Last year I was involved with a pretty gnarly advertising campaign with another one of my long time sponsors for BMX, Mountain Dew New Zealand. At the initial meeting with their New Zealand advertising agency, Colenso BBDO, the creatives propped the idea of building a fully functioning skatepark, that played like a giant Pinball Machine. I though to myself ‘Bloody heck, that’s a bit out there, but, something like this has never been done before, so F$%K it! Let’s do it!

The whole thing took a good two months to complete, the designing, building, and opening of the park, was timed with the release of 3 new flavors of Mountain Dew here in NZ, and myself and two other team members from the Mountain Dew team here in New Zealand were used to ‘drive’ the project, with a weekly TV episode on TV FOUR, and also online, Facebook, blogging etc! It was a manic, crazy campaign to be a part of, but gained worldwide success when the opening of the park was announced. The client was stoked to say the least!!!

Anyways, roughly half way through the filming, I was riding the half finished park, and fell off my bike and ‘squashed’ my foot. Talk about bad timing! Luckily, we had a few days off from filming, so I thought that would give me time to ice my foot and get back on the bike. A few days later and my foot was swelled up to the size of a grapefruit! I went to get X-rays and was told it wasn’t broken. That was good enough for me, so I strapped it up as best I could, popped painkillers all day and went back to filming. I was pretty much in agony 24/7 for a good month after that. The campaign finished so I went and got some more X-rays, only to be told that my foot was broken and would need some screws and plates to put it back together! Argh!

So, instead of getting an operation then, I decided to have surgery 8 months later, I didn’t want to miss out on a summer riding and working, the pain was worth it to be able to ride each day (sort of) and also there was a lot of work happening around that time as well.

Which brings us up to now! ha ha, I just had the operation last week, and the foot is a bit swollen, but good. I was told that I wouldn’t be able to put weight on it for a good few weeks, but a few days after the operation I’m walking around as normal, but with a bloody big cast on! No pain at all, I guess everyone is built different! Should be back to normal next week! Not looking forward to seeing the doctor in a couple of week time though, gonna feel like a little kid who was playing cricket outside with a bunch of mates and just slogged it for 6 over the neighbours fence and smashed their kitchen window, and now I have to go and tell my dad. Stink.

Here’s the 30″ TVC spot that played out on national TV here in New Zealand. It just won GOLD at the 2012 Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards in Shanghai, as well as GOLD at the digital advertising awards in New York! ha! After each take I would have to sit down and ice my foot and pop more pain killers while the crew re-set the camera, hence why the tricks aren’t that ‘fantastic!’ ha ha! The pain in my foot was giving me a splitting headache all day! I think the spot came out pretty good though!

That I produced/edited/shot/directed for Red Bull NZ. Super fun shoot, we zipped down to wellington for one day, well, that’s not true, it was sort of a day/night! I directed all the moving images and got stuck into post when we got back!
Good people, good food, good hotel, good venue, good catering, good gig, good nightlife and goooooddd beer! Goodnight!

Here’s a couple of quick pics from the latest 2020 magazine! My bud Mike Zombie got me to help him out with an article he was writing, about a couple of special frames that both him and I own from Terrible one, a BMX company based out of Austin, Texas owned by another good bud, Joe Rich. Next time  you’re paroozing the magazine stand, put down that issue of Remix! Throw that tattoo magazine on the ground, stuff that B-grade grumble magazine back on that top shelf, and pick up 2020! keep an eye out for it!

I shot C cam and stills for my buddies from TVNZ the other day on ‘The Mix’. It’s basically a how to video series, of mixing cocktails. High gloss TVC drives viewers to extended content online. You know the story! ha ha! Anyways, the shoot was at a lovely mansion in Piha, which was great! See a couple of pics below! A very long day, but great catering and a crew cracking jokes all day made it well worth it! A & B Cams were Sony F3′s with a lovely set or ARRI SUPER PRIMES attached to each. Amazing build quality, as you would expect from a lens set that costs the same as a deposit on a house!!!! I began shooting 5D, shooting stills on the 7D, but ended up shooting video on the HPX250, because of the SDI out for monitoring. It was weird, the SDI out from my 5D monitor wouldn’t work to the TVNZ monitors, then some of the field monitors went down, then an SDI to analog converter went down, not a good day to be a techie! Luckily had a 5D scene setting on the HPX, so we were set! Kiaora ND filters! Hard to tell the difference between the HPX and F3′s when the light is set even!
Just wrapping up a couple of loose ends on some creatives for the crew over at Red Bull NZ, then onto some post production on a couple of vids for Yagermeister and Jack Daniels!

…a while since I did an update. It probably was! Anyways, things have been busy as of late, manic busy! I got contacted by Teva International to produce a video on the Slopestyle event that was held in Queenstown a couple of weeks ago. A super fun event, with an awesome course, and good vibe. The weekend totally took it’s toll on me though, which I am paying for now, even a week afterwards! ha ha! Check the clip below! Full vid comin’ soon! Thanks again to Teva NZ and Teva AUS!

Also did a super fun shoot for Panasonic New Zealand, through Tango communications. Basically, they have a new panasonic Lumix camera, and they’re giving TWO to two amateur photogs and one professional. Should be an interesting campaign. The whole thing is living online VIA Facebook etc, so I’m producing some video content to surround that. Just onlining GFX and audio! Will be sure to throw it up once it’s all doneburger!

