an American film director and entrepreneur. He was previously a professional skateboarder and surfer with the Zephyr Competition Team, also known as the Z-Boys, from Venice, California. Early li ...

. The documentary explores the pioneering of the Zephyr skateboard team in the 1970s (of which Peralta was a member) and the evolving sport of

skateboarding Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation ...

. Using a mix of film of the Zephyr skateboard team (Z-Boys) shot in the 1970s by Craig Stecyk, along with contemporary interviews, the documentary tells the story of a group of teenage surfer/skateboarders and their influence on the history of skateboarding (and to a lesser extent

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable ...

) culture.

Synopsis

''Dogtown and Z-Boys'', narrated by

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...

, begins with the history of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

and how it had been strongly influenced by the

surf culture Surf culture includes the people, language, fashion, and lifestyle surrounding the sport of surfing. The history of surfing began with the ancient Polynesians. That initial culture directly influenced modern surfing, which began to flourish ...

in the surrounding areas of

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, nicknamed ''

Dogtown Dogtown or Dog Town may refer to: Entertainment * ''Dogtown'' (film), a 1997 film * "Dogtown" (''The Simpsons''), a 2017 season episode * '' DogTown'', a National Geographic Channel series * ''Dogtown'', a 2006 television show, starring Geraldine ...

''. Surf shop owners

Jeff Ho Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions was a surfboard manufacturing facility and surf shop located in Santa Monica, California, that opened in 1971 and closed in 1976. The building was designated as a City Landmark in 2007. History In 197 ...

Skip Engblom Skip Engblom (born January 4, 1948) is an American entrepreneur and one of the co-founders of the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions Surf Shop in Santa Monica, California. He also helped to create the Zephyr Surf Team and the Zephyr Compet ...

, and Craig Stecyk established the Zephyr Skateboard Team with local teenagers from broken homes. The sport of skateboarding continued to evolve as the Z-Boys continued to bring edgy moves influenced by surfing. During one of California's record-breaking droughts, local backyard pools were emptied and became hotspots for these young skateboarders looking for places to skateboard. The members of the Zephyr team gained notability and national attention when they competed in skateboard championships and started to receive media attention for their skills as young athletes. Testimonials and commentary provided by the members and founders of the Zephyr team combined with the rock-and-roll soundtrack and vintage footage all come together in this documentary about the history and lives of the original Z-Boys and skateboarding subculture of California.

Production

The documentary features vintage video footage and photos of the Zephyr skateboard team from the 1970s, along with contemporary interviews from the original members of the Z-Boys group. The film combines the 8-mm and 16-mm vintage footage with modern editing and a soundtrack crafted from music of the 1970s era. ''Dogtown and Z-Boys'' was directed by

, an original member of the Zephyr team, and written by Peralta and Craig Stecyk, a leading surf and skateboard film producer and photojournalist. The film operated on a budget of $400,000 financed by Vans, Inc. Stecyk and photojournalist Glen E. Friedman, were the film's co-writer and co-producer, respectively, Daniel Ostroff and Stephen Nemeth were also co-producers, and Debra MacCulloch and Christine Triano were associate producers involved with the film.

Cast

The documentary includes footage, commentary, and interviews from eleven of the original members of the Z-Boys team, along with the team's co-founders, skateboarding champions, and other relevant skateboarding figures, journalists, and musicians from the era. *

as the narrator * Jay Adams (Zephyr Skate Team member) as himself *

Tony Alva Tony Alva (born September 2, 1957) is an American skateboarder, entrepreneur, and musician. He was a pioneer of vertical skateboarding and one of the original members of the Zephyr Competition Skateboarding Team, also known as the Z-Boys. The ...

(Zephyr Skate Team member) as himself *

(Zephyr Skate Team member) as himself * Jeff Ament as himself *

Steve Caballero Steve Caballero (born November 8, 1964) is an American professional skateboarder. He is known for the difficult tricks and air variations he invented for vertical skating and for setting the long-standing record for the highest air achieved on a ...

as himself *

(Zephyr Co-Founder) as himself * Craig Stecyk (Zephyr Co-Founder) as himself *

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...

as himself *

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rol ...

as himself * Tom Sims as himself *

Peggy Oki Peggy E. Oki (born April 10, 1956) is an American skateboarder, surfer, artist, and environmental activist. She was an original member of the Z-Boys and competed with the Zephyr Competition Team in the 1970s. She was the only female member of the ...

(Zephyr Skate Team member) as herself *

(Zephyr Co-Founder) as himself

Reception

The documentary initially gained notability after its debut at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

where it won several awards. The film was well received by many critics, including reporter Steve McKee of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' who stated that the documentary had opened with "boffo reviews" from around the country. The film received a rating of 92% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

and a generally favorable rating of 76 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. Stephen Holden of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said the film was a "giddy, thrilling, rock 'n' roll-saturated history of skateboarding in Southern California." On the opening weekend of April 2002, ''Dogtown and Z-Boys'' made $103,355. By August 2002, the film had grossed $1,293,295 in the United States. According to Peralta in a 2004 interview, "Dogtown has sold over a million DVDs and more than 700,000 VHS."

Awards and recognition

''Dogtown and Z-Boys'' was entered in the 2001

and won two awards: the Audience Award and Directing Award. The film also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary in 2001.

Music

References

External links

*
''Dogtown – The Legend of the Z-Boys''
- The book that inspired the film {{Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature 2001 films 2001 documentary films Sundance Film Festival award winners American sports documentary films Skateboarding films Sony Pictures Classics films Documentary films about surfing Documentary films about Los Angeles American surfing films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films