Mike Gilbert has been Video Productions Manager of Black Box Distribution for nearly 10 years now. He has given us some of Black Box's best videos, including Fallen Footwear's Ride the Sky and, most recently, Zero's Cold War. He has successfully preserved Zero's trademark style of fast, raw skating throughout the years so we at SkateMore were stoked for the opportunity to sit down and learn a little bit more about his approach to filming, his dangerous encounters while travling and how he brought Cold War to life.

This is The Mike Gilbert Interview

This past weekend Thrasher Magazine held it's annual Skater of the Year party in where else? San Francisco. We came to the event, with no official contacts, no name on the guest list, just a glimmer of hope that we could crank our hustle up to 5000 and find a way in. Of course it wouldn't be the most important night of our young skate 'careers' if everything didn't go wrong all at once. We will save you the grief of listening to our behind-the-scenes woe and just preface the following article by saying some photos are better than NO photos.

So lower your expectations and get ready for some drunken, blurry fun... This is The Thrasher Magazine 2013 SOTY Party.

Lannie Rhoades is the Video Production Coordinator and Videographer for Black Box Distribution. But don't let the fancy job title fool you, this man is traveling the world putting blood, sweat and tears into his work, to bring you the latest and greatest footage from your favorite pros.

We caught up with Lannie to learn of his experience behind the lens for Fallen's "Road Less Traveled" and Zero "Cold War", what life is like in a skate house and to figure out what makes Lannie more than "just some dude".

This is The Lannie Rhoades Interview

WARNING: This article is not for the faint of heart.

Slams are a part of skateboarding. If you really want to push yourself, you have to accept the fact that you're going to get hurt... Like, really hurt. Like a compound fracture or a ruptured urethra - as in no boners for a month on Doc's orders!

We enjoy watching these slams less and less as we grow older, but we have managed to calm our queasiness to present to you The 5 Slams That Will Make You Never Want To Skate Again.

As much as we pride ourselves in articulating the finer aspects of skate culture, when someone has already worked to painstakingly refine the thoughts and feelings of their community with such genuine sincerity, well it's best to just let them speak for themselves.

From the back cover:

"In the early 90's, San Francisco skateboarding was reigning supreme, Embarcadero was it's Mecca, and FTC skateboard shop was spreading the street skating revolution worldwide, as the prophetic Del song echoed. FTC lore has reached quasi-Masonic proportions over the years, mostlly passed down from one eyewitness to another through oral records. For the first time, Seb Carayol has embarked on a journey to collect these stories, along with over 400 classic and never-before-seen photographs, illustrations, and images to depict the odyssey."

"Sure there are a few legendary skateshops in the world, but how may can honestly claim themselves synonymous with an entire era in skateboarding history? Just one, really. Its name is FTC."

This is the FTC Book Release Party.

To quote HUFworldwide, “Keith grew up skateboarding in the gritty streets of New York City's late-80s. In those days, skateboarding was simply not accepted: it was punk rock, it was hip-hop, it was a counterculture of outcasts misunderstood by the masses. It was a way of life that would ultimately shape Hufnagel's outlook on life.”

From humble beginnings as a purveyor of hard-to-come-by goods in the Tenderloin, to launching a signature line, to evolving into what is now considered the epitome of street wear, HUF has proven to be a truly unique, independent brand with tentacles deeply rooted in skateboarding. This is The Keith Hufnagel Interview.

This past weekend FTC, Lakai Footwear & Girl Skateboards teamed up to bring us a limited edition series paying homage to one of San Francisco's most iconic destinations, The Candlestick Park Stadium. 

To celebrate over 50 years of deep-rooted San Francisco history, and in commemoration of it's ever nearing demolition date, FTC hosted a release party for the ages. Join us as we celebrate "The Stick" in all it's SF glory with some of the people that made it a memorable place to gather. This is "Farewell To CandleStick."

While it seems like just yesterday that Corey came onto the scene as an adolescent carcass hucker with a love for punk rock and elastic knees, Corey is now an established veteran with multiple video parts, boards, and pro model shoes to his name.

Still as much a skaterat as ever, our interview sheds light onto Corey's approach to life beyond skateboarding, how he feels about home ownership, why Punk Rock isn't dead, and how injuries have affected his career. This is The Corey Duffel Interview.

