Skateboard: The Movie (1978) 4K Restoration
Director: George Gage Run Time: 97 min. Rating: PG Release Year: 1978
Starring: Allen Garfield, Antony Carbone, Kathleen Lloyd, Leif Garrett, Tony Alva
Country: United States
Language: English
About the film:
Restored by Factory 25 from a once-lost 35mm print, the cult classic indie feature Skateboard is the charming story of a smarmy Hollywood agent (Alan Garfield) who finds himself in debt to a bookie and tries to dig himself out of the hole by assembling a traveling competition skateboarding team — LA Wheels — to win him 20K in prize money.
Skateboard was the first feature film to depict the height of the 70s skateboard craze. Many refer to it as the Bad News Bears of the sport. It’s star studded cast includes Alan Garfield, 70s teen idol Leif Garrett, skateboarding legend Tony Alva, and iconic female freestyler and member of the Skateboarding Hall of Fame Ellen O’Neal.
“The cynical but loveable coach, bronzed, blond-curled Southern Californian kids, the absurdist razzmatazz of American competitive sport, and a rock soundtrack, here mesh into a rather endearing entertainment.”
—Paul Thomas, Time Out
About the filmmakers:
George Gage is a documentary filmmaker based in Telluride, Colorado. Released worldwide by Universal Pictures in 1978, his feature directorial debut Skateboard (1978) was co-written and directed by Gage with some surprisingly notorious crew members: Dick Wolf (Law & Order) co-wrote the film, and it was acclaimed director Gus Van Sant’s first job on a film set, working as a Production Assistant long before he directed the Academy Award-nominated films Good Will Hunting (1997) and Milk (2008).
Since 1993, George and his wife Beth, as Gage & Gage Productions, have created award-winning documentaries that educate, entertain, and inspire viewers on environmental and social justice issues underrepresented in the media. Their first documentary Fire On The Mountain (1996) is about an elite group of WWII mountain soldiers who fought against the Nazis in the Italian Alps. The film won the Grand Prize at Telluride Mountainfilm in 1995 and competed at Sundance Film Festival. Among their other acclaimed features, George directed Our Land, Our Life (2006), awarded Best Documentary at the 2007 American Indian Film Festival, and the award-winning Bidder 70 (2012) about a young man who derailed an illegal BLM oil and gas auction.
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