Last week, filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough’s skateboarding documentary titled “The Motivation” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in Lower Manhattan. At first glance, some people might brush this flick off as just another fly-by-night skateboarding doc with no real meaning or sustenance. However, The Motivation is quickly becoming a hot among skaters and even non skaters alike. Here we’ll take a sneak peak into this doc and reveal why it’s getting such rave reviews.
Creator and director of The Motivation, Lough, got the idea for the documentary while watching a street league skateboarding competition on ESPN one day. “I was flipping through the channels about a year ago, ESPN, and I came across this skateboard competition that just looked like no other competition I’d seen before. I mean, it was in a basketball arena and it was this personalized course that had been made just for this one competition and it was the best skaters in the world like jumping down ten, twelve stairs, grinding,” said Lough.
The Motivation focuses on eight of the world’s most most skillful skaters — Ryan Sheckler, Rob Dyrdek, Chaz Ortiz, Sean Malto, Nyjah Huston, Paul Rodriquez, Chris Cole, , and Luan Oliveira. If you keep up with the skating industry, chances are you’ve heard these names on numerous occasions. Rob Sheckler even has his own television show titled “Big & Rob” on the MTV channel.
What separates The Motivation from your typical skateboarding documentaries and videos is its authentic behind-the-scenes look into the lives of those previously mentioned eight skaters. Not only will you some of the gnarliest skateboarding tricks and performances in this documentary, but you’ll also see what life is like these eight pro skaters. It shows the good, the bad and the ugly associated with the sport. You’ll see them struggle with their living expenses, juggling work (AKA riding) with personal relationships and much more.
Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait a while before The Motivation is released on DVD format. Since the premiere happened just last week, it will likely take several months before we see it on the shelves. Until then, you can check the YouTube video posted below for an interview done with the film’s director. He talks about his decision to create the doc and some of the hurdles he had to overcome.
Adam Bhala Lough Talks About Filming The Motivation
Here’s a video of the films director Adam Bhala Lough answering some questions about The Motivation.