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The Mediaburn Radio Weblog "THE FOCUS OF DIGITAL MEDIA" - Gary Santoro and Mediaburn.net |
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The Mediaburn Radio Weblog "THE FOCUS OF DIGITAL MEDIA" - Gary Santoro and Mediaburn.net |
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STOKED: THE RISE AND FALL OF GATOR (mediaburn reprint) Production Notes on Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator
STOKED: THE RISE AND FALL OF GATOR is the feature-length documentary about Mark "Gator" Rogowski, one of the 80s most celebrated professional skateboarders, now serving 31 years to life in prison. STOKED follows skateboarding's phenomenal growth in the 80s, when local skatepark heroes were transformed into international superstars. As part of an elite crew of top professional skateboarders, Gator held rank with skate legends Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero and Lance Mountain. In STOKED, these and other skateboarding icons recall skating's biggest decade and Gator's spontaneous style, charisma, and outrageous antics. Gator's popularity in the "vertical ramp" skating circuit brought rapid wealth, travel, respect and international media attention, but the end of the decade found him with personal and career troubles. As styles in skating shifted and his fame began to wane, Gator tried unsuccessfully to reinvent himself with a name change, religious conversion, and a split from his longtime girlfriend. No one knew how unbalanced Gator was until the spring of 1991, when at the age of 24 he confessed to a shocking, violent crime. STOKED chronicles Gator's scrappy punk origins, rise to wealth and international notoriety, fall from grace, and the dramatic underlying factors that eventually led to tragedy. STOKED documents skating's boom and bust from the 80s to 90s, with a look at the mechanism of fame and its darker consequences as experienced by one man and, by extension, an entire youth culture.
Raised by a single mother and older brother in the suburban wasteland of Escondido, California, Young Mark Rogowski drifted toward skateboarding at an early age when a skate park opened near his home. In the early 80s, skateboarding was not all that popular. Introduced as a novelty along with the hula-hoop in the late 50s, skateboarding had caught the attention of the mainstream as a sport and lifestyle for a period in the mid 70s, but quickly slipped into the realm of backyard ramps, pools, and run-down skateparks littered with disaffected suburban kids. Mark's talent grabbed the attention of the older local rippers at the Del Mar skatepark in San Diego. They nicknamed him "Gator," which is a combination of references to 70s skate Pro Wally Inoui, the cartoon character Wally Gator, and a Puerto Rican Rum shirt with a booze-swilling alligator on it that he frequently wore. In pursuit of free boards and gear Gator sought out sponsorship opportunities, and by the age of fourteen he was riding as an amateur for Vans shoes and G&S boards.
As Pro skater, model, and actor Steve Olson says in STOKED, "Mark just had the confidence that it took to be good." In late 1983, San Diego businessman Frank Hawk started the National Skateboarding Association, which was formed to bring popularity back to the sport of skateboarding by way of a circuit of local park contests. Gator's career got a jolt when he beat top skater (and Frank Hawk's son) Tony Hawk in the Del Mar Spring Nationals in 1984. At the contest he met Brad Dorfman, a manufacturer who got his start selling skateboards out of his car on the beach. They took a walk and shook hands on a deal, and soon Mark became the top pro for Brad's new company, Vision Skateboards. It was a partnership that would endure through the decade.
