Intro by Brian Aragon
Edit by Brazilionaire (Helton Siqueira)
Interviewer: Oliver Nermerich
Interviewee: Brazilionaire
Hey Brazil, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for Be-Mag. What was the last thing you did before we started that interview?
Hey Olli, thanks for having me in this interview. Right now its Monday, 7am here at the Razors manor in San Diego, California and Brian and I are up and about taking care of business. He’s already out to the Gym, and I just finished my wake up routine and am in the office working on DVD package design for Game Theory with Kevin Gillan.
Sweet! What have you been up to the last months?
This has been a very exciting year. We’ve been finishing the production on Game Theory and I’m also working on a new media company I’m launching this fall.
That’s awesome. Please let us know what were the most important things for you when you filmed for Game Theory?
The key things I was looking for were to capture the personalities of the skaters, the aesthetics of the locations, and the experience of the lifestyle.
How do you get your protagonists motivated to give their best?
These guys are pros, they don’t need much motivation from me. The Razors team is a family and we just have a great time skating, chilling and partying together. We all believe in this project with our hearts minds and souls (< no pun intended haha) so we all motivate each other daily just by being together.
What was the biggest challenges while filming for Game Theory?
We’ve certainly had some obstacles while filming the last 15 months. Brian has been finishing his bachelors degree in marketing/business, I still own/run a full time production company, we’ve had equipment stolen, found, broke, and fixed, Murda had a serious injury that knocked him out for 10 months+, and the guys have been touring all year round going to contests, visiting skateshops, etc. It’s been a nonstop schedule for as far back as I can remember on this project.
And what was the most funniest situation you experienced during the whole project?
The entire film has been an unforgettable experience, but if I had to pick a specific situation it was when we all vacationed together in Mallorca last year. It’s a beautiful island off of the coast of Barcelona and it was one of the best weeks I’ve ever had. We rented a house on the beach, were cooking everyday, doing some skating, cliff diving, playing soccer, going out at night, boat parties, the life. Oh and Brian bought be my first shots ever that week… what a way to celebrate being 21!
Yeah I know Mallorca well. European people go there a lot to party! I can imagine you had a blast out there. So in which other countries did you also film for the video?
More countries then I can remember! But off the top of my head, combined with our filming and contributing videographers we have Brazil, France, Spain, England, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and of course all over the U.S.
Which film trip was the most memorable and why was it so memorable?
Definitely the 6 week Euro trip to kick off the filming last year… we hit France, England and Spain (with a week long Mallorca vacation at the end) and that was my first time in Europe… everything you can imagine happened on that tour and more. Maybe on the bonus of the DVD we’ll have some of that footage.
Who is gonna have the biggest profile? What equipment did you use for the “Game theory”-shooting? Did you use any additional fancy equipment for the film production (glidecam, crane,..)?
It’s hard to say who will have the biggest profile as all the guys who are getting sections have huge fan bases all over the world. Certainly Brian has the most amount of clips, all top quality, but as far as the biggest profile, we’ll let the audience decide it.
I’ve been shooting this particular project with the Panasonic HVX200 and the Century Optics Ultra Fisheye. Contributing videographers have been using a wide array of HD and DSLR cameras that I’ve been able to color correct to match my footage pretty well.
Who came up with that title and in what way is the title connected to the content?
I came up with the Game Theory title. Something about it felt right. When you see the finished product, I think it will make sense to everybody.
Why will this video be different from all other previous Razors videos?
Razors always put out some of my favorite videos… and rightfully so. The directors before me- Beau and AJ are tremendous at their craft and made content that I grew up on. For this movie I am just bringing my own personal style of filming and editing to the table, and am just grateful to be responsible for such a large scale project.
What was the most memorable trick you filmed? Where was it filmed? Who did the most scariest tricks?
The most memorable trick I filmed was the ender trick to the whole video. There was a crazy mission involved with getting this clip, real covert operation type stuff. Talking to security, school principals, emails, phone calls, a little bit of jumping fences, having an insider at the schools office communicating our entrance timing through twitter, the whole nine yards haha it felt like Oceans 11. You will see most of that process documented in the film.
Who had the worst falls while performing for the video?
At first I wanted to say Don, but these last few weeks there’s another skater who particularly has been throwing down massively. Also just a few days ago Horn broke his leg doing a hammer, so him and Murda have had the worst injuries in terms of seriousness.
When and where will this video be premiered. Who will be coming?
The video will be premiered Friday, August 13th in Encinitas, Ca. This is the day before the SDSF WRS comp in San Diego, and that will be a huge weekend. Every top pro skater in the world will be there for the competition and the premiere. Great opportunity to meet your idols and see the film a month before the DVD’s are in stores.
Any further things you are working on? What’s on your agenda for the rest of the year? You’ll be continuing working for Razors?
Yes I am launching a new media company this fall; it’s going to have some great opportunities for the growth of our culture. As far as Razors go, we haven’t made any plans yet but I will always be a part of the family. Before any business gets done, we’re a family, these guys are all my big brothers so that’s never changing. But I’m sure with as much synergy as we have now, it will not be our last project 🙂
That sounds you have a pretty busy schedule. Are you gonna have some vacation after the premiere? Where will you go? Can you stay a week somewhere at the beach without using your camera? I guess not, or?
Ah good question! After the SDSF / Premiere weekend here (which by the way is Murda’s birthday as well!) I will be driving back to Chicago personally host a premiere there, and another one in Lexington Kentucky which are the two cities I grew up skating in. After that I’m off to New York for the Last Man Standing, and then I’m moving to my own place in Hollywood. Oh wait, what about vacation? Hmm, everyday feels like a vacation to me. If you love what you do, you don’t work a day in your life.
So true! If you are not filming for Razors, what else do you do? Are you still doing some work in the music business?
Yes I am still doing work in the entertainment business. I do Music Videos for MTV/BET/VH1 when those projects come up. Currently I’m editing the Behind The Scenes for a feature film called “College Musical” and a fellow skater “Nick Uhas” is hosting that. We just put the teaser up less then a week ago and it has over 100,000 views, you can see that at: http://www.youtube.com/kurthugoschneider
During the last two years filming for the Razors video you have seen a lot of skaters and talents. Which amateur should become a PRO in the future to your mind. Who is one of the biggest talents right now?
Well to be a PRO on the Razors team is no easy task. There are highly skilled pro skaters that are wearing Razors now that aren’t on the Razors pro team, its one of the hardest pro teams to be in. But as far as up and coming talent that I believe have potential to be Pro, a few people that come to mind are: Gabe Talamantes, Sean Darst and Nick Lebarre (From Chicago, IL) these guys have incredible swag and their trick vocabulary/spot selection are on point. Max Jubin from Spain is also very talented, a lot of potential in him.
I just saw “Strange Creatures” this weekend, and there were a few cats in there that looked very promising. The Brierley brothers and that whole crew in the video have a future in skating if they stay focused, I guarantee it. There are so so so many others that are talented, I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot.
Brazil, thanks for your time! We are all sure that the Game Theory premiere will be a great success. Keep up the good work and we talk to you soon.
Thanks for the interview Olli, look forward to skating with you!
