ONE Staff / July 30th, 2012 / Events
Jon Julio talks about The Blading Cup

Jon, even before this latest news about the Fox Sports airtime came out, you told us that the city of Santa Ana had been very supportive of getting the event back — even helping out with a different location, etc. It sounds like the inaugural event left a good impression on the community. Can you elaborate on that at all?
The land owners in the area have been very supportive. In 2011, this type of event in a downtown area such as Santa Ana seemed unrealistic, but thanks to both the city and the land owners this event has become a reality. Last year, the Blading Cup definitely left a lasting impression on everyone in the area. We basically set up ramps, brought over 1000 people there and held a skating contest. The next day we broke down the ramps and left the area wondering where we came from.

With the success of it all I did learn a lot and this year we are getting a lot of support from the local businesses and land owners, especially now that TV is involved. They are going to help make sure the event runs even smoother.

Along those lines, can you explain to everyone how the TV side came into focus?
It really came from the land owners here in Santa Ana wanting the contest again, but it’s also a struggle to raise the necessary funds to pay for the event.

Last year we funded the event. By WE I mean the industry. 100% of the event was funded by the industry, and we barely scrapped by with the amount we raised. So, knowing that situation, I knew it would be hard to raise enough for this year’s event.

Over the past year I stayed in contact with the land owners. They were very adamant on having the event again and were already going to help with a lot of the logistical costs.

About a month ago, I was watching the Blading Cup edit on my laptop. I decided to really try and reach out to see if I could get some support from outside our industry.

I got a few emails back but the most promising obviously was from ASA Entertainment. They really liked the event. A destination city like Santa Ana is a perfect place to feature an event like this as well.

So they offered the Blading Cup a specific time slot to be featured on their Fox Sports Network block, sometime in November.

The hard part of all of this was to see if I was able to re-create last year’s event (*with better ramps) plus recruit a production team to film and edit a TV-ready show. This was the catch and challenge.

Who all will be participating in the production, and what will they be doing?
I know finding a TV production company is not cheap, but with the help of many of our blading friends whom are already in the television industry, we are now able to produce a show. To name a few that will be on the production team are Dave Paine, Sayer Danforth, Drew Bachrach, Justin Lomax, Ivan Narez and Billy Kostka. You might recognize a few of those names. We are still recruiting more as well.

As you can see, 100% of the production crew is bladers. At the end of it all, we will have a production for television made by bladers.

This would be a first time ever. Pretty exciting, huh? We will also have representatives from ASA/FOX on site when we are filming the show.

Now within raising a budget and finding people to donate time and equipment, we are capable of having the Blading Cup 2012 on Fox Sports Network.

The Blading Cup 2012 would not be possible without all of these stars aligning together.

What’s the big picture goal for the show?
Man, there is a lot on our shoulders in a way because we can all see this as an entry for blading back onto TV in the USA. Hopefully, if we do a good job, this will open more doors.

I’ve been discussing the concept of the show with the production team and we all seem to be on the same page.

We don’t need a 100% contest driven show. Blading needs more than that. It’s going to be an hour show so we will have a good amount of time to portray what is happening in Blading. The pros, the lifestyle, the industry, and of course the Blading Cup.

There are plenty of questions to be answered within the show…
Who? What? When? Where? How? And, Why?

We can do this in the show and have a great contest in the mix of it all. This will put us into a great position for a great show.

Overall we need positive ratings. ASA has already been re-airing old ASA Finals contest shows on Fox in the same time block. The shows have been receiving good ratings so far, so maybe this is a good sign for us all.

Has there even been this level of mainstream exposure where a blader has had 100% creative control?
I really have no idea. We just have to be sure that the production quality is top notch so that it will be ready for TV.

On one of the blade sites, since the news broke, there’s been concern about the ramps/course looking as legit as possible. Will the course be similar to last year, or are there other plans in place to improve on what came before?
This is where raising the money comes in. If we can raise enough money, then we can be in a position to have a great course. If you are interested in contributing or know of anyone who might be interested in being a sponsor please contact us at : get@themgoods.com

Anything else we should know about? Or any other details you’d like to add?
I hope as many bladers can make it out as possible. It’s important that we have a big presence on the day of the shooting. We will also have an “open” category like last year; if you enter and you well you can advance to the pro category for cash and prizes. So please spread the word and I hope to see you all there in Santa Ana on October 6th! Let’s make it a great show!

Thanks for your time and support.

Blading Cup 2012
October 6th 2012
In-between East 3rd St. and 4th St.
In front of the Yost Theatre
Santa Ana, Ca. 92701
Bladingcup.com
Sponsorship and Contributions:
Contact: Get@themgoods.com

Thanks, Jon. Good luck with everything and we’ll see you at the Cup!

Discussion / Jon Julio talks about The Blading Cup

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  • tyler - July 30th, 2012

    this event was SICK last year. i saw famous faces everywhere. really hoping i’ll be able to attend this year. i know that funding was tight last year, maybe this year they could organize a donation bbq or something?

  • Alan Hughes - July 30th, 2012

    Sounds dope!

  • akari - July 30th, 2012

    Aloha One,

    This is amazing news for me. I will be heading over from Oahu to be a part of this years blade cup. Keep us all updated on sign ups for the open. will there be a trade show too?

    I will be having my competition in Hawaii mid August.

    Thank you,

  • beau cottington - July 31st, 2012

    I am part if the crew too just FYI there ONE.

  • Jiri Volejnik - July 31st, 2012

    Good news, good news. Best of luck to Jon and the crew!

  • James - July 31st, 2012

    yeh BLADING back to TVland 2012!!

  • Rob Zbranek - July 31st, 2012

    The Big Boss doing BIG things for the blading game! Love goes out to all those behind the scenes too! Cheers One and Julio!

  • Mike morgan - July 31st, 2012

    This sounds like it could use a kickstarter.

  • joe tallman - August 2nd, 2012

    If they put up a kickstarter I would donate and i think most bladers would do the same.

  • Marc Edwards - August 6th, 2012

    Jon, hopefully you will read this if not, can someone pass it on? I just wanted to make sure that this video passed under your eye during the creation process, it is definitely the most exciting video work on blading I have ever seen.
    https://vimeo.com/37026099
    This combined with the camera skills of Vinny Minton, and this fella
    https://vimeo.com/12989540
    I see working really well!
    All the best with the project, cannot wait to see it.

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