As skateboarding blew up across America in the mid-80's, Gator
and an elite group of young pros, most hailing from Southern
California, were thrust into the spotlight. These kids, outcasts in
High School, were suddenly reaping rewards they'd never dreamed
of. By the age of 18 Gator had the top-selling board and
loosely-scripted video titled Skatevisions, showcasing the Vision
skateboarding team's ramp skating skills and the lifestyle of
skaters, and an income of over $100,000 per year. He starred in
magazine spreads, and modeled his own line of clothing on the "Vision Street Wear" label. He bought cars, paid off his
Mother's house, and toured the world competing for cash. In a
word, he was "stoked." Skate contests at the time, were social scenes heavy on partying, and Gator loved to get wild, act out, and attract the most attention he could. He'd frequently disrobe in public for shock value, and once appeared skating naked in a pool for a Vision ad, with the tag line "Wear Vision or Nothing At All." When drinking, Gator would often be the first to throw a punch, but his trigger-fast temper sometimes went past mere rowdiness. In the summer of 1986 at a major contest at the Mt Trashmore ramp in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Gator punched a cop and was hauled off to jail. The scene sparked a near-riot, and Vision owner Brad Dorfman, along with two other industry heavyweights bailed him out of jail for a few hundred bucks. Gator came back to skate in the contest, placed sixth, and in the following month's skate magazines received more coverage than at any other time in his career. His "Bad-boy" reputation was secure, but his controversial antics divided the skate community. In one of STOKED's most revealing early moments, Gator relaxes in the sun on a lounge chair and Wayfarers for a 1987 interview, and half-jokingly boasts: "Well I think I need to be interviewed, not only because I'm one of the most - elite, and dynamic, talented, big-headed, and versatile skaters on the circuit, but also because I'm one of the most blatant and outspoken jerks in the industry. It's really easy to say what you want, what's on your mind - and get away with it, when you work for a company like Vision. There's no problems, you can always have a bad write-up in the local gossip column of Thrasher or Transworld, and receive some kind of promotion or exposure from it. It's great. I love getting arrested. I think I'm one of the most illegal skaters in the circuit, too. (laughs)." By 1987 skate contests drew crowds of 5,000 spectators or more. Dorfman staged two Vision events in California indoor arenas, the traditional venue for rock stars.
Vision Team Manager John Hogan introduced his best friend Gator to
local rock promoter Bill Silva, and they came up with the idea for a
national tour which would take ramp skating, BMX, and roller-skating
across the country like a music tour. Silva started Impact Management
and with the corporate sponsorship of Swatch, they launched the biggest "aerial attack" of vertical ramp skating that America
had ever seen, and called it the "Impact Tour." Gator signed on with Silva as his agent and dropped the surname Rogowski in favor of the smoother-sounding Anthony, his middle name. The move was interpreted by many in the skateboarding community as an attempt to further his media identity, but friends say it was at least partially motivated by a desire to distance himself from the Father who'd abandoned the family long before Gator's skateboarding success. As his notoriety grew, Gator broke up with his longtime high school sweetheart Brittany, and soon started dating a beautiful 15-year old named Brandi McClain. They met at a contest in Arizona, introduced through uber-star pro skater Christian Hosoi, who was casually dating Brandi's best friend Jessica Bergsten. As Brandi McClain recalls in STOKED: "It was 'love at first sight' - it was puppy love. I was in high school. He would make me little cards, and send me something in the mail every single day, call me on the phone. It was sort of this long-distance, whirlwind courtship." Gator and Brandi quickly became a hot couple on the skate circuit, although both still lived at home with their mothers. Gator would send Brandi plane tickets and on Friday after school she would fly out to stay with him in Escondido on weekends. At the same time, a big ramp scene was happening in rural Fallbrook, an agricultural suburb of San Diego where the main crop is avocados, and where zoning laws allowed the building of backyard ramps. Tony Hawk and a few other pros had moved to the area, so at the age of 22, Gator purchased an extravagant, barrel-shaped house in the hills, and invited Brandi to move in.
