Name:
John Thompson

Location: Vancouver BC

Years riding: 12

Years filming and editing: 5

Blazeguard has been around for a couple of years now, right? How did the idea of it all come about?
The name actually came about a few years ago as a joke when a couple bro’s were tryin’ to light a blunt in some crazy wind and someone mentioned they needed some sorta Blazeguard and it just kinda stuck. After that it just turned into a huge joke between everyone and we just kinda ended up running with it haha.

When did you decide that you wanted to do a full length video instead of web edits? Is the name of the video going to be “Natural Born Chillers”?
I grew up watching bmx and skate vids until they squeaked in the vcr so I’ve always been all about full length videos. Its fun putting web edits together and I do believe they reach a wider audience if thats what your going for but its always nicer to have an actual video you can hold in your hand and show your friends. Besides it’ll probably just be on the web in a few weeks anyways so you get the best of both worlds haha. Natural Born Chillers was just a name we were throwing around one day, not really sure yet whether it’ll end up being the actual name of the video or not.

Who will all have clips in the video? Who will have full parts?
It’s hard to say at this point in filming who all will have full parts but so far Kym Grosser, Travis Sexsmith, Jordan Hango, Jason Teet and George/Louis Bolter will each have there own parts and there will be clips and possibly more from Mick Bayzand, Wade Lajlar, Sam Lowe, Brad Simms, Anthony Messere, Smith n’ Desson, Jono Hopping and a bunch of other people I probably just forgot.

How far along in filming are you? Have you set any deadlines for when the video needs to wrap up filming and editing?
We’re actually only a few months into filming right now with no real set deadlines or release date. We’re just gonna film until everyone feels like they’re happy with what they’ve got at which point I’ll do my best to put it all together and get it out there as quick as possible.

Have you guys done much traveling for the video? Where are some of the places you guys have been or plan on making it to before the video wraps up?
So far we’ve just been chillin’ at home here in Van all summer but come September Kym, Travis and I will be driving through the states for a few weeks down to Vegas with Brad Simms and Corey Bohan filming for The Set so hopefully we’ll get some Blazeguard clips during that trip. Not too long after that we’ll be heading down to Aussie for a few months and then who knows after that?

I’ve noticed in your last few Blazeguard edits that you have been producing some real high quality footage. What kind of camera(s) are you working with these days? What about lenses, lights, etc.?
I shoot most stuff on my HVX but just recently shot a few hundred feet of 35mm film on a Moviecam for the dvd as well. I occasionally run a Century .55 fisheye on the HVX and also have a couple old zeis prime lenses I use with a 35mm adaptor on the rare occasions I can get my hands on one. On the Moviecam I ran an Angenieux 14mm and 24-290mm zoom lens. I use a tripod as much a possible and have found myself using the glidecam more and more recently as I get a bit better with it. When it comes to lights I always prefer to use daylight balanced faye’s when I can but usually just end up using redhead’s since I have a few old ones in my stash.

Have you guys ran into any problems at all in the process of making the video?

There’s been a few injuries; Hango slit a tendon in the back of his hand at work and was out for over a month and Teet just broke his ankle the other day so he won’t be riding for awhile. Other than that things have been going pretty well tho its definitely been hard to get out filming a lot with everyone working full time.

Are you handling all of the filming and editing or are there others helping out on the project?
I’ll be handling all the filming and editing myself.

When can we expect to see the video out? Where will people be able to get their hands on it when it is out?
As I mentioned earlier there’s no real set release date yet but when it is finally out it should be available anywhere you can find The Set products.

Overall, if you had to pick, whose part are you most psyched on so far?
It’s hard to pick just one but I’m definitely really feelin’ the Kayden Kross bonus section.

What should people expect from this video?
A sweet time in front of their TV?

Any shout outs or thanks?
Yeah man definitely wanna give a shout out to all the bro’s and blazers out there. Thanks to my family and friends, Ride On, The Set and most of all to everyone I film with. And to anyone that’s ever hooked me up in a time of need or helped me out along the way…thanks.