Chocolate Skateboards' "Bunny Hop" Premiere Photos

For the last few years, I’ve had the privilege of following the Chocolate team around the world while documenting the making of their newest full-length Bunny Hop. And yes, I said full-length. What used to be the normal format for a skate video has been cut down to a 15-to-20 minute shell of itself to make up for our fleeting, pea-sized attention spans. Don’t get me wrong, I get bored doing anything for more than 20 minutes at a time these days. But it is a nice change of pace to see a brand with so much history do it like it the good ol’ days, especially when you get to switch up the couch premiere for the glamorous big screen! And just like that, friends and family gathered at the Alex Theater in Glendale last Thursday to see what Chocolate’s been cooking up these last few years. Check the flicks to find out who rolled through. —Alex Papke

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 1A marquee? We haven’t seen that in a while

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 2Shooting a two-page spread is one thing, but seeing your photos blown up at a theater somethin' else

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 3John Marello, Crailtap’s resident filmer, has been editing Bunny Hop in the bedroom next to mine for months now. Hearing bits and pieces of songs from the video at every hour of the day without seeing skating attached to it isn’t as fun as you would think

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 4Somehow Giorgio was able to squeeze his way behind the locked gates while Vincent had to wait out front just like everyone else

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 5Slowly but surely, everyone made their way inside. Griffin Gass was stoked to be there

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 6You know it’s your big night when your photo is plastered outside of the theater

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 7Not to mention when practically all of Boise comes out for your support. Mac, Lucas and Tyler all had to fly out for a day to give Capps that hometown love

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 8You would be smiling ear to ear like Steves if you knew that in just a few months you were gonna be a father too. We may or may not have a side bet going—if his daughter is born on my birthday, he has to name her Papke. Fingers crossed

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 9Tory made the drive down from SF while Rowan flew all the way out from Down Under—all this just for a video premiere!

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 10The man behind the camera on the intro skit—and many of your favorite skate videos—Colin Kennedy, is such a fan of Chocolate Pow that he had to grab two

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 11Chocolate Pow not your thing? Don’t worry, Three Weavers Brewery has something for everyone. Bottoms up

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 12Canaan Hernandez and VA, an East LA power couple

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 13Dan Stolling got the nickname “Bandana Dan” years ago from an appearance on KOTR rocking a very out-of-place bandana. For months I would always bring a bandana to premieres to get photos of Dan to keep the joke alive. But now, Dan has this huge mustache and I would way rather talk about that

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 14Carlisle Aikens, ladies and gentlemen. The sign doesn’t lie

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 15Mason Silva’s favorite part of the pandemic was definitely the fact that he didn’t have to deal with me going paparazzi mode on him and Ginger for almost two years

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 16Drink ‘em, look at ‘em or even pour ‘em out. Free beer is free beer

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 17Sam really wanted a nice family photo, so naturally Carroll needed to sneak his way in there

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 18Unfortunately, Raven wasn’t able to make it so his mother Dawn came down to take his place. Pictured here with Thrasher party blog regular Erica Yary

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 19And while everyone’s having a fun night, the REAL team is still just looking at skate spots

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 20Breezy and Isaac. One of them can nose manual nollie flip, the other can drink a 12 pack in record time. Can you guess who is who? The answer may surprise you

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 21Everyone at these things always wants a photo with the FOTY. Carl was able to make that happen. Thanks, Ryan

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 22Erik Herrera, a man who always has an extra beer for his homies

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 23Not to mention someone who comes from a line of brothers that are all spitting images of each other. Take away the braces and you wouldn’t know who’s who

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 24Ish Cepeda loves any excuse to go to the movies

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 25Moving backstage, the crew is really embracing the Chocolate Pow. And for those asking, no, it is not a chocolate beer

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 27Flaco had to get Erik hyped up for his first theater performance

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 28It’s always a treat to get some Kenny Anderson footage in 2021, pictured here with his son Myles

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 29As always, a lot of competition for my job

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 30But don’t worry, I got it too

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 31One last rev before making our way out there

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 32"Bunny Hop on three!"

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 33The Chocolate team in 2021, basking in their big moment

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 34And from the looks of it, we got a full house

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 35With Bunny Hop being a nod to Keenan, it’s definitely starting strong

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 36And finishing even stronger!

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 37If you can get Ishod that stoked, you know the video’s a crowd-pleaser

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 38Fan-favorite Jordan Trahan taking advantage of the VIP smoking section

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 39When you have this many people trying to dap you up once the credits roll, you know you did your job right

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 40Hell, everyone loved this one. A standing ovation was in order

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 41Chaos ensued once everyone spilled out of the theater. All I had to do was say Burbank and the crowd went wild

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 42The Palace LA store got some visibility from Kanin, seen here with Krazy Frankie, Salomon and masterlensman Kris Burkhardt

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 43If it’s not bolted down, it’s fair game for just about anything

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 44Once the video was over, the smoking section out front blew up

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 45All Rickk wanted all night was a photo with SkateMoss. Luckily, we were able to make that happen. Thanks, Victoria!

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 46Cold Dog got a little upset seeing he wanted the same photo. Sorry, Cody

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 47Two generations of Crailtap—Jeron and Carlisle

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 48Ando probably spent half of this roll shooting photos of me throughout the night only to lose the camera in a drunken haze. If anyone sees this camera, I apologize for all of the photos of myself

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 49Moving our way over to Zebulon for the after party, Mr. Fred Capps was our honorary DD

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 50If a broken leg in three places wasn’t a good enough excuse to miss this thing, I don’t know what is

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 51First things first, a stop at the smoking section with Brian O’Dwyer and Ryan Townley

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 52She doesn’t drink, but Hannah Tallman always keep a fake ID on deck. Of course, it’s from Tampa, Florida

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 53Things weren’t as easy for Rowan Davis. After hopping the fence at the TM’s discretion, Rowan had a run-in with security. Clocking in at 20 years old is never easy

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 54But once Rowan was able to convince security that in Australia the dates on an ID mean different things than they do in the states, it was smooth sailing

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 55FOTY and the backside of SOTY. Hopefully Ginger's suggesting it's time to switch over to water

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 56Making my way inside, the dance floor was heating up

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 57I wanted to wait until Daniel Policelli had enough to drink that he was loose enough to get his photo taken. Daniel knows more about Crailtap than anyone I know—including Rickk and Mike. He was also a very valuable asset when it came to the making of Bunny Hop. Thanks for roughing it out, couch surfing for months on end while making this one, Daniel!

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 58We told Carl he had to get on stage to show off his dancing. When all of a sudden…

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 59…the surprise of a lifetime!

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 60Sure, maybe he had an idea it was going down

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 61But still, a valid excuse to let the tongue out

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 62And it would truly be nothing without a support system that can lift you up

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 63Literally!

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 65It’s gotta be pretty emotional to have Rickk turning you pro

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 66Not to mention your face drawn out by Hecox

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 67You know tears were shed all around. Congrats, Carl, we love you!

BUNNYHOP PREMIER PAPKE 68And just like that, I made my Irish goodbye. With all of this lockdown talk going around again who knows when we might have another premiere like this, so let’s soak it up while we can. If you missed this night or one of the many shop premieres going down around the world, fear not!  You can now feast your eyes on Bunny Hop playing on this very site as we speak. Thanks for having us, Chocolate!
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