{"id":317074,"date":"2021-08-10T11:01:51","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T11:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nocomplynetwork.com\/?page_id=317074"},"modified":"2023-08-02T15:36:05","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T15:36:05","slug":"mike-manzoori-in-focus-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nocomplynetwork.com\/mike-manzoori-in-focus-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Manzoori: In Focus Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

@don_brown<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mike Manzoori\u2019s skateboarding shows just one side of his creative talents but<\/strong> it was his pro career that put him on a path to filmmaking.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We were really interested to find out how exactly he made the transition from pro skater to filmer, how he made the move from the UK to the USA and found his focus on filmmaking. So we gave him a call to have a long chat about his stories and perspectives on it all.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read Mike’s In Focus interview on making ATM’s Flick, meeting Don Brown and Pierre Andre, setting up Sole Tech’s video department , skating and filming for Sheep shoes, making full-lengths for Etnies, Emerica and \u00e9S, collaborating with Fred Mortagne on Menikmati and Jon Miner on Stay Gold and This is Skateboarding, Album, his short film Aimless, untold Tom Penny stories and his plan for a Penny documentary, Kyle Leeper, Rain and Shine, going freelance, his latest and upcoming projects, and his favourite skaters, styles, videos, photos of all-time and more below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

@mikemanzoori<\/a> , Backside Lipslide: Shot by @humphriesphoto<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So before we get to your filmmaking in The States, you were skating for a company called ATM, how did that start?<\/h1>\n

So I\u2019d been to The States when I rode for Santa Cruz. That was kind of a weird one because I thought I was kind of done with being sponsored at that point.<\/p>\n

I went out there to visit and the team manager at the time, Shane O\u2019Brien, was like you need to talk to them about turning pro and getting a board.<\/p>\n

I was like mate I don\u2019t feel comfortable having that conversation at all.\u00a0He\u2019d sorted out a thing with them where I was getting paid a couple hundred bucks of month over a year and at the end of that year, me and this Dutch skater Dirk Winkleman, one of us was going to turn pro. It was a really weird setup. I\u2019d never heard of anything like it in skating before.<\/p>\n

But I was happy to get a little bit of a pay check at the time. I had no income at the time.<\/p>\n

I was just going to college. So I planned this trip to The States towards the end of that year. So even though it wasn\u2019t quite a year yet, he was like you\u2019ve got to talk to them when you are here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So what went down with Santa Cruz?<\/h1>\n

He was like you need to talk to them face to face. I didn\u2019t want to have that conversation.<\/p>\n

I put it off and put it off and then on the last day of the trip, he was like have you talked to them yet? I was like no, he was like you should!<\/p>\n

Then I did and they basically shut me down. They were like your tripping!? Nobody\u2019s having a board in Europe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Frontside Rock N’ Roll, Nude Bowl: Shot by @lanced<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why was that?<\/h1>\n

Skaters in Europe were not the focus in skating at the time.<\/p>\n

They literally told me that Claus Grabke had a board in the 80s’ on Santa Cruz and it went okay but that European skaters boards, they don\u2019t go that well.<\/p>\n

I was so sorry I left. I felt so embarrassed I left the team. I didn\u2019t even want to ask for that shit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What did you do then?<\/h1>\n

This guy Tom Boyle, he rode for this company New School. Then weird circumstance, I started getting flowed New School boards, even though I didn\u2019t know what they were at the time.<\/p>\n

Then when I went to pick them up from Surrey Skates I saw ATM boards next to them. I was like ah, that\u2019s a way sicker company and they were distributing both. I was like can I get these ATM boards instead?<\/p>\n

Then when I was in The States,I was in LA, skating with Ron Chatman a bunch and he was skating for ATM.<\/p>\n

So when I called up the guys at New School to get my boards, I was like, I\u2019m here getting my boards but I\u2019ve seen these ATM Boards and I\u2019ve been skating with Ron in LA, can I get these ATM boards? I want to get these because I don\u2019t know anything about New School. They were like yeah sure.<\/p>\n

I was like Ron is here right now, do you want to talk to him about it, and they were like yeah and they said they wanted to talk to The Gonz about it.<\/p>\n

That was back when ATM was started. It was Mark Gonzales’ company; it was Mark Gonzales, Ron Chatman, Fabian Alomar and Steven Cales.<\/p>\n

It was this sick little company that was run by The Gonz.<\/p>\n

I was like holy shit, I was going to be on the team of Gonz\u2019s company, I was tripping, I was so fucking stoked.<\/p>\n

Then within a week of him saying that I was getting ATM boards and I was all set, little did I know that Gonz left ATM, took the whole team away, the brand was in limbo and they were rebuilding it from scratch with two people and that I was one of them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That’s gnarly<\/h1>\n

So I basically got onto a team where I had no idea what the fuck I was getting myself into.<\/p>\n

So they were like yeah you\u2019re on the team, can you come out to The States, design a board and all this and then it all became apparent when I got out there .<\/p>\n

Then I was like what? Where\u2019s the Gonz? What team did I get on?<\/p>\n

It was such an amazing bait and switch. I was such a doofus. I was like what happened there? But as it turned out, as one door closed, another one opened.<\/p>\n

They got me out to The States and ATM and New School were run by this guy Jon Fowler who does Alva Skates. That was what New School was, Alva\u2019s modern street skating reincarnation.<\/p>\n

It was the street version of Alva Skates, to update it for the new generation of street skating kids. It was that whole era of updating skating to become more street. So it was part of that movement.<\/p>\n

Because they got me out there, they were finishing this New School video at the time, but didn\u2019t know how to finish it.<\/p>\n

I went to college for the last couple of years and learnt how to use a Mac and I started helping them to finish the video and they were like \u2019Oh you know how to use a computer do you want to do more? I was like yeah!<\/p>\n

They were like sick, we\u2019ve got no one to do anything, do you want to lay out the ads, make the videos, run the team and basically have the whole brand run under your wing and do everything? And I was like yeah sure?<\/p>\n

I got paid peanuts to ride for them and peanuts to do basically like five jobs for them but I kept the brand afloat.<\/p>\n

It was a really good opportunity where I got to pick a team, get a bunch of dudes together, put them in a van and travel and make a video together.<\/p>\n

It was just like my college extension into real life but didn\u2019t feel real as we got to play on someone else\u2019s budget, and call it our little skateboard company.<\/p>\n

It was a really weird way that it all unfolded.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yeah but a solid way to start your creative career in skating.<\/h1>\n

It felt like a lot of work because I did not know what I was doing! I did it for a couple years and did not know what the fuck I was doing.<\/p>\n

We put out some ads, we put out some boards and we made a couple videos. But then again it was a pretty low risk thing for the owner of the company and for us. Make some shit and see what happens.<\/p>\n

From there I got a lot more opportunities. I look back and I trip out because if I tried to plan any of this it would not have worked out, it would have failed miserably.<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t even know how to start planning any of this. But as I said, one door closed and another thing naturally opened and all that good stuff.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n