Kevin Perez is one of the hardest working filmers out there. He's constantly putting out full length videos and parts from Florida rippers. Sequel and now Exhibit are packed with skating that stands up to any brand's video out there. He even put out a double DVD set (one HD, one VX) for Exhibit. Read on to see what motivates this creative workhorse.—Blair Alley
So after filming two videos with HD and a VX, do you prefer one or the other?
Hmm that's a hard one. I seriously prefer either one man, both cameras are really fun to film with. You can't go wrong with the VX1000, the footage that camera produces is just perfect for skateboarding, nothing can ever top it. But I was really feeling my HPX setup. Besides the fact that it was a little heavy at times it's a great camera and it defiantly brings its own unique look to HD footage nowadays. Especially with all these new cameras everyone is using, I feel like it's just too much, with all the accessories and the prices! It's crazy man. I'm good with the camcorder and fisheye lens. None of that extra shit.
Gimme the pros and cons of each:
HPX170 pros: It's an all in one camcorder and it's the closest thing to a VX1000 and it gives HD footage such a unique/better look compared to all those other ones. Also it records everything on a giant P2 memory card which makes importing/playing back footage mad easy.
HPX170 cons: It's a little bit heavy if you ain't ready for it and hard to get used to at first with the fisheye on. The fisheye is so big it's more than likely that it's going to get hit by a board.
Vx1000 pros: It's the best camera used in skateboarding. Good size and weight and you honestly can't go wrong with filming with it. All the footage filmed with it looks and sounds amazing.
Vx1000 cons: The fact that the camera is so old it can go to shit at any time. Buying and using mini Dv tapes get kind of annoying at times.
How did you arrive at the cast and crew that’s featured in Exhibit?
Well all the dudes in the video have been some of my closest friends for a while. Some may not skate or hang with others as much as I do, but the goal was to make a video with all my buddies in it. I made it happen and I'm hyped on it. Shout out to my buddy Jesse Turley, he's the one who got me into buying a VX years ago. We use to skate around with a little handy cam!
Do you have a day job? Or are you filming full time?
I wish I could just film full time. That would be the dream. I get to do little gigs here and there, but I got two jobs working almost everyday. I'm working at a city skatepark which is cool, I can skate on the clock at times when it's not so busy. Then I'm working at Plus Skateshop, one of the illest shops here in Orlando, Florida. If you're in town you should definitely stop by. So working isn't that bad just because I'm still involved with skateboarding. I'm not complaining it's chill.
How did you fund this indy project?
Working two jobs definitely helped a lot and charging the shit out of my credit cards [laughs].
Why did you choose to make DVDs and sell them? Why are you now putting it online for free?
Well I wanted to make a two-disc video, whether the second disc was gonna be another vid or a bonus disc, I was going to do it. I just purchased a brand new Japanese VX1000 at the time just to have, because my old one went to shit and I sold it. I was just going to make little online edits with it once I was done making a full HD video. That's when the name Exhibit popped up in my head. Like damn! I can do a video with two different camera set ups and drop them at the same time and have it titled Exhibit A and Exhibit B. That was it! I was hyped to get it started. Making DVDs is so sick because you have the finished product in your hands and as a item and not a file from iTunes or just another online video. People watch something online maybe a handful of times then forget about it, then on to the next online video or part that comes out. At least if you have the DVD it can be years from now, you'll see it somewhere in your place all dusty and be like, "Woah! Haven't seen this in a while, let's pop it in." But I don't know maybe that's just me. Making DVD cover art is always fun. You can do whatever you want with that and get so creative. I'm into collecting stuff like boards, shoes, videos, so anything extra that comes with the video is always cool. So I ended up making 50 photo books from some of the trips and places I've been while filming for the video. All film photos me and a couple of the guys in the video took. Those came out amazing and sold out quick. I premiered the two videos August 1, 2015 at a local bar called Spacebar. I had a giant blow up screen with seating available out in the back parking lot, it was an amazing turn out.
Exhibit A and B are now online because I really want to get the videos out there for people to see and enjoy 'em before the footage gets too old and the fact that I want to put something new out soon. So I figured I'd release 'em now. Even though each part from Exhibit A is online already, it's always cool to watch it all together. I've sold over 400 copies in the first three months. I'm beyond hyped, it's unreal. Like there're really over 100 people out there that want to see this?! I'm almost all out of DVDs and the sales kind of died down anyways. Shout out to Erica Yary at Stance, she hooked it up so that every DVD purchase comes with Stance Socks! Now that's a deal man!
