Pacific Palisades:Tape8
- Text by Shelley Jones
- Photography by Connor Widdows, Zak Mayell, Sophia Doe
Pacific Palisades is a London-based production company that produces hazy, psychedelic film and photography rooted in skate culture.
Headed up by filmer Josh Church, their latest edit Tape 8 documents a crew of friends and skaters from London and LA cruising through the city of angels.
A visual diary of the trip, which happened after the crew met at Stoner skatepark in LA the year before, Tape 8 is the first in a series of shorts that will culminate in a main film, due for release later this year. We caught up with Josh to find out more.
What’s Tape 8 all about?
Tape 8 is the intro of a series of films I’m working on at the moment. It starts in the middle of our trip to LA at the beginning of this year.
Who’s involved in it altogether and when did you start shooting it?
Myself, Darius Trabalza, Dan Kreitem, Zak Mayell, Connor Widdows and Curtis Pearl left for the states in mid-February, the main incentive being to miss the British winter. We had done the same thing two years previous, which is how the Yardsale team came about when we met Jhian Namei, David Bowens and Adrian Adrid at Stoner [skatepark in LA]. Before I left I didn’t really know what I wanted to make. From the previous trip I had noticed a lot of homeless, which I found quite interesting – a lot of war veterans. But I had no premeditated plans.
Were any other videos an inspiration?
I’ve been watching a lot of X-Files while editing so that’s probably influenced me in some way. But mainly the music I heard out there has been a big one.
Where is it shot and what are your favourite spots in it?
It was shot all around LA, Venice, Santa Monica, Hollywood. Favourite spot has to be the painted curbs, which are everywhere.
What’s your overall favourite part in the video?
For Tape 8, the dogue bit. Such wow. I like the stuff you can’t plan or couldn’t think of.
Were there any challenges in bringing it to life?
Not really. I like the idea of gonzo journalism and think it’s good to experience what you’re documenting, so in a way I just let it happen.
Any other projects in the pipeline? What’s next?
So after Tape 8, four more individual tapes will be released leading up to the main film, which will consist of Tapes 1-7. I shot some of the main film on 16mm but haven’t had it developed yet, so I’m interested to see how it’ll turn out, if at all.
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