The Avit DVD - over 2 hours of UK skateboarding.
Available to buy now.

Featuring: chris atherton, andy scott, ollie tyreman, eddie belvedere, rob smith, mike sutcliffe, sean smith, amir williams, oggy, andy mac, josh parr, tom watts, matt harfield, bernard wrigley, sam reynolds, johnny mental, robert englund, joe nobes, john cattle, dennis atherton, tez, phil greg, jackie olson, carl kearney, rob elmer, dave allen, steven wilkinson, pete dosset, sean goff, bod, jasper, and many more...

Additional filming: tez, dennis atherton, ollie tyreman, big bird, rob smith, budd ss20, andy mac, alan christenson, james cheatham, john cattle

Read the Sidewalk review below...

Sidewalk magazine - unedited Avit DVD review

A journey into the depths of Avi’s brilliant mind.

What Is It?

Good question. Without watching it yourself it’s hard to describe exactly what it is. First of all I wouldn’t refer to it as a video, it’s more of an experience, and the closest experience I could compare it to would be dropping a couple of micro-dots and sitting in Accrington library whilst Avi shows you a compressed history of the Lancashire skate scene from the year 2000 to the present day. Those of you who bore witness to Karmas “Shit on the Lens” video a few years back will already know that Avi’s filming and editing styles are a whole world away from the clean cut Transworld-esque, high end production values that you are no doubt used to. If you are only interested in skating that is represented by the most up-to-date technological advancements and set to the latest popular musical trend then turn away now. If you’re quite keen to let Avi warp your mind with Lancashire folk music, Hi-8 footage and some outside the box skating, then step inside…

Who’s On It?

Chris “Avi” Atherton, Andy Mac, Andy Scott, Eddie Belvedere, Josh Parr, Tez, Rob Smith, Ollie Tyreman, Sam Reynolds, Mike Sutcliffe, Matt Harfield and about 5,000 other people, ranging from total unknowns to fully fledged US superstars. Oh, and a pickled egg.

Highlights

The first thing you’ll notice about this production is that there appears to be little of the conventional “structure” that you’ve come to expect from modern videos. There are sections dotted about in and amongst the madness and magic, but you soon realise Avi has edited this as he wants to watch it, so, for instance, you get the same trick reappearing three or four times depending on whether it was deemed appropriate to reuse it. Most of the video is montage based, so there’s plenty of Bolton park footage from days gone by, as well as the worst excuses for spots I’ve ever seen in my life getting torn apart. On the section-based front, Eddie Belvedere has a collection of solid older footage in here, as does long time London resident and one time Bolton local Mike Sutcliffe. Ollie Tyreman has grown so much over the past few years that I had to double take when his section started. The almost fully-grown man that we’ve come to know is replaced for a few minutes by an Ollie of long ago, where jumping off school roofs, kickfliping head height drops and stalefishing everything in sight were the norm. Have it ex-Gegs Man!

As the sole creator and tour guide of this wonderful experience, Avi has a majestic section in addition to a fair amount of footage scattered throughout the DVD. If you saw the aforementioned Karma video, or his interview in Sidewalk a few years back, you’ll already be aware that Avi has one of the most interesting and creative minds in British skateboarding and is more concerned with unearthing intriguing terrain than contributing to the hammers list at the latest hot spot. Prepare yourself for plenty of bizarre lines at Bolton and Burnley, the destruction of stereotypical cobbled Lancashire alleyways and alternative uses for street furniture that will leave you in a state of disbelief.

Talking of disbelief, when was the last time you saw a large concentration of Andy Scott footage in one place? Even better than that, when was the last time you saw a full Andy Scott section? I can safely say that Avit is home to the largest amount of Andy Scott footage to date; between the various montages, vert crew section, and the actual Andy Scott section (yes, you read that right) there must be close to 20 minutes worth of footage here, all of it as ridiculous as ever. Impossible lines at Warrington, vert daftness from all over the country and Bolton mini ramp wizardry are all performed with the ever familiar, effortless style that still manages to leave you wanting to see more. It’s been stressed countless times in these pages that Andy Scott is quite possibly the most under-rated British skateboarder ever, so if the thought of witnessing a full section of his skateboarding doesn’t have you literally throwing your ten pounds at Avi in exchange for one of his magic discs, you need to start asking yourself some serious questions.

So, I’m almost 800 words deep in this review, I must have covered pretty much everything, right? Wrong. I’ve probably mentioned about 1/4 of what’s in the main feature, ignored the fact that it has footage from every single demo to pass through Bolton, talked nothing about the bonus sections from Sam “Darkslider” Reynolds and Josh Parr, and not even touched upon the half of the DVD that is simply titled “Don’t Enter”, which takes you on a nice stroll up to the top of Pennines and back again and features a whole host of random edits, bits of comedy, more unseen footage and some mind boggling title screens, all of it warped into shape by Avi’s wonderful mind.

Overall

I was dreading writing this review for the simple fact that there is so much going on here that it’s nigh on impossible to summarise it all in a few hundred words. The cover claims there’s two hours of content, though I’m guessing that with all the extra bits and pieces and any hidden edits that are yet to be found, we could be looking at double that. Granted, this is not going to be to everybody’s taste, as I mentioned right at the beginning, if you only feel comfortable watching more standard productions, you’re probably best staying away. But who knows? Give it a watch anyway, you might just enjoy it!

I must point out again that I know there’s tons of other stuff I should mention, such as the music, the subliminal bits, the pickled egg and the legendary Bolton fullpipe, but there’s no way I could include everything in detail. There are so many sections and so much footage here that you really need to sit down, explore it for yourself and make of it what you will. Avi has put more time and effort into crafting this masterpiece than any of us will ever know, send your internet browser in the direction of http://www.avitvideo.com to wet your feet and purchase the whole ride. And remember: Andy Scott section…

Or you can buy the DVD on eBay here

Or e-mail me to pay by cheque or postal order.