Silva launched the Impact tour in 1988 with Gator as it's star,
and Gator hustled his skating appearances from skate magazines to
national publications, television shows, MTV, feature films, and
promotional videos. His already larger-than-life image and ego were
pumped "to the Maxx." He continued to crave attention,
telling a reporter from Interview Magazine, "getting noticed is
something I can't live without." Old friends fell by the wayside as Gator pursued celebrity, and potential new fans were put off by his arrogance. Identity in flux, he switched easily from Mark to Gator, from clean-cut corporate athlete to rowdy troublemaker, from attentive boyfriend to jealous, angry controller. Gator spoiled Brandi with gifts of clothes and travel, but frequently broke up with her at a moment's notice, only to call weeks later to invite her back into his life. As the tour wound down at the end of the decade, Gator found himself at parties with Cindy Crawford, Eddie Murphy, and INXS's Michael Hutchence. Meanwhile, skateboarding was undergoing a massive transformation. The popularity of skating had sent liability insurance skyward and local parks and backyard ramps were closing as a result. A number of top manufacturers (Vision not included) started promoting "street skating" with the rationale that a kid could skate on a street anywhere, not just in parks, pools or ramps.
As Stacy Peralta puts it: "Skateboarding was reinventing itself
from the 80s, to the 90s. We started seeing kids doing these street
tricks, and we started promoting what we called 'street style'." The 80s boom had spawned hoards of accomplished and hungry young skaters who latched onto the new, hip-hop influenced, urban style of skating in the early 90s. In comparison, Gator and the larger-than-life vert ramp superstars began to look like leftovers of the Day-Glo fad. With the popularity of vert in rapid decline, the sense of abandonment felt by the group of kids who'd ascended from outcasts to international superstars was palpable. Pro skater Jason Jessee remembers: "People put you on a pedestal, and he (Gator) was an idol - and then: you're not that big a deal anymore. Disposable hero. Just - "see ya later!" And it's fucked, it's so lonely. You don't know - (laugh) OK, 'really, I'm 21, and they're just done with me? And I don't even know how to get a job? I moved out when I was 17?' It's pretty fucked, alienated. It's rad." Like most of America in early 1990, Gator downsized. He sold his house in the hills and moved to a condo on the beach where he could be closer to the skate scene on the streets. Unfortunately, he couldn't finesse curbs with the skill he'd mastered in vert. At the same time, a number of pro skaters in their early 20s funneled their paychecks into startups of their own, styling boards and tee shirts with handmade graphics. Vision's top street skater Mark Gonzales started his own company with Jason Lee (who went on to become an actor in such films as Almost Famous), which they pointedly christened "Blind." It was Revolution [^] the fashion, politics, styles, and attitudes of the 80s were being thrown out forever as early 90s skaters remade the culture in their own grungy image. After more than a half a decade of international fame, Gator virtually disappeared from the magazines within the course of a year, and his board sales dropped. His career revealed a turning point in West Germany in 1990. After a night of drinking Jaegermeister, Gator punched out a bar bouncer and then a cab driver, then tried to climb in a second-story window of his hotel, from which he fell. He landed on a construction site, impaled his neck on a fence and almost died.
Former Vision Team Manager John Hogan remembers: "He's in
so much pain, and he's so drunk and he turned into a madman.
Almost like he's on some super-human drug like PCP or something. -- The next morning, he got up and said, "fuck, what
happened?" It was just unbelievable, that he had no concept of
where he was, how he got there."
80s pro skater and friend Dave Duncan recalls: "I think that was
kind of a turning point for Gator, that he kind of turned around and
straightened his life out, realizing that he was kind of blowing
it." Gator returned home shaken, and became involved with some surfers preaching "Born-Again" Christianity on the beach. Gator forged yet another new identity and within months went from hard living bad-boy to straightedge, carrying a Bible and preaching to kids at contests and parks. When his faith ruled out partying and sex, Brandi and his former friends quickly disappeared. Gator mentored young skaters to live by the word of Jesus as he tried to market himself to a new audience, immersed in his "new life" but still clinging to the old. Obsessing over Brandi's desertion and her new boyfriend, He called and left obscene, threatening messages mixed with biblical quotations on her answering machine. He stalked her, and broke into her home and took back everything he'd ever given her. Later the Police found her car and all the stolen belongings, burned to a shell in the desert. As Gator seethed, Brandi packed her bags and prepared to pursue her dream of modeling in NYC. Around the same time, Brandi's estranged friend Jessica Bergston arrived in San Diego, and phoned Gator to show her around. It was the worst timing of Jessica's 21-year life. After a day of flirting, partying, and drinking late into the night at his condo, Gator beat Bergston over the head with a steering wheel lock (The Club), handcuffed and raped her, and in the morning zipped her body into a surfboard bag and suffocated her. The next night he cleaned up the blood and drove out to the California desert to get rid of her corpse and all the evidence of his crime. In the coming months her disappearance became a mystery, and a missing person case was mounted by the police but was eventually dropped. Gator had gotten away with murder, until one day he confessed. The news sent millions of skateboarding fans around the globe into shock and disbelief, but among the elite skaters who traveled with Gator on the pro circuit in his prime, few were surprised. A court-appointed psychiatrist diagnosed him as a severe manic-depressive bipolar disorder. In a plea bargain submitted on the eve of his trial, Gator received 31years to life in prison.
