PLAY TRAILER
The first name in skateboarding footwear and apparel introduces its first-ever feature-length global skateboarding video, PROPELLER. Directed by Greg Hunt, PROPELLER presents a sweeping snapshot of modern skateboarding that only Vans can deliver, featuring full parts from some of the biggest names in modern skateboarding alongside appearances from legends and true pioneers.

VANS PRESENTS
STARRING  ANTHONY VAN ENGELEN  TONY TRUJILLO  GEOFF ROWLEY  GILBERT CROCKETT  CHIMA FERGUSON
CHRIS PFANNER  KYLE WALKER  DANIEL LUTHERAN  PEDRO BARROS   ELIJAH BERLE  CURREN CAPLES
ANDREW ALLEN  DUSTIN DOLLIN  JASON DILL  OMAR HASSAN AND ROWAN ZORILLA
WITH STEVE CABALLERO  CHRISTIAN HOSOI  JEFF GROSSO  RAY BARBEE  JOHN CARDIEL AND TONY ALVA
ORIGINAL MUSIC BY RAY BARBEE WITH JOHN HERNDON  AND THE MATTSON 2
MUSIC SUPERVISOR LORY VINCENT  CREATIVE DIRECTOR D. CHASE NANN  DIGITAL COLORIST MICHAEL MINTZ
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS  JUSTIN REGAN AND STEVE VAN DOREN PRODUCED BY JAMIE HART  MATT RAMIREZ
STARRING  ANTHONY VAN ENGELEN  TONY TRUJILLO  GEOFF ROWLEY  GILBERT CROCKETT  CHIMA FERGUSON CHRIS PFANNER  KYLE WALKER  DANIEL LUTHERAN  PEDRO BARROS   ELIJAH BERLE  CURREN CAPLES ANDREW ALLEN  DUSTIN DOLLIN  JASON DILL  OMAR HASSAN AND ROWAN ZORILLA WITH STEVE CABALLERO  CHRISTIAN HOSOI  JEFF GROSSO  RAY BARBEE  JOHN CARDIEL AND TONY ALVA ORIGINAL MUSIC BY RAY BARBEE WITH JOHN HERNDON  AND THE MATTSON 2 MUSIC SUPERVISOR LORY VINCENT  CREATIVE DIRECTOR D. CHASE NANN  DIGITAL COLORIST MICHAEL MINTZ EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS  JUSTIN REGAN AND STEVE VAN DOREN PRODUCED BY JAMIE HART  MATT RAMIREZ

DIRECTED BY
GREG HUNT
The best tricks and moments from years of filming went into PROPELLER. But there's more that didn't make the video. Watch RAW FILES, presented exclusively online by Thrasher Magazine, and automatically added to your download of PROPELLER on iTunes.
  • Gilbert Crockett
  • Daniel Lutheran
  • Chris Pfanner
  • Rowan Zorilla
  • Tony Trujillo
  • Dustin Dollin
  • Pedro Barros
  • Curren Caples
  • Geoff Rowley
  • Andrew Allen
  • Elijah Berle
  • Chima Ferguson
  • Kyle Walker
  • Anthony Van Engelen
WORLD PREMIERE
COME AND SEE THE PREMIERE IN LOS ANGELES.
APRIL 21   @ 9:00pm
Orpheum Theater
LOS ANGELES, USA
SOLD OUT
GLOBAL PREMIERE TOUR
COME AND SEE THE PREMIERE WITH THE VANS SKATE TEAM AT ONE OF THE STOPS ON THE PROPELLER WORLD TOUR.
APRIL 24   @ 6:30pm
Cinema Nova
Melbourne, Australia
MORE INFO
APRIL 26   @ 6:00pm
Central Studios
Shanghai, China
MORE INFO
APRIL 28   @ 10:00pm
Babylon
Berlin, Germany
MORE INFO
APRIL 29   @ 9:30pm
YoYo
Paris, France
MORE INFO
APRIL 30   @ 9:00pm
Prince Charles Cinema
London, England
MORE INFO
MAY 1   @ 10:00pm
Auditorium On Broadway
New York, USA
MORE INFO
MAY 2   @ 9:30pm
The Royal
Toronto, Canada
MORE INFO
MAY 3   @ 9:00pm
Auditorio Blackberry
Mexico City, Mexico
MORE INFO
LOCAL SCREENINGS
Find a screening in a town near you.
MORE INFO
“THIS VIDEO CAPTURES THE STRENGTH OF WHAT OUR TEAM IS AND HAS BEEN FOREVER. THIS IS NOT A TEAM YOU CAN JUST BUY AND THROW TOGETHER.”

—Steve Van Doren
  • “This video, having every generation of skateboarder involved, is the perfect representation of our culture."

    —John Cardiel


Since getting on Vans in 2005, Anthony Van Engelen has been one of the hardest working guys on the team and the sheer volume of footage that he produced for this video is testament to that. “Propeller” marks the third time in Anthony’s career that he’s teamed up with filmmaker Greg Hunt to document his ever changing approach to skateboarding and he says this one is the most personal.
INTERVIEW WITH Chris Nieratko.



