BOBI SPASSOV GIVES INSIGHT INTO THE XCCV CREW’S FIRST VOD EFFORT

The trailer for the XCCVOD. The video was filmed over the course of two years, with Spassov and his colleague Omri Baum switching back and forth behind the lens.

It is no question that, if you have been paying any sort of attention to rollerblading over the past 2 years, Bobi Spassov has been one of the most intriguing skaters to watch. Even if you don’t prescribe to his school of thought when it comes to rollerblading, you cannot deny the man’s talents. Although often finding himself skating alone due to the dynamics of travel within his home country of Israel, Spassov has been working dilligently with his colleague, Omri Baum, on their crew’s first VOD effort, titled XCCVOD. I sat down with Bobi for a few minutes to discuss the fruition of their latest project…

So let’s start with the basics. Tell me a bit about this video, who’s involved, who’s filming, and how long you’ve been working on it…

Basically this video is our (xccv) first major project. The filming took place mostly through out 2017 and 2018 . It was mainly filmed by myself and Omri Baum, but basically every one in the crew had to use the camera at some point. The main sections are the likes of Daniel Deitch, Omri Baum, Max Koshelev, Yair Viner and myself. It also has 2 friends sections featuring Theodore Vojik, Shelly Burla, Fabian Gaile, Dor Shapira, Anton J. Bassargin, Michael Witzemann, Roman Filatov, Yair Livne, Nils Jansons and Omer Ben Ami.

That’s a nice line up. I am curious though, can you tell me a bit more about the XCCV crew?

So XCCV is translates to SABABA, which is one, if not the most, common word/slang here in Israel. It can be used in many different ways, but the most common one is “all good”. The crew was created to showcase some of the top Israeli skaters, all at one place. Since we are not in America or Europe, putting your name out there from a place so disconnected from the bigger scene is very hard. So I thought, “maybe it’s best if we can all gather in one place.” We’ve been skating together as xccv for about 3 years now, or at least its been 3 years since we created the name…

I remember you saying to me a while back that it’s tough to get filming and photos done out there..do you guys live relatively close to one another?

Relatively close would be super close in USA terms, but here 30 minutes drive we call far away . Most of us work/study full time, so it is very hard to find time to go film together. I think at best, we went out filming once a week, but it would fluctuate really; sometimes it could go a month without us filming. One might have the misconception that because of my active Instagram account I have fellow rollerbladers with me all the time, but in reality a lot of these clips were filmed by my great iphone videographer, whom is my girlfriend Wilma, and Nir Tuvia, a scooter rider, also known as IPHONEXGOD….

Hot shit! So you spent two years on this, how do you plan on releasing it?

We’re gonna put up it for digital download via Sellfy, the link will be up this Thursday, November 15th, 2018 with the humble price of 5 euros. There is also going to be an option to donate for anyone who feels good that day, or really likes the crew and wants to support us even more…

That’s very reasonable for what I’m sure is going to be a lot of solid skating. So you put this all together editing wise, yeah?

Editing was mainly done by me, with a good deal of help from Omri…

Any section in particular that you enjoyed filming the most?

Its hard to say, because we were filming all together, and Omri was filming just as much as I did. I can say that every section is very different from another, which makes this video pretty cool to watch. We have different styles and approach to skating; different abilities on spots. So even though we were all together mostly, you don’t see a lot of the same spots repeating from one section to another. From very old school to very new school, and some styles in between; the video is well rounded in terms of the skating presented.

Well, you’ve wrapped this film. What’s next for you and the XCCV crew?

As soon as we finish with this one, we are gonna start working on a new VOD project. We don’t know where it is gonna take us, but we are ready for a new adventure. Meanwhilem Omri and I are  working on a 1 on 1 project, filmed only in Tel Aviv, only at the night; it’ll be an online edit. And of course, we’ll keep posting Instagram clips and small park videos as we usually do.

Alright Bobi, I think that covers most of it…unless I’m missing something? Am I missing anything?

Last words? We appreciate the support of the community. We’d like to progress and upgrade our camera setup, so any support from the video will go strictly towards that goal. The video is gonna be about 32 minutes long and it was filmed only in Israel. Its purpose is to show the love for blading, and the hard work this little group of bladers from this unknown side of the world is putting in to keep this whole rollerblading thing alive and kicking, not only just here, but worldwide.

Bobi Spassov lives in Kfar Saba, Israel. You can follow him on Instagram here. 

Follow the XCCV crew on Instagram here.