Skaterdater
(1965)

Short Film

Country: USA

Genre: Coming of Age, Short, Sports

Synopsis

A young boy (Michael Mel), the leader of a gang of barefoot California skateboarders, finds himself attracted to a young girl, a distraction which causes him to spend less time with his group. When, as a result of this, a second boy (Gregg Carroll) challenges him for leadership of the group, the two boys fight a 'battle of the boards' in which they simultaneously descend a hill with each attempting to 'wipe out' the other on the way down - the one remaining on his board becoming the acknowledged leader...

Notes

• Winner of the Palme d'Or for Best Short Film at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival
• This film was the very first film to be focused around the sport of skateboarding.
• The boys in the film, all aged between 13 and 15, were members of the neighbourhood Imperial Skateboard Club from Torrance, California. They had grown up in the Hollywood Riviera section of Torrance and had known each other since they attended elementary school together.
• The film was produced on a budget of $9000. It contains no dialogue, but is accompanied by a surf rock soundtrack composed by Mike Curb and performed by Davie Allan and the Arrows. (The soundtrack was subsequently released as a record.) Some of the camerawork for this movie was done by Carroll Ballard, who would go on to direct such movies as The Black Stallion (1979) and Duma (2005).
• "Skaterdater" was picked up by United Artists and ran on the same bill as the James Bond movie "Thunderball", which had its theatrical release in December 1965.
• This short film (approximately 17 1/2 minutes) is available to view on Vimeo and on YouTube.