Age: 21
Location: San Diego, California
Sponsors: Nike, Fiend BMX, Cinema Wheels, Staff mail order, Deadline crew, The Trip
Ever since the news dropped about a video that Garrett Reynolds and his friends were making called Deadline, the anticipation of a video of epic proportions has been steadily mounting. Since then the rumor mill has been buzzing—my favorite story being that Garrett supposedly has 15 minutes of footage (which could very well be true). Then came the six-minute Fiend promo, which was jam-packed with jaw dropping clips and left many people thinking, “If that’s the riding they put out in the promo, who knows what they have in store for Deadline.” We caught up with Garrett to get the scoop on the current state of the video…
Interview and photos by: Jeff Zielinski
Deadline crew.
I’m going to start out with the question that is everyone’s mind. I know there’s really no rush to put it out, and when it’s done, it’s done… So when do you think the Deadline video will finally be done?
It’s funny you say that…I get shit about the video from everyone and their mother [laughs]. I’m pushing for spring, we lost some footage that we threw into the Fiend promo, but it actually worked out perfect because everyone in the Fiend promo was sitting on more footage, so it gave the other guys a chance to catch up on filming. It’s much harder for them because they don’t live with a filmer.
It’s pretty ironic that it’s called Deadline, since there really isn’t one, eh?
Ironic to say the least—I guess I didn’t know what I was getting myself in for—I just got a VX one year, had no clue what I was doing with it, and was like, “I’m making a video.” I wouldn’t say it was the smartest thing to put it out there to the BMX world that we were making a video, looking at it now, I think it would have been cool if I just made it and said nothing. Like a video that just came from out nowhere—that would be sick in my eyes.
How long have you guys been filming for it?
Deadline has been in the works for…I’d say four years (if not a little over), but the first two years of footage are practically unusable because of the poor quality of the footage. When I started trying to make this video it was summer vacation. We had enough footage for a trailer for the video and we just put it out at the end of summer—not thinking that I wouldn’t be able to meet up with everyone a lot anymore considering I didn’t have a car, I had to go to school, and bad weather was heading our way.
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Between people sleeping-in late, injuries, finding the right setups for trick ideas, etc, would you say that the video is taking longer to finish than you originally anticipated?
The video is definitely taking longer then I anticipated, but for me it’s a learning experience. I’ve never helped with a video before this, so things have been moving faster now that we have Tony Ennis onboard. Our biggest setback would be the school year (in my eyes). I’d say 80 percent of the stuff we want to film is in schools. In southern California there are weekday spots, but they’re mostly blown out or a bust, so that, and injuries, have set us back, along with the actual process of filming—if you film something you’re hyped on it usually takes a while.
Who can we expect to see in the video?
Ty Morrow, JJ Palmere, Augie Simoncini, Steve Croteau, Colin Varanyak, Kevin Kiraly, Bryan Carter, Jesse Valpone, and some guest footy from Josh Harrington along with other homies for the friend section.
Have you guys started editing yet, or at least laying out the footage in the timeline? People who have their songs picked out are starting to get edited. Others are chillin’ on a timeline to see what they have to help with picking a song and finishing up their section.
Do you have music picked out?
Some of it…this is our biggest setback right now—just finding the right soundtrack for it.
Whose footage are you most excited about?
In my eyes I’m most excited about Ty and JJ—those dudes know what they are doing on bike. Besides that, no one has seen a full part from Ty since End Search. And the same with JJ, no one has seen a part from him since The Come Up video. Along with them, Colin and Augie are putting out their first parts—they both kill it and they put in work for this video along with Steveo’s part—I’m really hyped on his shit right now. Seriously, I’m hyped on everyone’s footage, though.
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Back in October when we did your follow up NORA Cup interview you told me that you have “more than enough footage.” Technically, you probably have enough footage for your Fiend section, too, right?
I mean, I guess I could do that, but I’m not going to. When it comes time to work on the Fiend video I just want to start from scratch. I really like that because it’s like a clean slate so I can try to mold the part around what I like riding and doing at that moment in time.
Where are some of the places you guys have traveled to for filming?
