IT star Jack Dylan Grazer is quickly becoming an “It boy young actor.” With roles in the popular IT horror movies, DC Comics superhero film Shazam!, and now HBO’s We Are Who We Are, Grazer sure is solidifying and manifesting his place in Hollywood.
In a world where everything can change in an instant, athletes become heroes of their crafts with down-to-the-wire plays. But what truly christens them as great doesn’t appear on a scoreboard or podium, according to Apple TV+’s latest documentary series, Greatness Code.
Brooklyn’s The House of Vans filled with New York’s finest skaters and laypeople Monday to witness the premiere of indie filmmaker Crystal Moselle’s debut feature film “Skate Kitchen.” The screening was complete with plenty of skating (on and off the screen) free booze, snacks, a Q+A session with the cast and a live performance by Jaden Smith.
Street League Skateboarding (SLS) Nike SB World Tour took place in New Jersey’s Prudential Center.
As curators of Men’s hygiene product: Dove Men + Care – among others – met to discuss new advances in the field of men’s grooming, The Knockturnal was present to all newfound information.
Atop the gorgeous display of accommodations that is Kimpton’s Ink 48, personalities such as Rob Candelino, Dr. Glynis Ablon, Hugo Soul and Andy Schrock were not only in attendance, but had their say regarding the evolution and subsequent fixation of men’s hair-care in the modern day grooming industry and contemporary society. Nice hair is a necessity. The event was headed by Rob Candelino – Vice President of Marketing and general manager of Unilever’s Hair Care business.
We were introduced to an array of hair-care facts; stress and emotional factors; becoming more conscious of our precious manes – and more. Overall, along with being presented statistical data corresponding to the increase of men’s hair-related questions on Google Search, and a new commercial for the Dove Men + Care brand, we bore witness to an exciting and very informative panel.
After the hype died down, The Knockturnal had the chance to sit down with Youtube super-star Andy Schrock – and discuss further his thoughts on the panel, the commercial; his ambitions for the future of his skateboard company and his channel.
How did you like the panel?
Andy: Oh – it was awesome, you know. Like I said – like, I’m really excited to be here with Dove Men + Care and I believe in what the company stands for; the modern day man; the evolved man; fatherhood. And then, the panel – I didn’t know how it was going to go. The commercial was in it’s own little world and this was the first big media thing I’ve ever been to but it’s been so laid-back. I had a good time.
How did you get involved with this study?
Andy: I do Youtube videos – it’s been going so well and I love doing videos every single day. And I do a lot of videos with my son. So, they contacted me and talked to me to see if I was interested in it – and I’m very selective about who I work with. And then, when I saw the attitude and what the company stood for – what the brand stood for – Dove Men + Care – I was on board. It was very honest; very authentic, you know. I loved it. So, they wanted to do the commercial and they told me about the campaign – I believed in it all. A few months later, I got flown out to do the commercial in LA – and I’ve been working with them ever since.
How was that process?
Andy: It’s fun. It was my first one and it’s always been a dream to get into acting and commercial work here and there. And to do it with my kid was awesome. And they were all about family, you know – like bring the family along – and it’s a really cool process. It was a bit overwhelming at first – like the wardrobe day to see all the attention to detail that goes in and all that stuff. But yeah, the shooting – it was a 17 day work day. It was grueling. Even the shower scene at the end (of the commercial) was an hour and a half of the time in the shower. I was like “this is grueling” but it was a blast the whole way. The whole experience was really cool. What I try to portray online, with video – I mean, they’re all honest – there’s nothing fake. Everything that you see that I do with my son and my family online is real. And it kinda felt the same way – you know – it resonates. That’s the word right there. We’ve clicked on that.
Tell us about your time at Youtube. Do you find it all easy to manage?
Andy: No. My time on Youtube sometimes is easy, other times its super difficult. Last night my plane got canceled, so I almost didn’t make it today – and I finally got here at 1:00 – 1:30 – in the morning; and then I had to do Youtube. So it’s like: in times like that, it’s tough, you know. But I do a video every day. I make a habit. And along with running the companies – I sacrifice sleep before family-time or I always spend time on my work.
So you have a schedule you adhere to?
Andy: 3:30am eastern standard time – every single day.
Tell us about the content you upload.
Andy: I started doing skateboarding – and I added a personality to it to try to appeal to people that didn’t skateboard. And then, from there on I did skits, prank videos – which is me making a fool of myself in public; it was just fun. And then – once I had my little guy, I started getting him in videos here and there and I didn’t think they were gonna blow up and I didn’t think I was gonna be as big as I did. And then everything just started going; so eventually, I turned my Youtube channel into anything that I find interesting. It’s just a channel on my life. And – a lot of skating; a lot of family stuff; a lot of traveling – wherever I’m going.
Will this panel effect how you do certain things on the channel?
Andy: I don’t think it’ll change a lot of how I do and conduct things – because from the get-go, I’ve already clicked with how they stand on the “evolved man”; how you take care of your hair and yourself – that’s everything I’ve believed in then and I’m going to continue to believe in it. And, you know – I might drive the message home a little harder to help out – because I really believe in what Dove Men + Care is doing with this. So, I could say it can only add to it.
What would you consider to be one of the more important ways of taking care of your hair in a general sense?
