Tony Hawk

Dogtown and Z-Boys

The 2001 documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys captures the development of skateboarding from surfing and rogue street culture in California in the 1970s to its pervasive presence in American pop culture. The legendary Z-Boys skateboarding team hailed from a run-down beachside section of Los Angeles, and was made up of ten boys and one girl, most from broken homes. The crew ignored the traditional upright stance and came up with low-to-the-ground movements and the high-flying stunts that gave way to the extreme skateboarding, snowboarding, and trick biking styles of today. Dogtown revisits the skaters today, some of whom parlayed their talents into lucrative careers, like Tony Alva, who started his own skate gear company. Others were not so lucky, like the scene's golden boy, Jay Adams, who is serving a prison term for drug-related charges. The film is full of vintage photos and film footage—journalists Craig Stecyk and Glen E. Friedman were part of the scene—and was directed by Stacy Peralta, one of the most commercially successful skateboarders and an original Z-Boy.