If we tried to list every skater that has been to jail over the years, it may actually require it's own website. But of course there have a been a few standouts over the years. 

The once-incarcerated Andy Roy put it best in this timeless quote from his Big Brother interview:

"We fucking destroyed this town and punished people and ran over old ladies and gave my herpes to every girl I could. I will never get my herpes taken care of, I will have them forever. I love herpes because when they flare, it's on like Donkey Kong."

To the skate-rats-turned-jailbirds on the inside looking out: may this freedom one day be yours!

Auby Taylor is an unstoppable force of gnar that's been making some huge contributions to the world of skate, including his most recent Thrasher VXclusives, a KOTR Mystery Guest appearance and working graveyard shift for the Nike SB Trick Tree Challenge.

We've read in the past that he's socially awkward and introverted, but in our first encounter with Auby Taylor he was anything but. His southern hospitality shined through as he agreed to sit down with a few beers to answer our questions, so crack open a cold one and learn all about Krooked Skateboards rising star. This is The Auby Taylor Interview.

If ever there was an OG photog, Grant Brittain is it. Shooting since the late 70s, Grant is your favorite photog's photog; and if you grew up plastering photos from Transworld (or The Skateboard Mag for you young bucks) on your wall, you were either cutting out photos from Grant, or from one of the many photographers who Grant mentored, like Atiba Jefferson. 

Brittain's influence in skate media is unavoidable and undeniable, and it's clear that he loves what he does. He stuck with skateboarding through the downturns of the early 80s and 90s, and along the way gave us some of the most iconic images of all time, including the Animal Chin ramp quad-handplant and the eloquent black and white of Tod Swank pushing, which graced the cover of TWS in June 1987. It was an honor to interview such a rad yet humble dude, so without further rambling, Mr. J. Grant Brittain.

In the words of The Great & Powerful Oz... "PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!"

Such is the case of RPRT Talent Manager, Matt Meyerson. He would much prefer keeping your attention on the ever growing list of action sports talent that fill his roster as he keeps it all together behind the scenes. In the world of skate he is manager to some of the hottest rising stars as well as some the OGs we're all familiar with. RPRT skaters include: Curren Caples, Louie Lopez, Shane Borland, Arto Saari, Geoff Rowley & Erik Ellington. As if that wasn't enough he also manages athletes in BMX, Surf, Snow, Adventure & MMA.

What exactly is flair? Some consider it, "a tasteful assortment of fashionable accessories", while others just call it, "a bunch of shit on your wrists." T.G.I.Fridays calls it MANDATORY.

And while we at SkateMore aren't exactly fashion-forward, we can still appreciate the value of having a "signature look". Some are desperate to stand out in competition, some have OCD and some probably just have an affinity for black leather everything.  

So we decided to compile our favorite instances of flair, ranging from classic to eccentric to... well... a bunch of shit on people's wrists.

This is SkateMore's, "Flaired... Fully".

Tristan Funkhouser aka T-Funk aka Baker's 3rd Generation is one of the gnarliest new AMs out there and he's been getting a TON of coverage lately. He first released a teaser trailer full of bails so y'all know he's put in work. Then on October 18th, The Skateboard Mag released a full-part for T-Funk, making it clear this kid is not going the way of Knox Godoy.

A few days after the full-part we were graced with T-Funk's presence at the #FTCForTheCash3 competition in San Francisco. He took 2nd place overall. In true SkateMore fashion, we got all up in his grill looking for an interview. After confirming the cell number he gave us was not in fact 1800-FUCKOFF, we convinced this highly sought after skater to answer a few questions.

Shout out once again to The Boss for staying ever vigilant in his skate park quest to bring us this impressive 3rd Generation of Baker. This is "The Tristan Funkhouser Interview".

Skateboarding has seen its fair share of crazy over the years. With the eccentric cast of characters that make up the world of skateboarding it's pretty much expected. Of course crazy comes in all forms... You've got your harmless Gonz level circle-board quirkiness to your all-out textbook crazy-with-a-capital-C Mark "Gator" Rogowski killing his girlfriend's friend.

But we're not going to get that grim (that's for another article), and instead we're presenting some of our favorite public displays of more lighthearted crazy.

Each of the following events represents a little act of crazy that is forever immortalized in skate history. So as the holiday season draws ever near, be thankful the voices are still only in your head and read all about SkateMore's "Public Displays of Crazy."