Nobody Skates but Me

On a fateful day at the skatepark, Riley and Pete’s bromance falls apart when a famous skater comes between them.

Riley – Luke Stanton Eddy
Pete – Stefaun Maldonado
Geo – James McCarthy

with
Ryan Santiago as The Lone Skater
Jack DiFalco and John Griffin as The Chalice Dudes
Ryland Starke as The Kidd

Written and Directed by Jordan Anstatt
Producer – Holly Andrews
Executive Producers – Holly Andrews and Jordan Anstatt
Assistant Director – Daniel Scarpati
Covid Compliance Officer – Cody Arroyo
Stephanie Choriatis
Script Supervisor – Dhruv Sud
Camille Hamade
Sound Recordist – Rider Laskin
Hair and Makeup – Mia Wong
BTS Photography – Amy Anstatt
Sporting Coordinator – James McCarthy
Director of Photography – Sam Wood
Assistant Camera – Brea Kerzee
DIT – Patrick Nichols
Gaffer/Grip – Chad B. Hamilton
PA – Fernando Gonzalez Ortiz
Post Supervisor – Lauren Goeztman
Music Supervisor – Justin Kay
Composer – Kerry Baines
Re-recording Mixer – Lee Salevan
Supervising Sound Editor – Lucas Feuser
Editor – Jordan Anstatt
Colorist – Jacob McKee

Soundtrack:
“Midnight Owl” by Wet Socks
“I Was Fighting Spiders, I Was Fighting Ghouls” by Nate Lowery and Team Deathmatch
“Keepsakes” by Pretty Women
“Confident In” by Usually

Special Thanks:
New York City Parks Department
Jeffrey Bonilla, NYC Parks Department
Columbia University School of the Arts
Columbia University Risk Management Department
Columbia University Production Center
Maureen A. Ryan
Hillary Brougher
The Riverside Skatepark Community

Thanks (Donors)
David and Teresa Anstatt
Sue and Carl Andrews
April Sylvia
Rebecca Kraut
John Beddoe
Richard McCann
Daniel Viscuso
Jacob Farmer
Nelson Talavera
George Smith
Tom Anthony Sarmiento
Ron and Nancy McCann
Diane and Mark Dudkiewicz
Carolina Chica
Alex Chang
Linda and Andrew Leonard
Luis Duran
Alison Lubold
Justin Niece
Fernando Gonzalez Ortiz
Andrew Benkovic
Steve Christopher
Anthony Costanzo
Margaret Benshaw
Jordan Hollander
Kyle Bianco
Samuel Smith
Mike Chiaia
Cindy and Peter Eichling
Payne Bridges
Cole Smith
Matt Moore

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to make a film set outdoors to ease some of the pressure of filming restrictions. I spent a lot of time at Riverside Skatepark, where we eventually shot, reflecting on my twenty years as a skater. Luke Stanton Eddy, who plays Riley, is a childhood skate friend and actor and I wanted to center the film around him. As I embedded myself in the Riverside community, I met Stefaun Maldonado, James McCarthy, and the rest of the crew, and knew we could get a film together. We talked about the skate world and the little dramas within it—homie beef, stolen boards, getting yelled at by angry old people, running from the cops, etc. As we shared stories I noticed that the relationships interested me the most, so I decided to focus on friendship. I had a terrible friendship breakup one time, one that was never resolved, so I hoped to find some closure by finding a way to tell a story that had some sort of finality to it. I went with a love triangle, a “bromantic comedy,” as a way into the story. As I was writing, I kept seeing what I was writing happen at the skatepark; if I wrote about someone getting upstaged while filming an iPhone clip, I’d see it the next day. Maybe that’s just attention bias, but it felt bizarre and magical. I’d talk to the guys and they’d tell me stories of guys getting stuffed into trash cans or famous skaters rolling up to the skatepark and getting in a fight, and I wanted to find a way to include these details in the film. I kept finding certain tropes in the narrative, like territorial cowboys from Westerns, and realized that Riley, the main character, was a lone ranger type. Recognizing those movie tropes led me toward a satire of the machismo of the skate world, and skatepark culture in particular. Luke helped me create Riley’s wardrobe based on that concept. Sam Wood, our cinematographer, and I both filmed skate videos as kids, so we set a visual language based on zoom lenses, which made filming easier and more visceral. It was a surreal experience directing with a board under my feet. Somehow, we never shut down the park and only once got heckled by some fellow skaters who were angry with us for getting in the way. Holly Andrews, our producer, never lost her cool despite the chaos. Shoutout to the kick-ass bands that let us use their music for our soundtrack—this movie wouldn’t be the same without these songs.