This long form, six-months in the making interview / career retrospect with filmmaker Greg Hunt over at Speedway Mag really gets the gears fired up. Greg went from a short career as a pro skateboarder himself to creating some of the most iconic skateboard movies of the last 20-years. These came about through his genuine relationships with skaters like Dylan Rieder, Heath Kirchart, AVE, Jason Dill, and more. Some serious heavies right there. His film work began by helping out Ty Evans on TWS videos, which lead to him taking the reins on The DC Video. From there he created many more influential movies of which Alien Workshops ‘Mind Field’ stands out as does his work with the late Dylan Rieder:

“Though stark as Dylan’s reinvention was, Greg describes it as a gradual change: “A natural progression he really stepped into it once he got sober and felt confident about himself. That’s when he became the Dylan we all know. From how he dressed to how he skated. It really kicked into high gear during that video because I think he knew.”

“He knew he had a special talent and was finally at a point where he was open to be the person he wanted to be. Not that it was that crazy, not that he was that different or anything. It kicked in at the most logical time. You could see he was in that zone where he was really comfortable with himself and confident on a skateboard.

“I was surprised people embraced it so much. For Dylan to dress the way he wanted to fucking dress and just live his life the way he wanted to live it was very different to how a lot of skateboarders looked and carried themselves. Eventually, people realised this dude, although he’s ‘pretty’, doesn’t give a fuck. He’s just being the person he is and you have to respect that. Eventually, people came to respect he was such an original person. Skateboarding doesn’t always like people that completely break from the norm. It had been a long time since anyone had carried themselves the way Dylan did,” says Greg.”

The interview also goes into his relationship with Heath Kirchart on the eve of putting out his last Alien Workshop video part, filming The DC Video with AVE before his disappearance into the dark world of addiction and his subsequent comeback, and his latest photo book project with Jason Dill, who he has shot with more than anyone else:

“It’s such a long span of time and he went through a lot of shit during that. We both did. We both changed a lot. It’s a straight up photobook. There’s a lot in there that isn’t direct but representative of what was happening with him and even what was happening with me. We travelled all over the world. I definitely don’t think I’ll ever make another book like this again and that’s one reason I made it because I started to look at what I had. I didn’t even realise. I just kind of forgot,” says Greg.

Despite its star, Greg doesn’t consider Ninety-Six Dreams, Two Thousand Memories as ‘a skateboarding book’, explaining: “Dill and I purposely kept this book separate from skateboarding. We didn’t want a big logo at the back of it and didn’t want to have a big launch party sponsored by a brand and beer sponsor. We wanted to try and keep it as more of a proper photo book.”

Head on over to Speedway Mag to read Greg Hunt’s full feature interview.

Some of Greg’s finest work was Alien Workshop’s ‘Mind Field’ starring Heath, Arto, Dill, Dylan,ave, Mikey, Jake, and more.

Greg Hunt + Dylan. photo: Ryan Allan

Greg filming Dylan for ‘Mind Field’ photo: Anthony Acosta

Ninety-Six Dreams, Two Thousand Memories starring Jason Dill

Jake Johnson, Mikey Taylor, Grant Taylor, Anthony Van Engelen, Jason, Dill, Omar Salazar, with Greg shooting for ‘Mind Field’. photo: Chad Bowers