How long have there been talks about a video? Not necessarily this video, but a video?

Vans is one of the most rooted brands in skateboarding that there is. As far as its history and the people that are affiliated with it—it’s legendary. People are buying their way into skating and trying to package it and manufacture some sort of authenticity, but Vans just is authentic. They’ve always supported skateboarding. For me, it’s the sickest thing because I’ve always worn Vans even when I didn’t ride for Vans; I wanted to skate in them. Skateboarding was invented in these shoes that I’m wearing today and it’s more or less the same vulcanized technology that it was in 1966, and that’s so sick.


You’ve made two previous videos with Greg. Let’s talk about his craft and what he brings to the table.

I’m super lucky to have been able to work with this dude. I don’t know how the fuck we end up together everywhere. I don’t know what or where I’d be if I didn’t have a dude like Greg and his work ethic to be there and push me. I know if I’m trying something he’s going to film it well and I know the final product that I’m working towards, that all of us kill ourselves for, will be good. That worry is removed from my head and all I have to do is worry about myself. It’s nice to work with someone that talented and he’s my friend at the end of the day so I’m stoked. That being said, it’s not always the easiest deal for the skaters or him. Projects like this take their toll on the skaters and the filmers. Greg is trying to push the guys but also be cool at the same time and it gets trippy, man. He pulls it off and walks the line. He’s the best there is and he will help you get the best out of yourself. He will be honest with you. If you’re sitting on the edge of a ledge after landing a trick after two hours and you kind of dragged your toe he’ll say, “Maybe you should do it again.” I’m glad he can say that to me and not bullshit me so I can go home completely satisfied with what I was able to do that day. In those situations I can’t always make a clear judgment. After a few hours I’m tired and I’ve had it and I don’t want to jump down that thing again but you need that and that’s what Greg brings. He wants it for you as bad as you want it for yourself.


You mentioned one of the unsung heros of this video, filmer Cody Green. He was on nearly every mission and kept spirits high in his own way. Talk about Cody.

I love Cody. He rules. It was hard getting this video done and he was a huge component. And he is an interesting dude. He’s funny. He’ll be in a nice hotel and he takes a giant sh*t and he leaves it in the toilet. Then you go in there to take a shower or use the bathroom and you lift the seat up and there’s this huge log and you’re like, “What the f**k, man?” That has happened multiple times. And he’ll be like, “Dude! I was getting in the shower and I didn’t want the water to run cold! I like to flush it after!” I’m like, “Cody! We’re at the f**king Double Tree! It ain’t one little water heater here, you psycho!” Cody, dude, he’s great!




Knowing that the all-consuming internet gobbles up footage, does it change your approach to making a video part?

No. No. No. At one point maybe it did. I experienced every emotion you can have across the board doing this video. Looking at how old I am now, I’ve already done whatever I’ve done and all that stuff plays into who I am now. At the start of this thing I had a really hard time with it because of all that stuff, because of all the questions. I’ve been around for a minute and it was difficult for me to get started, difficult for me to do my best at this point in my career. I found in this video a new sense of gratitude for skateboarding and this one is personal for me. I want to go out and I want to enjoy skateboarding. To me nothing else matters, this is for me. I can talk shit about that part of skateboarding and be bitter, but at the end of the day when I go out and get something it’s for me because I want that feeling. When I’m 65 or 70 I want to know that I lived that day to the fullest. I didn’t let some head-trip get in the way of me fully enjoying myself.


You said you experienced every emotion. What exactly went into this project?

For me to get it done I have to be out there in the streets every single fucking day, whether I want to or not and force myself into that. You can picture everything you can go through in skating every day for four years: the burnouts, the injuries, the battles. But the formula is all the same to me: any video that I’ve been able to come through for has been because I showed up every single day. But everybody is different. Some of the kids on the team just show up and rip. I’m 35 and broken. I’m drinking wheat grass so I can keep doing what I love to do.


But you really muscled through this video, skating every day like a little kid.

I’ve just been out there doing the best that I can, giving it everything I got. For me, at this age, I’m just trying to show a lot of gratitude for what I got and where I’m at. It’s beyond what I ever thought it would be, to be able to still do this. I’m just stoked to be out there every day and to skate and have a chance to do my best. There is a flipside to that when you’ve been doing it as long as I have and so much of skateboarding defines who you are and how you feel. When it’s not going my way it can be hard to keep a positive outlook especially when you’re going from video to video and trick to trick. But it doesn’t matter because I’m not sitting behind a desk with a chain attached to my neck; skateboarding rips.


You can finally put this one to bed now. How will you look back on the experience?

I’m just full of gratitude to have been in this position, in this place and time, with this company, and be a part of it because, when it’s all said and done, I can look back at this time in my life and know I was able to be there for all of it, every moment, and I did my best. It was sick and I’m stoked to have been a part of it.