The Moment Everything Changed
foreword by James White
Every now and then a single thing happens that affects your whole life. It produces a moment when you know you’ll never be the same, it changes the way you think about everything. For most, this would be something like, getting married, seeing your first child born or landing that big Job. Well for me it was watching Dorkin 3.
Let’s paint the picture. It’s the late 80’s, I’ve left BMX somewhere between a double frame whip and Miami hop hops. I’m over that childish nonsense, I’ve got a car now, beer to drink and birds to pull. (note* The car was a rattled black mini with a public enemy logo painted on the roof and the only thing it pulled was breakdown recovery).
That is, until I stumble across Dolan and Blacksley squeaking shapes all over southbank. Out comes my old ‘Prolite’ Craig Campbell and I’m riding again wondering where it all went wrong (note* it was an exact replica of the chrome green one the man himself rode in 1985).
I need to get me some of those shiny 48 spoke wheels those southbank guys had I think to myself and end up at up ‘superbike’ in Ilford (note* this was the best shop back then, just wall to wall coolness – Stussy, Anarchic adjustment, Evolution, Ceramic rabbit to name a few). As I’m buying a few bits the shop owner says I’ve just got this new video in and points to a very homemade looking video tape ‘it’s meant to be good, Dorkin 3’ he says’ (note* I don’t think it even had a cover, just a TDK sleeve with dorkin 3 written on it and was clearly a bootleg. Sorry Mark) reluctantly I included the tape into my purchase and home I went.
This was the moment. The moment BMX became my pilgrimage. I watched this section until the tape stretched in one sitting. It was more than just mind blowing riding, it was a session, a fun session. Friends riding and casually dropping the blueprint of flatlands future.
And the ender, oh, the ender!!… If Kurtis Blow hadn’t been rudely interrupted by ‘send me an angel’ (note* Yes the same song used in RAD’S BMX boogie scene) his next line would have been ‘I like slam dunks, take me to the hoop’, Coincidence? Or the shear magic of the Hoods? No prizes for guessing what I think, this section is pure Hood magic!
It was a passion to produce something we were proud of & if that made some money then great.
Mark Eaton
Hood
I remember being really embarrassed by BMX videos prior to the Dorkin series emerging. I hung around with Skaters who always got to watch great videos (Powell Peralta etc) and I remember desperately wanting bmx to get the opportunity to be showcased in a more credible way.
Was this something you were aware of around this time and what we’re your personal thoughts on the way BMX was portrayed on official VHS releases upto this point (and prior the your series)?
Absolutely!, I hung out with a crew of skaters and loved watching the Bones Brigade videos. I wanted a BMX video that had that same edge to it, and at the time the BMX videos were mostly glossy instructional videos. (also, I do remember seeing GT-TV in summer of 87 which was a step in the right direction but still a little too buttoned up)
To this day, many people talk about the impact of watching this video and this section for the first time. In fact many people I speak to can tell me exactly where they were and who they were with when they first viewed it! When you finished the film and previewed the edit did you have any idea that you’d produced something that would become such an important milestone in bmx history?
I think we “Premiered” Dorkin 3 in late June 89 and I’m pretty sure it was just a party at my house with a bunch of riders and friends that hung out in our scene then. It was not a big deal at all. Back then, Trend Bike Source was our main seller along with direct mail orders. Trend had suggested that we use a Video Duplication company for cost / efficiency, and that’s when it felt “real”.
At this stage, did you have any fixed approach to filming the videos or was it just a case of shooting every session?
We really didn’t film that much until it was about 3 months prior to a video being released. Then we’d go into full on filming and gathering mode.
There was a ton of things that didn’t get filmed because by the time a video was going to come out, this tricks were “Stale” to us.
I think Id guess that this is probably the most copied (pirated as we said back then!!) video in the history of BMX (sorry Mark). How many copies did you actually sell?
I’d guess that Dorkin 3 probably sold around 800 copies and since the video really didn’t cost anything to make we were fine with that. Also, there was no intention of turning the videos into a money maker. It was a passion to produce something we were proud of & if that made some money then great.
What were you shooting and editing on at the time?
At the time of Dorkin 3, we were shooting on a full size VHS Camera, and editing on a basic VCR. I had my DJ gear connected to it for music mixes, etc
From the perspective of a rider who wasn’t US based seeing the riding and tricks in this section was mind blowing. We’d seen photos of some of the tricks in mags but getting to see them in full was incredible.
How aware were you of the international impact that this video had?
We really didn’t realize the full impact the videos had globally. We were in our own little Riding scene which was far from SoCal where everything was going down. I think we were more concerned with making bold statements to the BMX industry in SoCal
Is this spot still there? (ie the car park/basket ball court)
Yes, the spot is still there – MT ROSE PARK 1440 Mt Rose Ave, York, PA 17403 a great secluded spot with zero traffic. The surface isn’t the same and I don’t think anyone rides there anymore.
By the time the video was released and gained popularity how far had Kevin and your own riding and tricks progressed from what you had captured for Dorkin 3?
At the time of Dorkin 3 release, My focus was spread across Flat, Street, & Mini Ramp riding. We literally rode everything. Flatland was the mainstay, but Kevin was continuing to push new boundaries in flatland, and I was more “enjoying” all aspects of riding. I didn’t see myself being a pro flatland rider. I was aiming to be an overall technical flat / street skills
Was there anything in the edit trick wise that you and Kevin weren’t 100% happy with?
At that time, videos weren’t that big of a deal to us yet. They weren’t a “Production”. As time went on between 3 & 4 my mindset became more focused on making the videos more of a production.
Does viewing the section now feel like watching someone else or can you still feel the energy and movement of every trick?
It’s strange, because I can see how dialed we were then and I remember it all, but it would take alot of work for me to nail those tricks again!
The section featured you, Kevin and John Stapleton. What happened to john after this video as he seemed to fade away for the scene a little?
John Stapleton went to Art School in Philadelphia in the fall of 89, so he wasn’t around as much, but they had a thriving riding scene in Philly, and he’d come back to ride with us, or we’d go there to ride with the Philly riders. He had sections in Dorkin’ 4 & 5 too. John is now a very successful Creative Director at 22Squared in Atlanta
The impact of the internet on BMX media has somewhat reduced bmx content to single clip format. What are your view on this and do you think there is still a place for feature length content?
I think that there is definitely a market for longer form content, but its probably more Story / Documentary style. There’s a ton of BMX Stories that I wanna tell, I just have to figure out how to fund it.
What was the biggest frustration and limit on your creativity film making wise during this period?
The biggest frustration has always been technology. Back in the 80’s filmmaking was extremely limited to those who had access to equipment or money to afford it. This was true in both audio & video production. I dreamed of having the proper gear to produce great videos and that didn’t happen until around 1997.
Looking back now as a professional film maker, is it hard to watch these videos now?
Yes, but I also realize that we had no idea what we were doing and we were literally figuring it all out ourselves as we went along. No internet to look up, no real books on what we were doing, etc.
What’s been the biggest (and most successful financially) Dorkin release over the series?
As a single video release Dorkin 10 did the best but that’s because by 2000 I had so much production and distribution knowledge. The Dorkin DVD Box Set has done very well and still continues to sell. There’s less than 100 remaining copies, so if you don’t have one, feel free to hit me up.