Andy: She ( Dr. Glynis Abalon) said it best with the precaution – you know, actually taking a moment to thinking about what you can do. Like, making sure your shampoo has conditioner in it. I’ve been using Dove Men + Care thick and strong – and it’s actually helped. In the commercial, Ryden was tugging on my hair and you could see strands of hair in his grasp. Okay – he was really tugging on it for a few minutes straight. He did it again the other day because we were talking about that commercial. He just jumped on my head; pulled on it – and it was great because no hair came out. So it was like – I saw it. That’s literally proof, you know? It was amazing to see. So just take a moment; think about what you’re putting in the hair and be consistent. Make sure you’re massaging, you know – like taking the time to care for your hair.
Going back to when Ryden was tugging on your hair – did you just start using this brand?
Andy: I’d just started using it – I didn’t know. I was so ignorant to taking care of the hair that I just went with the flow. I then started using Dove Men + Care – and it was in the early stages of it. I just started using it. And months later – after using it for months – it completely worked.
Were there any difficulties behind expanding your skateboard brand?
Andy: Yeah, it’s been weird. I didn’t go to school for business. I went to school for language and communication. And I started getting popular on Youtube and I was like – I didn’t know what to do – I don’t know how to run a company; and eventually I was like “whatever” I’ll do it. Once I started doing it, things were going right. I made the best decisions I could and as I saw potential I contacted my partner and life-long friend and he was able to come in and we bumped heads and really came up with some good plans. And it’s been nothing but uphill since. I have wonderful people that work with me on it and help me make it happen. But yeah – every year brings new dilemmas; we figure it out, and we do what it takes. I’ve been skating since I was 14 so that’s 18 years now.
You gonna get Ryden into it?
Andy: I’m not gonna force Ryden into anything he doesn’t wanna do. But he does naturally want to skate. He likes going to the skatepark – so I dunno. Whatever his heart wants, I would want to support him if he has a passion for it.
What new things did you learn from the panel?
Andy: With the panel, I virtually got to see all the information and statistics before-hand but the one thing on the panel that I learned that blew my mind was that 50 percent of guys still use soap to wash their hair. I was like – woah; if I had no other options, I’d use soap but that doesn’t even seem like an option to me you know – like, you know – shampoo and conditioner. That was what stood out to me the most – like woah.
Are you still using Dove Men + Care?
Andy: Yep. Dove Men + Care Thick & Strong is my go-to.
Paul Rodriguez
After partnering up with men’s lifestyle brand AXE, professional skateboarder Paul Rodriguez, also known as P-Rod was in New York Wednesday, April 30, 2014 for a special launch event in honor of his new signature collection AXE Kilo. The six- time X Games medal winner captivated onlookers at Bathhouse Studios in Alphabet City with his “street” skateboarding skills, as he is famously known for.
With a steadily growing brand, P-Rod explained how his innate attraction to the sport as a young kid ultimately became after purchasing his first board, daily visits to his neighborhood skateboard shop, networking with other skaters, and watching skate videos helped to cultivate his now empire. The nonstop wet weather outside could not avert the skateboard junkies from lurking.
After a quick shake off, all was swell and in motion on the inside. Music, food,
beverages and goody bags were rendered while bystanders circulated the multi-level event space. After working up a sweat taking on the purpose-built skatepark with street skateboarding elements, Knockturnal.com had the chance to sit down with P- Rod himself for a quick Q&A.
Q: How did the business collaboration with AXE and your brand come about?
Paul: Through my Target endorsement, I don’t know who approached who about it, but I was contacted about doing a brand take-over with AXE within Target. It sounded cool to me, so I was like sure. And after deciding to go forward with the collaboration, I asked if I could collab with one of my favorite artists Mister Cartoon, because I don’t really fancy myself as a creative, kind of branding-marketing-packaging kind of guy, so I figured I knew the right person for that. I was thankful that he accepted it; he did some of his classic pieces, murals and stuff, which put a little flavor of both him and I into it. And that was really it.
Q: What are some of your hopes for your other newest venture Primitive Skateboarding that you launched just a few weeks ago (April 10)?
Paul: I got to a point in my career where I just wanted to take ownership of myself, I wanted to have a piece of me. So this was a great place to begin. Owning my own boards, after all, this is what I’m known for. Although I loved my sponsors, I am still in the prime stages of my career, been in the game for a while, I just felt that it was time to step away so that I could figure out my next move.
And since I had already been with Primitive, the store was already making a name for itself, it just made sense, why not make Primitive Skateboards and just grow that brand. There was already a great infrastructure there, so all the pieces seemed to come together. My partners do a great job so I can still focus on skateboarding, I don’t have to be in the office all the time. Now I have a chance to also find new talent, grow them, and help make their dream come true like my dream was able to.
Q: Why “street” skating over the other types of skateboarding categories within your sport?
Paul: Well I picked street skating because it was initially the type of skating that I was drawn to. Street skaters are the guys jumping down the stairs, gliding on the handrails, and you know just out on the streets skating on raw city terrain. And then you have the half pipe skaters, vert-ramp skaters, transition skaters, and then there are people who can just do it all. I wish I did it all, but I just kind of grew up skating street, it was more my passion, more appealing to me, and I think it has more swag to it.