Jeff Tremaine pretty much invented 00′s television and skateboard culture as we know it, almost simultaneously.
After a few years at influential skateboard mag Big Brother, Jeff was alerted to CKY (Bam Margera’s early Jackass-style video series). He decided to put a crew together, using then small-time journalist and part time actor (blink-and-you’ll-miss-him part in Coyote Ugly) Johnny Knoxville, who had sent Jeff a video of him testing out various self defence apparatus on himself. This was named Jackass and was filmed using the same camera techniques as the skateboard videos Jeff drew the assembled characters from.
Needless to say, Jackass became an international phenomenon. It’s style is so simplistic that imitators had a hard time coming even close to matching the super lo-fi aspects. Jeff made three movies (Jackass 1, 2, and 2.5) with the Jackass crew and then moved onto DC Shoes’ Rob Drydek and his bodyguard to make the show Rob & Big.
Jeff’s simple style can be seen on literally entire channels full of imitation (any original content from Fuse and G4 owes a large debt to Jeff’s “Fuck it!” style). The quick edits that date from years of skate videos can now be seen all over the place, from other MTV shows like The Hills on down to mainstream cinema (anyone else see Eagle Eye?). Jeff should also be credited alongside Tony Hawk for bringing skateboard culture to the masses, because without him, it’s ultimately possible that skateboarding would’ve been left for dead in the 90′s.
didn’t know this was the brainchild behind jackass (great show / series of shows / movie events) or rob & big (quality television here), but now that i know, i agree — very cool dude.
still, i don’t know about skateboarding being left for the 90s. you could be right, but i’m skeptical
The guy is really more like Charlie Corwin, the guy who somehow managed to prostitute tattooing, and bring it to the mainstream. Media moguls might call them geniuses, but in reality, they are just guys who see something that people view as fringe, and put it on TV, thereby creating some kind of hype to it.
But, like tattooing, skateboarding doesn’t need people like this. It will continue to be a great way to express yourself, regardless of what the media makes it out to be.
That’s interesting I always thought Johnny Knoxville was the mastermind behind the JackAss series. But I would have to disagree…you gotta give it to Tom Green for the whole skateboarding crazy show