ROBBIE MORALES INTERVIEW

Robbie and I have talked a little bit through email about the BMX video world and the idea came up to do an interview with that theme. Check it out:

1) You have so far put out 4 videos through Fit; F-IT, the Barcelona video, the Puerto Rico trip and now Fit Life. When the first 3 videos came out video piracy in BMX was in it's infancy and nowhere near as wide-spread as it is now. As far as you can tell has this new technology affected the sales of Fit Life?

Ironically it may have helped. Right before the release and when we were doing the purchase order for how many FITLIFE dvds to order, I was a bit skeptical on sales. Fortunately its doing well so the piracy may have sparked some increased interest.


2) How do you feel when you see links to your video posted on BMX messageboards? Are you happy that the video is popular enough for kids to take the time to rip it or are you bummed out that kids aren't supporting rider owned companies?

Honestly I think back to when I was young and I never understood everything that goes on behind the scenes at companies. So much work goes in so when its ripped it's shocking but I doubt riders are malicious. They just want to see some rad shit, so I'm down for that.Hopefully it's so good ya want to buy the real thing, especially if there's bonus stuff that ya can't get online, like with packaging and stuff.

3) There was recently a BMX site hosted by a kid from Europe up for a few months that had links to a lot of current videos on it that was shut down. His argument was that videos are extremely expensive and take forever to get overseas and that he just wanted kids over there to be able to see the newest videos without getting gouged, what would you say to him in regards to him having the Fit video posted on his site?

I mean yeah its a bit harsh to throw it on there, but I want as many people as possible to see what FITLIFE is about. So fuck it, post it up, shit Mikey Aitken fell off a bridge for this bitch...

4) Skate videos are even easier to get online than bike videos, as far as you can tell, do skateboard company owners feel the pinch in terms of sales that some bike companies claim to?

I doubt it, the profit margins are bigger on skate decks so they can eat a loss on vids... For us it may get to the point where we just write it off but its scary dumping 30 G's into a project with the possibility of little return...

5) What are the measures you can potentially take once a video has been posted on a site like Youtube? Is it worth the trouble to contact Youtube or Google to try and have it taken down or is it too much hassle?

I didn't even bother, I got plenty of emails with instructions to email Youtube and Google and threaten them with legal action. Thanks to the riders who emailed in but this a new thing ( piracy ) and my stance was to let it be...

6) Some companies are moving towards putting their videos out for cheap ( Mosh, Lotek, Rodeo Peanut ) or free ( Animal road trip ), perhaps in response to decreased video sales. Have you considered going that route in the future?

Possibly our next vid will be a freeo... I know I would be psyched to get a free dvd...

7) Fitlife used a lot of songs which I can't imagine you got the music rights for. Why did you decide to take that risk instead of going the route of say, Props who license all their songs? How high is the risk of getting busted?

Risk is high but FITLIFE was so important to me and the riders, I wanted them to be represented with no restrictions. I have been a part of videos with cleared music and it usually sucked so I winged it on this one...

One more thing, I think the future of BMX videos is getting better... As long as people want to learn to film, edit and be creative we can get some good shit done... Websites like The Come Up BMX help also to get more content out to the masses... Seems like riders are taking in to their own hands, the way it should be.

Thanks to Robbie for the interview.

Discuss this post on The Come Up Board by clicking here.