Filmmakers in skateboarding historically haven't been able to make a living. They typically earn a salary from a company or work freelance.
As we previously reported, former Baker Skateboards brand manager and the head creative of the Baker2G video, J Strickland, revealed how he charged Transworld Skateboarding $10,000 for skate legend Heath Kirchart's "Sight Unseen" footage back in the early 2000s and Strickland threatened to throw Kirchart's footage in the river.
Consequently, in the Lamont Holt podcast interview, professional skateboarding filmmaker Davonte Jolly discusses not getting paid in the industry.
Jolly said filmers usually sell skate clips for $75 for a single clip and $150 for a firing line.
"And you got to depend on the skaters to land that sh*t n**ga," Holt reacted.
"Bro if I was dependent on a skater to eat? Bro what? Jolly explained. "I would be at a spot sick when n**ga* quit, bro. Skaters quit trying a trick cause the wind is blowing too hard. They don't want the sun hitting in their face."
He added, "I'll be like bro I just spent $30 of gas just to get here to do this," Then everyone started laughing.
Jolly explained how lucky he was to start his own personal brand with the success of his work with Illegal Civ's "GodSpeed," which resulted in the late Louis Vuitton creative director Virgil Abloh helping him get on the map by introducing him to corporate executives, allowing him to get freelance jobs in the corporate and fashion world.
"Virgil Abloh essentially pulled me into his industry and like spoke very highly of me around production companies, fashion labels, and all that." He said, "And that's how I've been able to afford my lifestyle to this point."
He has been doing more commercial jobs, which has given him freedom instead of waiting for skateboarders to land tricks. Sometimes, it's not perfect for filmers to shoot a video and get the proper clips. "But I will say the way the industry is set up for filmers is f*cked up and needs to change," he said.
The former IC filmmaker said filmers should be paid fairly for their hard work. "The amount of filmer to get a clip and the amount of money that is received from that, that's not even correlate." He explained, "I'll give you an example, say I sell a clip for a $150 and the skater tried his tricks for months or for two months, I'm committed, I'm going to the spot every day, I'm going to do this, bro you land it and that's what you have to show for is $150 of your time."
"That's insane bro, and the way the industry is set up, all these companies are still sh*t anyway, so there's zero fairness in being a filmer, which is why I encourage filmers to build their own platform. That's the only way to leverage and sustain honestly, bro."
It's rare for companies to invest in filmmakers and provide salaries due to the abundance of amateur content on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
The Necessary Evil creator doesn't mind these days making the pro skater choose what videos or companies his work goes to since he has a good-paying job in corporate filming. Unlike other filmers, they usually hold the footage hostage since they are dependent on only one thing and do not diversify their work ethic like Jolly.
"There's zero friction for me. All right bet who I send it to?" He mentioned. "As opposed to most filmers because they're on survival mindset like bro no I got to eat so wait how much their going to pay me. So now it's a weird relationship with the skater cause you just did this whole fit but understandably so because you got to eat."
Although Jolly didn't get paid for Primitive Shoes and Apparel's "Pain is Beauty" skate video, he said it taught him how to hustle harder and gain more experience in the field.
"That opportunity is what afforded me to know what it takes to get paid from a company working on the film." He said, "Primitive was kind of doing me a favor in the sense that I wasn't qualified to work on a full-length company video at that time. I was just skating with you, skating with the homies."