We have been to a lot of cities for this video; Boston, Atlanta, Philly, NYC, Raleigh, Miami, Barcelona, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Jose… In my eyes, I feel like Philly, Boston, and Barcelona were the best for me. They all have fun spots and gnarly spots for if you wanna get down. You can ride a lot of the stuff during the weekdays and it’s not a bust—and if you can get that then you’re chilling because some places are really hard to ride during the weekdays.
You live with Ty Morrow, JJ Palmere, and Tony Ennis, who are all instrumental in the making of Deadline. I’m sure there are many pros and some cons to living with the people who you ride and film with everyday, right?
It’s amazing living with three of my good friends and having a house in SoCal where it’s nice almost everyday and there are spots to ride that are so good. But not everyday we ride we are filming—like some days we just chill and cruise the city for fun and some days are days for riding parks, then some days are just filming days—those are usually the weekends. The only cons would be some people being motivated more then others at times, but that happens with everyone—you can’t go out and try to kill yourself on your bike every day.
You guys have Tony Ennis behind the camera, and I know you and Ty film second (and third) angles a lot. Who else do you guys have helping with the filming?
Lately Steveo has been helping film with one of my VXs because it’s hard for me to get a chance to film with everyone out East—along with Bryan Carter, who helps film, too. But here it’s been Tony, Ty, myself, and our friend Aaron Brenner has been helping with second angles when he can.
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I know you’re all big fans of the crispy Sony VX1000 footage and the Deadline video will be all SD. Do you care to share an opinion on the SD vs. HD footage debate?
I’ve always been a fan of BMX looking raw. That’s why I like SD footage. I have respect for HD, it’s the new way, it’s more-clear and it looks more professional, but something about the VX I still like more. I guess the colors aren’t over saturated, you can get closer, and when done right, to me, looks more like real life. Also, when you watch VX there aren’t any distractions—it’s all focused on the riding. And if your camera gets hit it’s not as much money to get it fixed and if you’re in a bad neighborhood and someone holds you up with a gun it’s not such a big loss, but there is going to be a day when SD is dead due to lack of parts for the cameras and them all being discontinued and only one shop still fixes them—this guy Kerry, from Video Electronics in Boston. Regardless, don’t take my opinion to heart, I love all riding footage and I think actually hating on others footage because of format is retarded—there’s going to be a day when everyone has to go HD.
Will the Fiend video be SD as well? And do you still plan to jump right into filming for Fiend without a break to “heal up a bit” as you said before?
It’s up to the crew. I see us talking a couple weeks off and just riding parks and stuff, but it gets old pretty quick so I won’t be surprised if we are filming again faster then planned considering our crew prefers street. As for the video being all SD, I hope so, but we have all been having trouble with our setups, so only time will tell—that’s something we will have to figure out at the end of filming for Deadline.
I’m assuming you guys have already started putting clips aside for the Fiend video, like if some films something that’s kind of similar to a clip they already have?
I haven’t decided, I’m sure there will be some clips that get put aside for the Fiend video, but the only thing, in my eyes, is that if we don’t put them in for Deadline by the time our next video is done will they still be usable or will they be B-roll like they would be for Deadline—that’s the riders call, footage gets old quick these days, BMX is moving at a very fast pace.
Between the hype you guys gained from that insane Fiend promo, and all the expectations people have for the Deadline video, do you feel any pressure? I feel like people are anticipating this video to be larger than life…
I don’t know man? I don’t really care, I hope people like the video, and if they, do that’s awesome, but if not that’s cool, too. This project started with me as a filmer with a group of my friends and then more of my friends from around the world started getting involved and wanted to be in it. As for pressure, that’s whatever… I’m pretty sure everyone is happy with their footage and that’s all that really matters to us.
Would you like to give some thanks to anyone who has helped with Deadline?
I’d like to thank every one of the riders involved—you know who you are. This video has been one of the longest projects to get together—even though we are still in the works. But it has also has been the best time of my life, traveling with the friends I grew up with, and pushing each other and seeing new cities and new places. Also, anyone who has picked up a camera and helped with the filming for this video—can’t wait for this shit to drop.
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