^^ agreed. Volcom dude is a good sport.
As for iTunes, why not just put out a video for free? I think it will have much more effect in marketing terms. The costs for people lurking forums, Youtube and websites for illegal copies and hiring lawyers will probably be higher than the production budget.
haha thanks dudes, really just a skateboarder like all of y'all, been lurkin in these forums for a while as a fan. I figured I happen to be in the position to set things straight as much i can so why not. Going to stay away from the subjective comments because everyone is entitled to their own opinions (shit, even i thought they had 1 too many boardslides and slo-mo's in there but that's just me) and am not going to try and defend every aspect of the video.
As far as giving the video away for free, we'll probably be doing that later on, I mean we put Lets Live on youtube and I remember getting that on DVD before I even left college. From a marketing standpoint, we know the video will get pirated, we know if you want to see it you will by any means. We have lawyers in house to take it down if it did leak but it's not like we will be chasing anyone who gets it illegally.
In the grand scheme of things I think the format and model of a skate video isn't necessarily dead but it has definitely changed from what it used to be and for the people who are used to that model it's hard to let it go or even understand. We know we're not going to make back the insane amount of money we put into the video solely on video sales, those days are long gone, but for the higher up suits in our company, putting that much money into a video and not even trying to sell it would be even more insane from a business standpoint. To them if you're going to spend $40-$50 on a Supreme t shirt, then why all the fuss over an hour long video showcasing some of the best skateboarders for $10?? It's also part of a larger conversation within the skate community, there so much content out there daily that to even put the time, money and effort into making a skate video these days seems pointless, but we still did. I remember waiting for videos to come out, the anticipation and appreciation for when it actually did, but now it seems every video put out is forgotten months after. We're not giving it away for free just yet just to attach some form of value to it and gauge excitement. eventually the entire video will be free, it will be on thrasher in sections and a 24 hour live stream is slated for the coming months but as of right now find 5 homies, all pitch in $2 and enjoy.
Speaking for the skate dept here, we didn't make this video for the ROI, we made it to make a statement. This is our team, we're on the road just as much, if not more then any other skate team, we're skateboarders just like everyone else and this is a proper representation of our team. We know we have the orange county/socal surf company stigma and trust me the skate dudes in the company hate it cause it's really not who we are.