Date: 7/22/04
Interviewer: Phil Skinner
Photos: Sidewayz

Related Items:
Retrospect Photo/Video Gallery
Retrospect Trailer (Quicktime, 6.5)
Retrospect Premiere Interviews (Quicktime, 25.7)

Scott Byerly

Scott Byerly (click to enlarge)

PS: How does it feel to have your own signature movie?
SB: All happy and warm inside (laughs). Well, it feels pretty good. It feels good to have ten years of my life documented and all put in one video. It is cool, too, that I get to see ten years of my life along with the friends that shared all that time with me.

PS: What keeps you motivated? My wife. She keeps me motivated and in line. (laughs) It is easy to stay motivated when I wake up to a lake in my backyard everyday. It's my work. I just go out to my office. I go out there with my friends and try to do new stuff because it gets old doing the same stuff everyday. Coming up with new stuff is what keeps me motivated.

PS: What has it been like working with Sidewayz?
SB: Wonderful 'cause Ronn is such a swell guy. (laughs) I like working with Ronn 'cause he is creative and always does a good job making all the riding look good. He knows what to use, what not to use

Scott Byerly (click to enlarge)

and how to shoot and edit. We are friends. We have a good time and have traveled all over the world together. I trust him. He knows what he is doing.

PS: What do you want to communicate to your fans through this movie?
SB: Just showing everyone how it was, so they can all see where it started from. Sh%#, I don't know how they will take it. If they didn't know, now they will know.

PS: What was the most difficult day of shooting? Why?
SB: When Ronn ran out of film (laughs), or when Ronn dropped his camera in the water. That was difficult to shoot. Then we didn't have a camera and had to borrow Chase's and we had a helicopter that day too. I don't know. The most difficult days are probably shooting with the helicopter, getting everybody in sync, getting everyone on the same page so it all works together. (here Ronn asks, "What about when you fell six feet on your head?") That wasn't hard. I didn't even have to try. I just fell on my head. It was easy.

Scott Byerly (click to enlarge)

PS: What do you think of the film?
SB: It is good. That's why I have been working with Ronn. If anyone will do it right, Sidewayz will. I can't wait to have everyone see it.

PS: Any last words?
SB: Thanks to everybody that has been behind me this whole time. And everybody check out the movie.

Ronn Seidenglanz

Scott Byerly (click to enlarge)

PS: What really motivates you as a producer?
RS: I like to get out of the office and go filming. I love to film. I used to love editing, but not so much anymore. So it is really the filming that gets me motivated. Just looking through the lens and being able to create shots. I have been shooting stuff for ten years and I am still trying to come up with new angles that are not stale.

I have always been into photography. There is just something about it. When I used to be in art school, we would have to critique our work. People would get all deep and talk about the meaning and the reason they took the shot. I would just be like, "I don't know, I was out with my friends and I saw this shot so I took it." I never really thought about why I was taking the shot. I just liked to capture these moments I saw or something. It's hard for me to say, "Why do I like filming?" How do I answer that? I get to create something.

PS: What do you feel most proud of in the Byerly film Retrospect?
RS: The loud buzzing noise in Murray's interview (laughs). No, that is the worst part. I really like The Projects section just because I was able to get shots that I have never seen before working with the helicopter pilot that I had that day. I love Thomas's part. The whole section flows with the music perfectly. It shows Thomas wakeskating and wakeboarding. What is so cool about Thomas's section as well is that most kids nowadays have never seen him wakeboard. This section shows what he has brought to the sport.

Scott Byerly (click to enlarge)

I love Randy's stuff. There is just something about watching him ride. There is no one like Randall. Scott was years ahead of everybody. He did everything with amazing style. When you look back, he has done more for this sport than any other rider ever has or will. And I love Parks', Murray's, Darin's, Schmaltz's and so many more parts. There is so much in here, it is hard to pick what I am most proud of. You watch the movie and tell me what I should be proud of.

PS: What's your favorite section of the movie?
RS: End credits (laughs) because when I get to them I know I am finally done with the movie. It is honestly hard to pick a "favorite" part of this movie. There is so much in this movie. There are all these riders' lives and their history in this sport bundled into all these little three and four minute sections, which doesn't even do them justice. I guess I just feel strongly about so many parts in this movie because of what every section means. And if you think about it, it's weird because it is like a look back upon all these careers and influences of these people. That is why the movie is called Retrospect.

Pat Panakos (click to enlarge)

PS: What do you hope to communicate to wakeboarders through the movie?
RS: I usually kind of just make films for myself if that makes sense. I don't go through planning to make a movie for someone else. I try to make a movie so that I am a happy with it. Then once I am happy with it, I hope everyone else likes it. So I guess I didn't really think about what I intended to communicate through it. But I think it will communicate the legitimacy of wakeboarding since the beginning. It is going to show footage from the very first contest up to the very most recent helicopter shoots at The Projects. So this film is going to give an overall view of wakeboarding over the last ten years. Shown by the most influential riders in the sport, with Scott leading the way.

PS: Was there any crazy or out-of-the-ordinary stuff that happened during the shooting? Weirdest moment?
RS: The only thing that pops into my mind is when I got diarrhea in Mexico and had to go on the beach and find a leaf to wipe with, but that wasn't for this film. I think that was for Hype. Nothing really crazy happened, but some really amazing and progressive riding happened. When we were shooting for this movie, everyone knew that this footage was for the Byerly movie, and so everyone took it really serious knowing that this wasn't just "another movie."

Scott Byerly (click to enlarge)

When Scott made the water way for the approach to this kinked rail too skinny and he let go as he was heading for the kinked rail the first time, he went to sit down and fell like 6 feet onto his neck. That was pretty crazy.

PS: Now that you're wrapping it up, how do you feel about the film?
RS: It honestly feels really good to make another film that is a step up. Does that make sense? It is always a challenge to figure out how to outdo ourselves when we make another film. I can't stand to just do the standard thing all the time. I put in 110 percent to stepping it up. I feel really good about it, like I represented all the riders really good. So how do I feel? This was by far the biggest project

Scott Byerly (click to enlarge)

ever. I had 16 hard drives hooked to my computer praying everyday that they would all make it to the end. One of the hard drives didn't, but thank God I label my tapes (laughs). But I really am waiting for the viewers to decide how they feel about this film. I feel that it is a very accurate representation of what wakeboarding is. Everybody start looking for it out on DVD around July 19th and decide for yourself.

PS: What kind of rider is Scott? What's he like to work with?
RS: Since we have been working together for so long, we are both professionals and friends in what we do. So I always look at him as a friend and forget what an idol/icon he is to everyone. I look at Scott as one of my good friends. We have had lots of good times and our families hang out together and I forget that he is a big shot. Like when he ties his shoes, everyone thinks it is really cool. But one of the

Scott Byerly (click to enlarge)

best traits of Scott is that he is a true friend that will always look out for you and cares about you. He will always be the first person looking out for you. You hear it from everyone. He is not selfish and he is not a back-stabber. He takes his friends really serious.

PS: Any last comments?
RS: All the friends, riders, and filmmakers in wakeboarding that mean so much to me, thanks to all of you for your contributions and for believing in me to make this movie. I would like to thank God for seeing me and my family through this project. Now that it is done, maybe I can be a dad again (laughs).

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