Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Originating in the United States, skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2009 report found that the skateboarding market is worth an estimated $4.8 billion in annual revenue, with 11.08 million active skateboarders in the world. In 2016, it was announced that skateboarding would be represented at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, for both male and female teams. Skateboarding made its Olympic debut in 2020 and was included in the 2024 games.
Alan "Ollie" Gelfand is an influential American skateboarder, racing driver, and entrepreneur credited with inventing the ollie, the foundational skateboarding trick.
Natas Kaupas is an American former professional skateboarder. He grew up in South Santa Monica, California, in the area known as Dogtown, and is of Lithuanian descent. He is often referred to as one of the first true professional street skateboarders.
Stacy Douglas Peralta is an American film director and entrepreneur. He was previously a professional skateboarder and surfer with the Zephyr Competition Team, also known as the Z-Boys, from Venice, California.
Tony Alva is an American skateboarder, entrepreneur, and musician. He was a pioneer of vertical skateboarding and one of the original members of the Zephyr Competition Skateboarding Team, also known as the Z-Boys. The Transworld Skateboarding Magazine ranked him eighth in its list of the "30 Most Influential skateboarders" of all time.
Jay J. Adams was an American skateboarder. As a teen, he was the youngest member of the Zephyr Competition Skateboarding Team (Z-Boys). His spontaneous freestyle skateboarding style, inspired by ocean surfing, helped innovate and popularize modern skateboarding. His aggressive vertical tricks make him one of skateboarding's most influential stylists. He has been called "the original seed" of skateboarding.
The Zephyr Competition Team were a group of American skateboarders in the mid-1970s from Santa Monica and Venice, California. Originally consisting of 12 members, the Z-boys were originally sponsored by the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions surf and skate shop. Their innovative surfing-based style and aerial moves formed the foundations of contemporary vert and transition skateboarding. The story of the Z-Boys and the Zephyr shop have been popularized in feature films such as Lords of Dogtown and Dogtown and Z-Boys.
Lords of Dogtown is a 2005 American biographical drama film that captures the rise of skateboarding culture in the 1970s Santa Monica and Venice, California. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke and written by Stacy Peralta, a key figure in the skateboarding community, the film chronicles the lives of the Z-Boys, a group of young skateboarders who revolutionized the sport with their aggressive style and innovative tricks. The story focuses on the lives of three of these skateboarders: Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, and Jay Adams, as they navigate fame, rivalry, and personal challenges. The film explores the impact of commercialization on the sport and the lives of its practitioners. Despite mixed reviews and underperforming at the box office, it has gained a cult following and is recognized for its authentic portrayal of skateboarding culture and history.
Helen Catherine Hardwicke is an American film director, production designer, and screenwriter. Her directorial work includes Thirteen (2003), which she co-wrote with Nikki Reed, the film's co-star, Lords of Dogtown (2005), The Nativity Story (2006), Twilight (2008), Red Riding Hood (2011), Plush (2013), Miss You Already (2015), Miss Bala (2019), and Prisoner's Daughter (2022).
SK8-TV is a program shown on Nickelodeon that began in 1990 and was originally hosted by Matthew Lillard and Skatemaster Tate. It was a skateboard variety show that featured on-set interviews as well as off site action segments. Various techniques were introduced to television in SK8-TV including hand-held cameras and the use of multi-format film and video. The set for the show was built on location at the Pink Motel in Sun Valley, California, which was famous for its large fish shaped pool that was ideal for skateboarding.
Glen Ellis Friedman is an American photographer and artist. He became known for his activities within rebellious skateboarding and music cultures. Photographing artists Fugazi, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, Minor Threat, Misfits, Bad Brains, Beastie Boys, Suicidal Tendencies, Slayer, Run-DMC, KRS-One, and Public Enemy, as well as classic skateboarding originators Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Alan Gelfand, Duane Peters, and Stacy Peralta, among others.
Craig R. Stecyk III is an American artist, writer, photojournalist, and filmmaker who has documented and influenced the surf, skate, and snowboarding cultures.
The Bones Brigade Video Show is a 1984 skateboarding video, produced by Stacy Peralta and Craig Stecyk.
Riding Giants is a 2004 documentary film produced by Agi Orsi and directed and narrated by Stacy Peralta, a famous skater/surfer. The movie traces the origins of surfing and specifically focuses on the art of big wave riding. Some of the featured surfers are Greg Noll, Laird Hamilton, and Jeff Clark, and surfing pioneers such as Mickey Munoz. The film premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.
Peggy E. Oki is an American skateboarder, surfer, artist, and environmental activist. She was an original member of the Z-Boys and competed with the Zephyr Competition Team in the 1970s. She was the only female member of the Z-Boys.
Skip Engblom is an American entrepreneur and one of the co-founders of the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions Surf Shop in Santa Monica, California. He also helped to create the Zephyr Surf Team and the Zephyr Competition Team, a.k.a. Z-Boys. Engblom was never a remarkable skateboarder himself but was a big influence to the Zephyr team.
Ty Scott Page was a professional skateboarder and a leader in the skateboarding scene during "the golden era" of skateboarding in the early 1970s.
Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions was a surfboard manufacturing facility and surf shop located in Santa Monica, California, that opened in 1971 and closed in 1976. The building was designated as a city landmark in 2007.
Juice Magazine, founded in 1993 in Wilmington, North Carolina, is a skateboarding, surfing and music publication, edited, owned and published by Terri Craft. It includes interviews by skate editor, Jim Murphy, and features editors: Steve Olson, Jay Adams, Dave Duncan, Christian Hosoi, Jim O'Mahoney, and surf editors Jeff Ho, Herbie Fletcher and Dibi Fletcher. The staff includes Terri Craft, editor and Dan Levy, assistant editor. Other interviewers include Jason Jessee, Jeff Ament, Chuck Dukowski, Bill Danforth and Chris Mearkle. There are currently 76 issues of the magazine. Juice Magazine headquarters is located in the birthplace of modern-day skateboarding, Venice, California.
Allen Sarlo is an American surfer, most prominently known as one of the original members of the Z-Boys surf and skateboarding team. Surfing Magazine recognized him as the first to "kill" a wave. The aggressive and slashing style of surfing he pioneered during the 1970's earned him the nickname "Wave Killer". He is considered by many as "The King of Malibu".