What’s next? Are you filming anyone else for future projects? Are the big companies hitting you up for a staff filmer position?
Well right now I'm working on the Plus Skateshop Video coming out February 2016 which is right around the corner. It's gonna have all the shop guys in it. It's gonna be a good one for sure featuring Chris Blake, Chad Poore, Niels Bennett, Bryan Schaefer, Rob Wootton and others. But at the same time whatever footage that isn't getting used in the Plus vid I'm going to be putting it towards something new I'm working on with some of the same dudes that were in Exhibit and more. Hopefully come out with that some time before summer time. I've been skating a lot recently so I'm also giving myself a little part in there so we'll see how that goes. Shout out to Ben Eubank, he's been filming me a lot and pushing me to do shit I wouldn't [laughs]. The Plus video and my video are gonna be filmed all VX which is really cool. I'm hyped on that.
But I haven't got any calls from any companies or anyone. I'm not really stressing it too much. But if the opportunity comes and it's good, why not? For now I'm pretty satisfied with my two jobs and getting to skate and film as much as I do so I can't really complain.
"I also wanted a soundtrack so that if I ever play the video at home or something for some reason I can walk away and enjoy the music without watching the skating."
How important is music in your videos? How’d you come up with the song choices for Exhibit?
Well music is always the most important thing in videos, for me at least. I can listen to some really shitty rap sometimes. I try not to use that in edits too much, just my Instagram [laughs].
The songs in Exhibit took a little bit for me to find. I think the longest process for me is finding songs. I always reach out to all the dudes to give me some ideas of what they'd like to skate to then I go off that. I felt like in this video the music was pretty spot on with the way each guy skated. It flowed pretty well. I also wanted a soundtrack so that if I ever play the video at home or something for some reason I can walk away and enjoy the music without watching the skating.
Exhibit B full length
How long did you film for Exhibit?
It's was probably just a little over a year. Which is insane, it's like over ten guys. We always just squaded up! A lot of night skating and majority of the time whenever we ended up going on trips the dudes managed to get a lot of footage on those trips. That helped out a lot. I guess it's easier to get footage when you skate something new sometimes. Skating in NYC and Philly was the most productive. It's like a giant playground. All the stuff in the VX montage is kind of bonus clips, nothing too crazy just a mix of the dudes in the video and others killing it. That was easy to put together. I would bring both cameras out on days that I knew I would be able to film something VX if we were going to a mellow spot or somewhere not too hectic that we won't get the boot. I felt bad asking them to do something easy for the VX and then I was down to film whatever they wanted too HD, but everyone was cool about it. I had my buddy Tommy Bohn help out filming with some clips along with Alex Elder, Jesse Turley and David Jackson. Without them I couldn't finish that second disc. Thanks fellas.
Exhibit A full length
What filmers influence you?
Tommy Bohn is one of my favorite dudes. His edits are always so sick and he's an amazing skateboarder too and one of my best friends. A lot of the stuff coming out of New York is really dope. I'm from Brooklyn, so to see all the stuff from John Valenti, Richard Quintero, Johnny Wilson and Peter Sidlauskas is so ill. Shane Auckland (Sk8rat) is absolutely killing it! He's the best. TJ Gaskill, John Marello, Kyle Steneide, Spanish Mike, Jason Hernandez and Grant Yansura’s stuff is always so good. Brian Panebianco and the Sabotage dudes been killing it for so long I'm really hyped on all that too.
Seems like you and your crew crank out more footage than the average crew. What's in the Florida water?
Damn I don't know! We all have jobs or are going to school. I guess we just plan to skate and go film on the right days. Majority of the time we skate with like two or three cars deep full of people and if someone has something to skate we go to it, get it done and then on to the next spot. I feel like we stay pretty productive with how many people we always skate with. Just having fun with it you know?
Now settle into this new Leftover and Extras montage from the filming of Exhibit.
Follow Kevin on Instagram: @kevperez
Check out parts from Exhibit.
More from Kevin Perez
