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MACHO MAN

A wheelchair-bound Rick McCrank barks, “Do you need to be touching my horse?” It’s only halfway through the trailer of Machotaildrop and I’m already wondering, What the hell is this, and how was it born?
Duo Corey Adams and Alex Craig are the creative force behind the curiously strange and fascinating story of young Walter Rhum and the Machotaildrop skateboard company. Adams filled us in on a few of the details that helped this strange beast of a film come to life.

 

How did the Machotaildrop film come about?

It was the result of winning a contest called “The Fuel Experiment”, presented by Fuel TV. Ten filmmakers were given a hundred thousand dollars to make a short film. One of the ten films was chosen and that filmmaker was given a million dollars to make a feature. Our short film titled “Harvey Spannos” was the film chosen. I was washing dishes at the time so it was great to be able to quit that gig and make a film. Friends were brought on board and the film was made.

Was your process any different on this project, working with such a large budget?

It started out a lot different. I had hired a producer, director of photography, and people like that. But they were very rigid, and used to working with all these rules that they had been trained to follow. Some of those rules tended to harm the film more than help it, so it never ended up working out with those folks. I ended up hiring mostly friends to help out, and we went full circle back to the original process, which mind you was a very dangerous process. I’m not saying it’s the way to make a film—everyone has their own way to do things—but it worked for what we wanted to achieve.

I’ve read Machotaildrop described as, “Easily one of the trippiest films I’ve ever seen”. Is that reaction something you expected?

I can see where they are coming from. After the screening at the Toronto Festival one of the first questions asked during the Q&A was, “How much did drugs have to do with the making of this film?” Which took us by surprise at first, but many people seem to have this response so I’m getting used to it.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009. How has the response been so far?

We’ve been getting so much positive feedback; it’s been really great. When you put something out into the public, you’re never really sure what the response is going to be like, especially with a film about skateboarding. But even the skateboard community seems to be supportive of it, which is good. I would hate to have made another Gleaming the Cube.

Where can people see the film?

It’s going to be screening at the Mayfair Theater in Ottawa on March 31, and The Royal in Toronto around the same time. Also at the Santa Cruz Film Festival, Boston Independent Film Festival and we are just working on screenings in Berlin, Paris and New York.

—Anthony Smith, 15 March 2010