Exclusive interview with the filmmaker plus review.
July 2, 2009, 10:32 AM
By: Brien Kielb
[I hope you're not sick of us hyping up the new FBM documentary yet, cause we've got one more multi-faceted go at it. This one features a video interview by Brock Gomez with filmmaker Joe Stakun about the creative process behind the movie, along with a quick review of the movie from part-time blogger Brien Kielb. And then we'll give the FBM movie hype a rest for a bit. But check the interview above and the review below, and if you haven't already seen the vid, do yourself a favor and reserve a copy as soon as they're available.]
A few years back, legendary video producer Mark Eaton released a movie entitled Joe Kid on a Stingray, chronicling the origins of bicycle motocross. The movie was a high-class affair, with plenty of vintage clips, interviews with the forefathers of the sport, and narration by famed motorcycle builder Jesse James. While it glamorized the early era of BMX, some viewers felt that certain aspects of BMX's history weren't fairly represented. Racing was the obvious focus, along with the birth of freestyle and the creation of the X Games, but street riding and the emergence of rider-owned companies seemed to fall by the wayside.
Enter I Love My Bicycle: The Story of FBM Bikes. Directed by Philadelphia's Joe Stakun, the hour-long documentary made its debut at the Bicycle Film Festival in New York City. Playing to a packed house of 200 riders and coinciding with the end of FBM's second Gypsy Caravan tour, the film garnered numerous cat calls and rounds of applause throughout the screening; even drawing tears from company founder Steve Crandall at its conclusion.
Entitled after one of FBM's most popular t-shirts, the film focuses on how a group of bored Ithaca teen-agers created an East Coast empire through screen printing, chromoly and chaos. While the documentary focused on one specific company, the film could be used to describe the entire second wave of rider-owned companies at the end of the '90s. Pioneer brands S&M, Standard and Hoffman bridged the gap from the neon heyday of '80s vert contests to the bashguard sliding, chain-wallet slinging origins of street riding in the early '90s. Homegrown brands like FBM, Terrible One, Metal and Volume picked up where Moeller and Hoffman left off, and there are few companies in BMX today that aren't owned or ran by actual bike riders. The fat, bald men that were once at the industrial helm have been replaced by riders who knew what bikes they wanted to ride, and what they wanted BMX to be.
As unique as FBM has always been, I Love My Bicycle hammers the point home in documenting the creation and history of their in-house manufacturing facility. In an era where a bike company can be created with some t-shirts, a credit card and some e-mails to Taiwan, it's humbling to bear witness to the trials and tribulations of starting not only a bike company, but also a machine shop from scratch. Stakun's film is a gritty portrayal of the hardships endured by those in the BMX industry, and FBM has endured some unique ones; including Chris Hallman burning down their office, jail time, various team changes, and being evicted from their longtime home beneath the remains of East Coast Terminal skate park. The fact that the movie was shot against the bleak Binghamton skyline only further highlights the fact that running a bike company isn't nearly as glamorous as some people may think.
The film is narrated by a shovel-swinging Crandall, along with shop foreman Dave Harrison and the nicest guy in BMX/head of sales John Lee. Additionally, the film features interviews with former team riders, employees, and legends such as Mat Hoffman, Dave Mirra and Joe Rich. Filled with lots of great old footage (including Kelly Baker in pink JT leathers), the entire history of FBM is covered thoroughly, and is a stark representation of the bike industry and a generation of riders who've helped shaped BMX over the last decade. Comparing the flick to Joe Kid, the tone is far more topical and realistic, and is likely to be well received by both message board groms and trail veterans alike.
Check out the movie's site for screening info, updates and more.
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Contributors
Brian Tunney
This is Brian. He lives in Jersey City, rides BMX bikes often and somehow ended up in the X Games a few times. Facebook him if needed.
Cody York
From Cleveland, Ohio, Cody was raised on a steady diet of backyard jumps and skateparks and his photos have graced the pages of Ride BMX, BMX Plus!, Ride UK, and Dig magazines. Got something to share? cyorkphoto@me.com
Mark Noble
Mark is from the U.K., and has over 28+ years experience in BMX. He has launched, published, edited and written for more BMX mags than you can shake a bike at. He also runs Deluxe BMX.
Nick Ferreira
Nick Ferreira is a BMXer, photographer and zine maker from Taunton, MA. He has been extolling the merits of tucks and tabes in print and online for the better part of the past 10 years.
Pat Nugent
Born and raised on Long Island, the only outlet to BMX that Patrick grew up knowing was racing. For a while, he got into all those weird forms of BMX, but eventually returned to the race scene. He enjoys shooting races and snaking practice laps.
Steve Crandall
Hails from Ithaca, NY, created FBM in '93, paints pictures of eggs, soup and pigeons in his spare time, throws down a mean tabletop.
