Let’s start from the beginning – where did the name for the video come from, and is there any kind of hidden meaning behind it?

The name for the video was a happy accident, thanks to Andy Coleman. I had been having a lot of trouble coming up with something to call the project for a while; it needed to reflect the gritty and rough textures of the footage and the places we were filming in. Andy was walking through Little Paradise, a street in Bristol, and sent me photographs of the area and the street sign; I fell in love with it straight away. The look of the place is so shitty, but it’s beautifully shitty.

When did you decide that you were going to following up Perfect Blues with a second full-length project? And was everyone involved keen from the get go, or did it build stage by stage?

I wanted to immediately correct the issues I had with Perfect Blues – I think it had too many people involved, and it ended up being something that I wasn’t that stoked on. However, I learnt a lot from it, so I’m glad it happened.

I needed to make a video that reflects what I want to see and something that I could be proud of. I hit up Andy, Jess and Nicky first, and as word got around, everyone else was keen. I explained the direction and feel I wanted, and it made sense to keep it small and focus on what we all wanted to see in a video.

Manhead was filming for the National Skateboard Co. video for a good proportion of the process; I’m so pleased that he managed to get a full part together for us as well. Ryan Price was a late addition, he was very persistent and demanded that he should have a part in the video, too. The nutcase filmed his part in 9 months!

Watching it in the Cinema last night it almost felt like a video for an extended scene. It seems like Get Lesta offer a similar sort of deal for their crew, with the days of UK board brand full lengths being few and far between.

I completely agree. My main focus was always Jess, Andy, Nicky, Ryan, Manhead and Snadz, but I made a conscious effort to include people who are really good friends that I felt should be featured in the video. It’s really something when you watch two and a half years’ worth of footage condensed into 26 minutes of really good and really shit memories!

I’m not going to say that it was an easy ride, I can’t even begin to imagine the total time spent filming and the money that was spent on petrol, plane tickets, train tickets and food by everyone. Not to mention the various health issues! We didn’t set out to make any money from the video, we did it purely to create something physical that people could hold and keep on their shelves, rather than an online video that could be potentially forgotten within a week.

When I arrived at the cinema on Sunday the first thing I saw was one of the Little Paradise boards that you’ve had done through A Third Foot. I guess the relationship was already there as the video features three of their riders.  What are the plans for this board? Is it just hype for the project and given to everyone involved as a wall hanger, or is this a ‘for sale’ collaboration with ATF?

I can’t thank Ken and Joel (owners of A Third Foot) enough for all of the support they’ve given us, and we’re all so stoked that the board idea became a reality.

To backtrack a bit, when I was asking around for sponsors of the video, A Third Foot was an obvious choice. Ken pitched the idea of producing the boards rather than just financially backing the DVD production. The boards will be on sale very soon; hopefully the DVD release and boards should be available at the same time.

Whilst on the subject of sponsorship, the video was supported by DC and Venture, right?

The DC sponsorship was hooked up by Snaddon. Having Nicky and Snadz in the video was something that DC just couldn’t say no to, (laughs). Venture was hooked up by Alan Glass at Shiner. Alan is like a father figure to me in terms of skateboard filming and he managed to convince Shiner/Venture to back the project.

Given that Nicky, Andy, Jess and Snadz all ride Venture, it made sense I guess.

Like most things in 2016, the video is filmed in HD. Does format matter to you? Do you care? Or is it all about the skating and getting a nice clean final production?

For me personally, I love the 16:9 frame size and the compositions you can achieve with it. I’ve never thought that one format is better than the other. VX footage is sick but HD just works better for me.

Although my main style in this video was handheld to give a rougher feel, I did want the video to have production values. The colour grade on the video is very gritty and quite desaturated to give even more emphasis on the textures and look of the spots. I don’t have the patience to capture tapes anymore!

So, when’s the DVD out and how widely are you hoping to distribute it?

The DVD has just been sent to the replicators, so I’m guessing that it will be available in a couple of week’s time. The awesome humans at Rock Solid are going to be handling all of the distribution, I guess the best bet for anyone looking to buy a copy is to keep an eye on social media or contact Rock Solid direct.

After a project spanning several years, there’s always a sense of being at a bit of a loss once all of the work is done. Are you ready to fill that void and start on the next project, or are you going to have a nice chilled out winter?

The plan is to most definitely chill out. I’m not planning on filming again until the new year. I need to spend some quality time with the wife and my family, as I’ve been absent for a lot of things whilst filming for this video.

I’d like to thank everyone who came to the premiere and everyone that has supported the video along the way. Extra special thanks to everyone in the video, Wes Morgan, Alan Glass, Chris Johnson, Ken and Joel at A Third Foot, Jimmy Tatts, Kenny Selway, Ben Powell, Ryan Gray and Bex Harris.