It's hard to believe that a little over a decade ago the Skateboarding Industry had such an image problem it needed to wage a media campaign declaring "Skateboarding is Not a Crime." Today, it's more popular than ever. ESPN's X-Games and NBC's Gravity Games bring the sport into millions of homes, while skateboarding regularly appears in advertising as the ultimate lifestyle, selling everything from long distance calling plans to cars, shoes, and soft drinks, for companies as varied as Doritos, J. Crew, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Excite.com and the Gap. The global skateboarding culture was empowered by 20 million skaters in 2001, contributing to annual industry sales of one billion dollars. Fueling this culture are an elite group of "extreme" athletes who create the image, promote the lifestyle ads, hone their skills, invent the tricks and coin the terms that sell product and inspire millions of teens to get on a board and "Don't Die Wondering," as the slogan on one popular 80's decal read. But many people are dying of wonder [^] wondering what happened to Gator. Amid speculation that skateboarding may one day be an Olympic sport, Gator's story continues to cast a dark shadow: it is a dark and powerful legend among three generations of alternative sports fans. One of the most tragic and bizarre true sports stories ever, STOKED is an archetypal 80's tale of a fallen bad-boy idol, a model of athletic beauty and hedonistic success gone terribly wrong. Beyond Gator's story and the others who failed to transition into prost-pro life, there are those who succeeded tremendously, most notably Tony Hawk who is featured prominently in STOKED. Hawk and fellow "Bones Brigade" team members Lance Mountain and Steve Caballero were mentored by first-generation skate pro Stacy Peralta. With the benefit of his guidance, they still skate today, providing positive role models and mentoring others through their own companies, tours, and promotions. STOKED brings skating back into the present with a final word from these 80s survivors.
STOKED takes the viewer on a fast moving roller-coaster ride of stories and human emotion, chronologically detailing the events leading up to Gator's breakdown. While Gator's talent and appeal are readily apparent, STOKED doesn't shy away from disclosing his rage and aggression, alcoholism, and his embittered and obsessive love affair with young girlfriend Brandi McClain. STOKED reveals a life of euphoric highs, and the lows of despair. While carefully treating this story of tragic loss, STOKED also reveals moments of absurd humor, nostalgia, behind-the-scenes antics and sports action. Not unlike Penelope Spheeris' heralded "The Decline of Western Civilization" documentary series, STOKED offers an informative, entertaining, and subtly cautionary look at skateboarding as a subculture filled with charismatic individuals. Shot on unobtrusive Mini Digital Video cameras, director Helen Stickler captures intimate moments with the athletes and associates that knew Gator best. Narrated by the characters themselves, STOKED features a round robin of top-ranking pros from the 80's, industry leaders, managers, writers, photographers, former friends, and others. Police Officers, Detectives, legal authorities, and local newscasts fill in details of Gator's crime, confession and subsequent incarceration. STOKED makes extensive use of archival footage spanning a decade. Visually textured and multi-layered, STOKED borrows the look of 80's skateboard films to reflect the youth culture it depicts. STOKED features original music from the era from bands such as A Flock of Seagulls, The Cult, Dead Kennedys, Information Society, Vidiots, Paris, Naked Raygun, Bad Religion, Agent Orange, Black Flag, The Faction, Butthole Surfers and more. An original score by composer David Reid provides STOKED's emotional undercurrent.
