Skate Kitchen – Outfest

By starrymag | August 7, 2018

By: Taylor Gates

 

 

Skate Kitchen (Cast)

 

Q) How did you all initially get involved with this project? I know there was a short film that came before this feature called This One Day, so how did that process work?

 

Rachelle Vinberg: We got to do the short film because [costar] Nina [Moran] and I were on the subway one day and [writer and director] Crystal Moselle saw us and asked if there were more girls like us and if we were interested in doing a project. She didn’t even know what project we were going to be doing, but then she got offered the Miu Miu Tales and we did that. After that, the programmer at Sundance, Yim Yutani, said, “You should make a feature.” Crystal became friends with us and saw our world and decided to create a movie out of it. It was kind of random.

 

Brenn Lorenzo: I was told about the short by [costar] Dede [Lovelace] and Nina about a director wanting to work on a project about skater girls. We all got together with Crystal and then did the Miu Miu short film That One Day and that’s when it was kind of formed. Afterward, the next summer, Crystal said she wanted to do a feature film and expand on what the short film was and we collaborated on that.

 

Q) So, you guys were all skating together before the movie even came about?

 

Vinberg: Yeah. The Skate Kitchen is actually a group we made up. We made the Instagram for it in 2016 before the movie was even a thing. The Skate Kitchen is a real thing and we just use it in the movie.

 

Q) How long have you been skating?

 

Lorenzo: My sister and I have been skating since we were eleven years old. We live in Florida and we saw our next-door neighbor doing it and thought it looked cool. We got some boards and he helped get us into it. We do a lot of transition skating since in Florida it’s a lot of flat ground. When we moved to New York, it was a really different skate scene, but it was really interesting. There were actually more girls. We’ve been skating for about eight years now.

 

Kabrina Adams: I’ve been skating since 2006, so it’s been awhile.

 

Q) What drew you guys to skating?

 

Adams: I saw Tony Hawk doing it on television, and I wanted to be pro and do it, too.

 

Q) Was this your first movie for the most part?

 

All: Yes.

 

Q) Wow. What were some of your favorite moments while shooting this?

 

Jani Lucid: The party scene. They said, “We’re going to set up the space—invite all your friends and it’ll be like an actual party.” And it was an actual party. They just said, “We’re just going to film this and see what comes of it.” They let us DJ it and they were like, “We’re gonna use these songs because they fit those moments in the movie just like real life.” It was very authentic.

 

Lovelace: Probably the party.

 

Lorenzo: God Skate Day was fun. Usually, on that day, we skate over the Williamsburg bridge, but that part was canceled this year in real life. Our crew let us do that while we filmed, and it reminded me of my first Go Skate Day. It brought back a lot of memories for myself, and allowed us to be surrounded by other skaters. That was my favorite moment. It was taken out of the movie. [Laughs] It’ll be my favorite deleted scene.

 

Q) Did you guys have a lot of input with the script?

 

Dede Lovelace: Yes. They pretty much sat us down individually and made sure what she was writing down correlated with our actual lives and personalities because she didn’t just want to make it her own project. She wanted to collaborate, and we had a large say in some of the scenes. We would tell her, “No, we wouldn’t say something like that. That wouldn’t happen.” She was very open with the script.

 

Q) I feel like that makes it so much more authentic and real. And the fact that you all were friends beforehand—it’s such a classic Hollywood story.

 

Lucid: Yeah, but now it’s weird. I worked on this other project and it was weird being around people I didn’t know during the whole production. [laughs]

 

Vinberg: And people will come up to us and be like, “It’s funny how you made Skate Kitchen after the movie.” And we’re like, “No.” They think it was created after the movie. It’s always interesting—some people know us from that, but today we were doing something with the LA Times and the girl knew us two years ago. She was like, “Oh, they’re doing the movie. I already know them.” It’s like this weird mix where we don’t really know where we fall. It’s a real thing, but there’s also a fantasy element of it.

 

Do you have any aspirations to keep acting or write your movies after working on this?

 

Lucid: I’ve been working on some projects since then.

 

Lovelace: I’ve been guest-starring on a Facebook series called “Strangers” releasing in August. I think I’m in episode eight.

 

Lorenzo: I’m very interested in screenwriting and directing. I just got a camera and my friends convinced me to really get on myself and start doing things. I’m also interested in music as well, writing and singing. I’m very into alternative music. And acting would be fun.

 

Jules Lorenzo: I do enjoy acting, but I’m more into music. I’ve always been into music, but I’m working on an EP I’m going to put out in August so I’m excited about that.

 

Adams: I do vlogging, I DJ, I do video games, business stuff. There’s a lot of stuff that I’m doing. I’m never tired or bored. I always have something to do. My calendar is too full.

 

Crystal Moselle – Writer, Director

 

Q) I heard the girls earlier saying you found them on a subway. What is it that really drew you to them?

 

A) I think it was pretty incredible to see a group of girls that had a skateboard in their hand. You don’t see that very often. You do a lot more now—things are shifting really fast—but it was this dynamic that you don’t usually see. And Nina [Moran], who plays Kurt in the movie, has the most incredible voice. When she speaks, you are just instantly drawn to what she’s saying. I just thought they were cool and went up to them and was like, “Would you guys be interested in doing some sort of video project or something?” And they were into it.

 

Q) I know it was a short film, too. Did you always have plans for that or was that something that happened organically?

 

A) I thought I wanted to do a documentary, but then I showed the film to Kim Yutani from Sundance who said, “What are you doing? You need to make this into a feature film. This is a feature film. You can do this.” So, I said, “Okay. I can do this.” And a year later, here I am. I made it happen.

 

Q) Wow! Congratulations. Did you always want to work in the young adult genre?

 

A) No, I just want to tell stories. Whatever comes my way, comes my way. I do love teenagers and think that teens who are passionate about something are incredibly inspiring for me, but at the end of the day I really just want to tell interesting stories, whether that be a documentary or fiction version of it. I’ll tell them in whatever way the story dictates.

 

Q) Did you have any fictional girl squads that you loved growing up?

 

A) Hmm, not really. I love coming-of-age films where you’re figuring things out, but there’s not a girl squad movie that I can think of right now.

 

Q) Do you have any advice for aspiring writers or directors?

 

A) Just make stuff. Don’t think about it too much. Just continue to make things. Create things. Make short pieces—things that are thirty minutes long or thirty seconds or one minute.

 

 

 

Tan trench coat: writer/director Crystal Moselle

White shirt: Rachelle Vinberg “Camille”

Black bikini top: Jules Lorenzo “Eliza”

Small red sunglasses: Brenn Lorenzo “Quinn”
Black jacket: Dede Lovelace “Janay”

Blue pants: Jani Lucid

Bandana: Kabrina Adams/Moonbear