The Man Who Souled The World
A new documentary chronicles a street-skating revolution created by world industries's Steve Rocco
By PJ Canale
Professional skateboarder Steve Rocco was not one of the original Z-Boys in the 1970s. Nor was he marketed alongside Tony Hawk as part of Powell-Peralta's Bones Brigade in the 1980s. He was nowhere near the most popular skater at any time, he didn't do well in contests, and his skating never got much coverage in magazines and videos, even at the apex of his notoriety in the early 1990s. But Rocco saved skateboarding from its corporate image. He was truly a pure street skater.
Unfortunately, being a great street skater in Rocco's heyday was akin to winning the Mixed Doubles title at Wimbledon - no one even noticed. In 1987, Rocco's main sponsor, Sims, dropped him and his unpopular pro model boards. At age 27 he was already in the twilight years of his skate career and living on a friend's floor in Santa Monica.
Then one small suggestion changed everything. Skip Engblom, founder of the Z-Boys, told Rocco to produce some boards that he would sell - just a little favor to help Rocco get back on his feet. Broke and desperate, Rocco maxed out his credit cards and took a $20,000 loan in a paper bag from a bookie. Typical of his sense of humor, Rocco named his trifling, shoestring company World Industries.
Rocco's story soon became the stuff of legend. As recounted in the upcoming new documentary, The Man Who Souled the World, his little company took over the skateboard industry, burning bridges and making enemies at every turn, and pushed skateboarding to become the behemoth business that it is today. In 2002, Rocco sold World Industries and its subsidiary brands for $46 million. Mike Hill, the director of The Man Who Souled the World, offered some insight about the man and his role in skateboarding.
CityBeat: What was your opinion of Rocco before you began this film?
Mike Hill: I describe Rocco as a sort of Larry Flynt or Howard Stern of the skate world. He changed everything. He's a talent magnet and a great collaborator, giving guys like Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine their first directing gigs, discovering Jason Lee and Daewon Song, and creating Big Brother magazine, which became the genesis for Jackass.
Aging pro skaters have always started their own companies à la Stacy Peralta. What made Rocco's game plan different?
Steve Rocco's game was different because he was a contemporary pro skater when he launched World Industries and he really didn't care for the organized corporate approach that some of the Big 5 companies were taking.
Do you think Rocco had any idea what he was doing?
He wanted to see street skating become the dominant form of skating and that's what happened. He wanted to see skaters running the industry and that's what happened. He helped break down the barriers that let skaters have the freedom of expression to produce the videos they wanted to watch, write the stories they wanted to read, and create the artwork they wanted to look at. In reality, though, the changes came about organically, fueled by an unstoppable energy of irreverence, creativity, collaboration, and confrontation.
What is Rocco's involvement with his former companies now? None, as far as I know. Our story ends when he sells out and goes into early retirement. He does whatever he wants, whenever he wants - isn't that the American Dream?
Published: 05/17/2007
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