Director Helen Stickler was inspired to make STOKED: The Rise and Fall of Gator though her long involvement with the community and subculture of skateboarding, where she first heard the tragic story of 80s skate icon Mark "Gator" Rogowski's violent crime and disappearance into obscurity. Stickler began her pursuit of the story shortly after the debut of her award winning short documentary "Andre the Giant has a Posse," in 1997. "ATGHAP" revealed the origin of a globally ubiquitous artwork/sticker to be a skateboarding graffiti artist's practical joke turned social commentary. Not unlike the sticker, the tragic story of Gator Rogowski's crime and disappearance into obscurity was an international "urban legend" resonating for over a decade among skateboarders and beyond.
The crime inspired the nationally known "Girl from the Tom Petty
Video" rumor, which claimed the female half-pipe skater in the
video for "Free Fallin," had been murdered by a jealous
boyfriend. Shortly after Gator's crime, the television show "Hard Copy" produced a segment featuring a clip from
the video. The Village Voice writer Cory Johnson perpetuated the myth
in his Jan 1993 story about the case, titled "Free Fallin." The lack of information and rampant speculation about the crime drew Stickler to find the truth behind the rumors. In her investigation she met extensively with Rogowski in prison and interviewed the people closest to him, many who spoke publicly about the story for the first time. STOKED: The Rise and Fall of Gator is the first accurate and thorough exploration of Gator's story, the 80s era of skateboarding, and the history, characters, and stories that shaped the sport and culture today.
In STOKED, Sticker saw an opportunity to use the subculture of skateboarding to illustrate larger themes, particularly about 80s American popular youth culture. Big Hair bands, Club Mtv, shoulder pads, Aerobics, junk bonds, Ronald Reagan and Bush Sr. were all a part of the legacy of the 80s: often referred to as the "greed" or the "fame" decade. The coming 90s marked a massive shift in attitude and aesthetic: hip-hop and grunge dominated the American music and fashion scenes, and reluctant celebrity replaced a quest for fame.
While the youth cultures of the 60s and 70s have been thoroughly
explored and recycled, Stickler felt there was a dearth of exploration
of the times that shaped millions known as "Gen-X."
Gator himself perpetuated much of the mystery of his crime. Although he gave a full confession, he later tried to change his story to downplay the severity of his crime, through documents submitted to the court and by telling conflicting stories to fellow skaters who visited him. Although millions of skate fans from the 80s were curious as to the circumstances of Gator's crime, little information came out of the tight-knit skateboarding industry. Beyond the success of Tony Hawk, Stacy Peralta and so many others, no one familiar with skateboarding's brief history can deny its fallen heroes and tragedy. The 70s' Jay Adams, a focus of the documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys," has been convicted on drug charges, and charged with more serious offenses. The skater Paul Hackett, little brother to 70s star Dave Hackett, served life in jail for the criminally insane for the murder of their mother. 80s hero and Gator peer Jeff Phillips committed suicide in 1993, and Christian Hosoi was jailed on drug charges in 2000. Early 90s pro skater Josh Swindell is serving life without parole for a hate crime murder. Justin Pierce, who starred as Casper in Larry Clark's quasi-fictional "Kids," hung himself in his bathroom at the Bellagio Hotel during the summer of 2000.
