|
Breath of Fresh Air (Skateboard documentary Preview)
Upcoming documentery film about the struggle skateboarders faced in Wasilla Alaska.   This story takes place in the mid-late 90’s In a town 45 miles outside of Anchorage, Alaska called Wasilla. For a time, it was the fastest growing city of its size in the United States. As Wasilla grew, so did the number of skateboarders skating around locally. This created a problem with some of the local community. The skateboarders would skate around local businesses, parking lots, sidewalks and streets. They would cause damage to property, be seen as a nuisance, and get a bad image because of it. In fact, skateboarding related issues had more complaints going into the police department than any other issue, but the kids had no where to skate. In Alaska, winter consumes around 7-9 months out of the year, so the skateboarders are out getting as much skating time as possible when summer comes along. In the mid 90's, a group of kids got together and decided to approach City Hall and discuss the issue and talk about the possibility of a skate park being built. The kids gathered together with all of the local skateboarders and filled city hall. They not only filled it, but kids were literally lined up outside of the building waiting to be heard. So we have a group of kids who are labeled outcasts and punks by people who have many negative preconceived notions about them, and the kids are trying to make a positive change in their community. After many meetings, the city council finally decided to take the subject seriously and make a decision. They told the kids that they will provide half of the money if the kids raise half of the money. So off they went, doing all that they could to raise money. It took about 4 years until they raised the appropriate funds. The kids managed to do something great and made a change. Now the complaints of skateboarders have almost completely disappeared. The skateboard park is by far the most u...
Video Length: 112
Date Found: February 19, 2009
Date Produced: March 07, 2008
View Count: 11
|