Had a shoot recently for TV3 as well, shooting some promos for New Zealand’s Hottest Home Baker. That was an interesting shoot, in their studios on the North Shore. I’ll be sure to post the spot up when it’s on air. I think it’s on air now. I don’t know. I don’t even know what day it is. is it school holidays!?

ANNDDD, one of my long time BMX sponsors, Burgerfuel set me up with this sweet one of a kind Burgerfuel Helmet. Pretty funny. They custom paint my bikes for me as well, so I guess a helmet is the next natural step! Shooting a photo soon with my good bud Mike Zombie, and the pic is going to be used for a tray mat campaign in all stores. ha ha. I still get random texts from people saying that they feel uncomfortable about going to the toilet at some stores while I’m watching them. ha ha, argh. ha, toilet guardian.

Heading down to Tokoroa this week for a shoot with my Good bud Nick Franklin, for Red Bull NZ, then Friday heading to the hustle and bustle that is Hamilton, to shoot for Jagermeister and Jack daniels, then back down to Tokoroa on Saturday to finish up the Nick Franklin piece, then back to Auckland to shoot KRS ONE Saturday night for Jagermeister. That should be super RAD!

Finally, here’s a quick clip I produced on T.Whites Everyday Bikes, the new bike shop catering to everyday bikes, up on Symonds St in Auckland! Not sure what’s up with the Red Bull player Autoplay!

…here’s a bunch of stuff I produced over the past month or so, which has all been a blur! I produced/shot/directed/edited all of the creatives below. Zipped up and down the country numerous times, it’s been hectic. But good. Good people the whole way, that really makes the trips something special, when you’re with good people, shooting good things, eating good food and drinking good beer at the end of the shoot! Yay for beer!

Also produced a real quick 30″ animated spot for the 2012 NZ International comedy fest. Super quick turnaround, a few days, but it came together great! I threw all the elements into After Effects and managed to churn out a cool lil spot that should be on air now!

…wowsers, the past month has flown by in a blur of catching flights, vans of dudes, working 16 hour days, packing and loading gear, getting stiffed by airlines for baggage, and New Zealander Of The Year Awards. I’ve been up and down the country working for Red Bull New Zealand, and also spent a day on the road with the Vans NZ skate team, documenting our trip from Auckland to Wellington for the Vans Bowlarama. What a crazy trip. It’s good to be part of a team that can just clown around, being the token BMXER for Vans in NZ has it’s good and it’s bad sides when in a Van full of skaters. So much crazy stuff went down, and also a lot of skateboarding, then in wellington I shot Pedro Barros for a Red Bull piece, he ended up winning the comp, then back to Auckland for a couple of days, then off to Queenstwon to do another shoot for Red Bull, this time it was for the Roast It BMX comp. The jumps were super nice, and a tonne of good riding went down. I would have liked to have taken my bike with me to get a ride in, but had so much baggage I probably wouldn’t have been let on the plane. Back in Auckland for a few days doing post production then off back down to Queenstown to shoot for Red Bull again, this time at the Frew Farm Jam. In between all that, I produced some video packages for the New Zealander Of The Year awards. they were a bunch of nomination packages, mostly still images laced together with Voiceover. I did all the sound post at Radiate Sound, and enlisted the help of my own Voiceover agency, Bigmouth Voices, for the talent. All went down well with those. ALSO just finished a quick edit for Etnies America, on Levi Sherwood, one of their top FMX riders from Palmerston North here in NZ. Once that is delivered I’ll be sure to throw a link up! Doing another edit for Yagermeister NZ, and also a digital ad agency here in Auckland just gave away 15K to a lucky woman who entered one of their online Quizes, so did a lil shoot with them about the winner…Lots more exciting stuff coming up, so watch this space! arch, ha ha!

Here’s a teaser for the upcoming Red Bull roast it comp going down in Queenstown next month! I edited and did all the post on the clip, quick turnaround, so threw in some flames that I had lying around and hay presto! ha ha! Presto! Lots coming up, next week heading down to Palmerston North to do a dual shoot for Red Bull and Etnies International, with Levi Sherwood, before he heads off to X-fighters overseas, then back to Auckland to edit a small 3 minute clip together from the shoot for Red Bull, then, a quick edit for the New Zealander Of The Year Awards, some presentation videos, straight after that I’m heading away on the road with the Vans NZ skate team, to produce another webclip, ending up in Wellington for Bowl-A-Rama, where I’ll be shooting team members Justin Keeley and Mike Bancroft compete, as well as shooting skating wonder kid Pedro Barros for Red Bull, then back to Auckland for a few days to edit a quick clip about Pedro, then away to Queenstown to Direct and shoot Red Bull Roast it, then back to Auckland to edit the whole thing together for a 12 minute special, then off again down to Queenstown to shoot for Red Bull again at the 2012 Farm Jam. Hooplah! Whew.

ha ha ha, check it out here on Apartment Therapy! ‘Oooohhh AAllllffff, don’t get fur on the carpet!!!’

Here’s another vid from the Sione’s Wedding 2 soundtrack! It’s directed by Askew One, and I did all the post on it, edit, grade, FX etc. Super fun job to work on, and I’m doing the post on another music video soon for local act Homebrew, this should be a bit of a laugh!