Helen Stickler is an Emmy-nominated writer, producer, and director of documentary films and commercials. Her short film credits include "Queen Mercy" and "Andre the Giant has a Posse," which won over six awards between them. "Andre the Giant has a Posse" has screened in over 70 venues and remains a popular rental. Helen has a BFA in Film and Video from the Rhode Island School of Design and studied film and digital audio at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1995 she was named a Providence Film Commissioner by Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr., before moving to NYC in 1997. Helen curates popular art and film exhibitions, including shows of films by and about skateboarders. Her skateboarding series Directors of the Board has been commissioned by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, the Wexner Center for the arts in Columbus Ohio, the Leeds International Film Festival and several other venues. In addition to her independent film work, Helen's commercial clients have included Mtv and Mtv2, Vans, Coke, and Paramount Pictures. Helen created and directed the safe sex campaign Roll On (for Mtv and the Kaiser Family Foundation) which earned a Best National PSA nomination in the 1999 Emmy Awards.
Ana Esterov has been an editor for some of New York City's best editorial houses, including Jump, Mad River Post, Mackenzie Cutler & Go Robot. Past commercial campaigns she's cut include PSA's for Artists Against Aids, and spots for the Levis Make them your Own campaign, and she's worked for Production Companies Epoch Films, RSA and Tool of North America. An up-and-coming commercial and music video editor, Ana has also cut several short films, which have screened in festivals such as South by SouthWest. Her interest in youth culture and skateboarding in particular began with stints working for Lollapalooza music festival and Thrasher magazine in the early 90s. STOKED is her first feature documentary. Ana is currently a staff editor at Consulate in NYC.
David Reid's interest in composing began at Brown University, where he produced, directed and scored a series of short films as part of his BFA in Film Semiotics. David has helmed several bands and collaborated with musicians as diverse as Helmet, Glenn Branca, the Pernice Brothers, Don Caballero, and Joe Henry. He is currently the lead singer and songwriter for the band Sea of Cortez who recently completed a tour with J. Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr.). In addition to his band work, David has embarked upon a successful career as a music composer for television and film. His clients for television include Budweiser, the Coca Cola Company, Mtv Networks, Warner Brothers, Tommy Boy Records, and his music was also featured in the Museum of Modern Art's "Workspheres" exhibit of Spring 2001 in collaboration with the NYC based design firm, Honest. David's feature film work includes tracks on Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine", Michael Mann's "Heat", Neil Jordan's "In Dreams" and Helen Stickler's "Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator".
Michelle Bayer a 16-year veteran of the music business whose diverse experience includes work at record labels, publishers and artist management. In June 2002, Michelle launched ShellyBay Music, a full-service music industry consultancy, advising clients on all aspects of music marketing, publishing, licensing and administration. Included on her client roster are Prince Paul Productions, Koch Entertainment and Tommy Boy Music. Prior to starting her own music company, Michelle held the position of Vice President, Creative Business Development and Music Publishing at Tommy Boy Music, where she oversaw publishing activities for all writers signed to Tommy Boy, and handled the TV/Film/Soundtrack Division. During her early days in the music industry, Michelle worked with the A&R legend John Hammond, the artists 10,000 Maniacs, Cowboy Junkies and The Waterboys. Her film music experience includes music supervisor on "Stoked: the Rise and Fall of Gator" as well as Soundtrack A&R on "King of the Jungle" and "Punks" from Urbanworld Films.
Zachary Mortensen has been a producer in NYC for eight years, working in narrative, music video and commercial production as well as producing many successful short films. For two years Mortensen was the Director of production at Caipirinha Productions, where he supervised the production and distribution of the critically acclaimed feature "Modulations." He recently produced the feature documentary "Hell House" which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2001 and was released theatrically in fall 2002. Mortensen is an associate producer on the documentary "Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator" by Helen Stickler and produced the award winning documentary feature "Breath Control: The History of the Human Beat Box" by Joey Garfield. He recently completed the documentary "The Federation of Black Cowboys."
Video Effects designer Tim Crean has been a flame artist for nearly a decade. Crean started his career at Henninger Video in Washington D.C. In 1995, he came to NYC where he worked at Black logic and later served as effects supervisor/chief Inferno artist at Nice Shoes, before helping launch the NYC visual effects house Guava. Crean is currently an owner/partner in the post house Suspect, with executive producer Rob Appleblatt.
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