Julien Cudot recently dropped a VOD project called Footmoon created with Vincent Romain that showcased his skating during a trip throughout Mexico. Now take a look behind the scenes as Julien describes the process and travels that brought the section to life, all the way from a soft commitment to whirlwind trip, including the session that convinced Julien he wanted to really take the project seriously. It’s an interesting glimpse into the workings of this fiercely competitive blader’s mind, so our thanks to Julien for taking time to put this together!

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In the summer of 2022 Vincent Romain (aka Tigrou or Tiger) visited me in Paris. Vincent is an OG street skater and videographer from France living in Mexico, and he was talking about making a short film about inline skating.

That conversation ended with me accepting an invitation to serve as the project’s main character and travel to his place in Bacalar for filming. But the question was “when?” At the time I was planning a trip to South America starting with World Championship in Buenos Aires, then visiting Patagonia afterwards to start the SA trip. So I didn’t know when I would be able to head north meet and Vincent.

About a month before I was scheduled to leave for Argentina my old friend Fritz Peitzner reached out, inviting me to Dallas the week after the World Championship for the Carriers Open, the competition named after his second skate shop. It clicked — I called Vincent to let him know I’d go to Mexico right after Dallas; Patagonia could wait.

The trip got off to a good start in Buenos Aires where I won my first World Pro Championship title. Then I headed to Dallas — specifically Plano, to the exact same street where I won the Amateur World Championship 16 years ago at the famous Eisenberg’s Skatepark.

In Texas the first-ever Carriers Open is a success and I take second place. Then it’s a very intense week of filming street to get the “Sauce Dallas” section done. Finally I get to relax in preparation for a flight to Cancun, Mexico for what should be a month of vacation and a few sessions here and there.

You see, I said yes to the project but it’s Vincent’s gig. I’m okay for him to film me whenever he wants, but I have no expectations or standards I’m trying to reach. At this point I really don’t understand what it’s going to be about.

For the first couple days in Cancun we take it easy, having a few sessions but no big clips, still in the same “vacation” mood.

In Playa De Carmen, we (Vincent, Stephane and I) are welcome by Alex, a skater and tattoo artist, and his friends. 

Acclimating to the setting, I’m getting some nice chill tricks and starting to visualize the potential of a full section. Maybe there is something we can do with this one month trip.

We filmed interviews and a few street and park clips in Bacalar/Chetumal, which is a mix of most amazing landscapes and waterspots. It is a very peaceful place.

Things are different in CDMX (Mexico city), the big city where there are tons of spots/skateparks/skaters. Backpain is giving me some trouble but we are stacking my best clips of the trip. By now I’ve decided I want a full section, and a great one. I’ll do my best to make it happen. From then on that’s allI can really think about, searching for spots in the cities we plan to visit, taking screenshots to show locals, and adding them to my list.

By Monterrey the team had grown. There were more Frenchies with Hadrien and Thomas, and we are about to introduce our first Mexican recruit, the sick ass street skater Fraï Gomez.

With another city full of spots, we were welcomed once again by a community of awesome skaters (Dante, Adal…) along with OG world class street skater Walter Sanchez. At this point my back is feeling better and I’m looking for enders, meeting more cool people, swimming, and just feeling great in Mexico.

Guadalajara was the last city but the most anticipated in terms of well-known spots. Up first was a famous place with like four or five different spots all around, including a line with a couple banks to rail and vice versa. Victor Arias skated it in a Valo video. The plaza is great, even better than how it looks on video. We spend the afternoon there and got a couple of bangers I’m so excited to imagine in my upcoming section. 

The next day we film some ends on this kind of famous huge kink rail. It looks kind of like Dallas kink rail in San Diego but hardcore Mexico style haha — poles at the beginning, some mid-high drop off full of garbage on the side, short landing left and no landing at all on the right side — but the rail is good and I spend maybe four hours working to land my tricks without taking too many risks.

At the beginning of the session I got the idea to try top soul to soul, which didn’t make much sense because that’s a trick I never do. Later I realized the vibe as probably because, if I’m right, Chris Farmer did the trick perfectly in the Cayenne video.

Regardless, I have a couple tricks that will work as showcase enders for the section. Just in time, too, because I get sick in the final days leading up to my departure for Brazil.

By the time I boarded my flight, Mexico was holding onto pieces of me. In fact, I landed in Brazil with no more bag/skates/wristguards/computer/World Championship medal, or even cash in my pocket.

To be continued…

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