Thrasher Magazine

Chaz Ortiz talks about the filming process for his new Zoo York part in this interview, accompanied by some photos and sequences.



Timeframe
I wanted to film a part and put it out right away. Before, I’d film stuff and hold it, but then the footage would get old and I wouldn’t want to use it anymore. So I wanted to go hard and do this one quickly. We started around the beginning of October last year, and filmed right up ’til July 8th. The part came out on July 10th.

Kickflip feeble fakie

Traveling
We got to go all over the East Coast. NYC, Boston, ATL, Miami… It was sick. It’s always good to skate new stuff, meet new people, and see new shit. I also got to go to SF and shoot the Thrasher interview. That was so amazing, with the hills and the vibe and everything.

First
The first thing I got for the part was the back lip on the tall three-stair in Brooklyn. I had a rolled ankle, so I was hyped to get it. There isn’t much run-up for it either. Westgate’s gap to rail stuff at that spot is insane!


Backside nosegrind

Last
The last thing I got was the line with the switch flip, and the switch front three down the 11 in ATL. I got that on July 6th; same day as the kickflip front nose on the hubba. I filmed a line there a while back with a frontside flip and fakie flip down the stairs. I really like the way the spot looks. Plus the ground and stairs are perfect, so I wanted to film another line there.

Chicago
The city is just so sick. There’s known spots, plus so much shit people don’t know about. RB Umali came and stayed with me and we got as much done as we could.

Ender
Monroe is one of those classic spots in the city that people have skated for years. So many sick tricks have gone down. I wanted to do the laser flip there, so I went with RB straight from the airport. First, we got kicked out. Then we came back a few hours later and got it within, like, 15 tries. I was super hyped. We got it two weeks before the video came out.


Backside flip

Back 180 nosegrind switch flip
I learned it at the park, and knew I definitely wanted to get one for the part. My homie built a spot in Chicago with some homemade ledges, so we tried it there. We went back two days in a row to get the line. I did it a bunch of times, but was never happy with it until the last one I got. Same weekend as when we got the laser flip.

First line
The roll-up to the rail was super rough. Brandon Westgate had to lay down the proper Bondo job so we could skate it. There was also a metal rod sticking out of the ground at the bottom of the rail, so we put a sign there—I had to ollie over a curb and land on the sign after grinding it. I also kept sticking the backside flip and falling off the curb right after the double set. I finally landed one and rolled off. The spot is so sick! I mean, when do you get a rail, ledge, and double set all perfectly in a row? Travis Glover and Brandon killed it on that trip.


Kickflip back lip front shove

ATL
Because Travis lives there and knows all the spots, we go there a lot. I was really hyped to get the kickflip feeble 180 and the varial heel on the Big 5. Those were two tricks I definitely wanted for the part.

Worked
Definitely got the most beat up on the varial heel down the Big 5. Had to go back to get that one. Shit is big!


Back tail

Next
Zoo is putting out a promo of the whole team in November. All the new ams, plus FORE, Suski, Ron Deily, Kevin Taylor, and Brandon will all be in it, so it’s gonna be real sick. Some of the flow homies, too. A lot of the guys already have really good shit, so I got to get back to it!

Photos: Sean Cronan