Thrasher Magazine

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

A marquee? We haven’t seen that in a while

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

John 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

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

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

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

Not 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

You 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

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

The 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

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

Canaan Hernandez and VA, an East LA power couple

Dan 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

Carlisle Aikens, ladies and gentlemen. The sign doesn’t lie

Mason 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

Drink ‘em, look at ‘em or even pour ‘em out. Free beer is free beer

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

Unfortunately, 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

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

Breezy 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

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

Erik Herrera, a man who always has an extra beer for his homies

Not 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

Ish Cepeda loves any excuse to go to the movies

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

Flaco had to get Erik hyped up for his first theater performance

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

As always, a lot of competition for my job

But don’t worry, I got it too

One last rev before making our way out there

"Bunny Hop on three!"

The Chocolate team in 2021, basking in their big moment

And from the looks of it, we got a full house

With Bunny Hop being a nod to Keenan, it’s definitely starting strong

And finishing even stronger!

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

Fan-favorite Jordan Trahan taking advantage of the VIP smoking section

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

Hell, everyone loved this one. A standing ovation was in order

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

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

If it’s not bolted down, it’s fair game for just about anything

Once the video was over, the smoking section out front blew up

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

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

Two generations of Crailtap—Jeron and Carlisle

Ando 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

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

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

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

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

Things 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

But 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

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

Making my way inside, the dance floor was heating up

I 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!

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

…the surprise of a lifetime!

Sure, maybe he had an idea it was going down

But still, a valid excuse to let the tongue out

And it would truly be nothing without a support system that can lift you up

Literally!

It’s gotta be pretty emotional to have Rickk turning you pro

Not to mention your face drawn out by Hecox

You know tears were shed all around. Congrats, Carl, we love you!

And 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!