Mark Gonzales

"DAEWON" is a full-length documentary on the eponymous skater (with Song as his last name): a longtime fine technician with Korean origins who pretty much started writing the chapter on technical street skateboarding in the history of the activity, stringing together lines of complicated maneuvers and flip-in, flip-out prowess on anything resembling a potential obstacle - all in between two gloomy, grimy L.A. carparks or concrete schoolyards. Joe Pease directed the film, for TransWorld and Adidas. Coinciding with the recent launch of Thank You Skateboards, Daewon's board company with Torey Pudwill, the release of such a piece is a considerable push for the pair all the while succeeding at remaining an indirect one, as the narrative really focuses on Daewon's background, covering from as far as his Beryl Banks days in the era of the World Industries video "Love Child" (with Steve Rocco as a godfather), and up to his current Instagram skate king status. "Trilogy" and the tragic fate of Daewon's background track also gets brought up, as well as his symbolic, symbiotic skate tech wrestling with Rodney Mullen, or the Deca days; the DVS video, "Skate More", too, and also "Cheese And Crackers". Certain specific happenings in Daewon's career - such as the short-lived Artafact, or the occasional profusion of tanktops - were left out it seems but globally, the eventual depiction is a great representation of one of skateboarding's technical pioneers that isn't without suggesting the taste of what an episode of ON Video on him could have been. In actuality though, here's the one they did on Mullen in 2002 as a bonus.

Gonz and Tyshawn are a match made in heaven, seriously! Add a couple dope feauting too…

Just for that soap shoe hammer!

All right, younglings, if you are getting tired of hearing the old ones pontificating on "having it", well, here is all this talk is based on… With a little luck, this should speak to you… Well, let's hope so!