Israel Izzy Garcia has been hitting the road with friends from San Antonio and Corpus Christi., Texas. While in Houston they stopped by to rolling around here at Southside Skatepark. Before long it was becoming obvious that they would rather stay and skateboard here. Opting not to instead of hit those last few street spots before returning home. The video edit your seeing here is a result of that. Featuring Erik Bekiarov, Brett Heinis, John Hardeman, Charlie Simek, John Bermea, Max Peterson, David Langston and bigo.
Short Q & A with Israel Garcia
So whats it like filming during the pandemic in various Texas towns?
It’s been like one big weekend. So many spots are a go right now that would normally be a bust and even if people do take notice; I feel like society has more important things to concern themselves with than a few skateboarders trying to make the most out of these trying times.
What precautions have you been taking when on the road and getting food and other things needed to keep the crew going?
Masks are a must for general admission at any pit stop and we are still keeping a safe distance from the general public. As far as getting food; we’ve been hitting the drive throughs and kicking it curbside.
Are you guys filming for anything in particular?
Brett Heinis and I are wrapping up a part that we’ve been working on for the last two years. He would fly out to San Francisco for a week or 2 and try to stack as much as he could. Then I ended up having to move back to Texas since SF was on lockdown and figured we’d make the most of it and finish what we’ve been working on. I recently started linking up with Cody McEntire as well and jumped into filming a project that he already had underway. It’s going to be a good’n for sure! We’ve all been getting out with various homies along the way like Max Peterson and Drew Piekalkiewicz and getting some last-minute clips for the long-anticipated Southside Skatepark video premiering June 13th! Can’t wait!
You seem to be back and forth from San Antonio and San Francisco often. Who do you skate with out there and what were you doing out there?
I usually skate with my buddies Ryan Lutz, Eli P Williams, Zane Timpson, Logan Parsley, Matt Hudson, Colin Cusac, and Jesse Bourdreau. Zane has been working on the next Western World video. Ryan has a nice grip of clips in an upcoming Jivaro Wheels project, and Jesse and I were working on a solo part which is sure to make you say, “HOW?!!” I really can’t wait to get back to Cali and resume filming for that part.
Any advice to this generations up and coming filmers and photographers?
Try and show the whole spot in the clip. Film everything you can even if it’s nature or lifestyle footage. It makes you a well rounded videographer. Nerd out on skate videos and study techniques you like and add them to your arsenal. If you’re shooting HD; invest in a fluid head tripod. If you can watch the edit you’ve been working on 100 times and still be hyped on it; odds are someone watching it once will be stoked. If you’re not stoked on it, keep working on it till you are. And most importantly; skate and be a homie. That’s how you build trust and a sixth sense while filming.
Thanks for taking the time and giving us some perspective today Izzy. We really appreciate the skatepark montage too!
Appreciate you Big O!
Southside Skatepark is OPEN in Support of You!
After temporarily closing both of our skateshop locations and the skatepark’s doors on March 23rd, we re-opened to the public on May 1, 2020. We were able to pay our bills and payroll during the pandemic closure by curbsiding and shipping orders placed at our online store shop.southsideskatepark.com. We continue to offer curbside to anyone requesting it. Online orders continue to ship all over the United States as well. With the City of Houston being a socially distant city, for the most part, we have faired about as well as can be expected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We Are Working Hard to Continue to Provide You a Place to Be Active and Healthy
During the closure, we migrated our entire skateshop inventory online and even rebuilt a portion of Southside Skatepark’s street course. Check out this short video of the process. We hope all cities across the nation and around the world overcome this pandemic and that a vaccine is brought to market as soon and as safely as possible.
