| Steve Berra | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 May 1973 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Skateboarder |
| Spouse | Juliette Lewis (m. 1999–2003) |
| Website | |
| theberrics.com steveberra.com |
|
Steve Berra (born May 10, 1973) is an American professional skateboarder.
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Steve Berra began his skateboarding career in Omaha, Nebraska at the age of 14.[1] In 1989, Steve Berra met skating legend Tony Hawk in Nebraska. The two forged a friendship over their love for all things skateboarding. At the age of 18,Berra quit his affiliation with Blockhead to turn pro for and start Birdhouse Skateboards, along with Hawk, Jeremy Klein, and Willy Santos.[2] While with Birdhouse, the 23-year-old Hawk counseled Berra on many things, leading to his initial forays into acting. In 1992, Berra left Birdhouse Skateboards, a move he admits, was due to being "young, misunderstood, and silly."[3] Several months later, Berra joined the Foundation Skateboards team, skating in their 1993 video Super Conductor Super Collider.[3]
In 1998, Berra teamed up with Birdhouse Skateboards again to create the best-selling skateboarding video of all time, The End.[4] In one of the most notable scenes of the movie, Berra's death is simulated with a shot of his decapitation, filmed with the aid of a professional-quality dummy.[5]
Soon thereafter, Berra left Birdhouse Skateboards to join Alien Workshop, the company he still skates for today.
In 2003, Berra struggled with severe ankle pain that kept him from skating for most of the year, and forced him to have reconstructive surgery in January 2004.[6]
Berra has been featured in MTV shows Rob & Big and Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory. Season 2, Episode 6 of Rob & Big revolves around the Tampa Pro professional skateboarding competition. Berra and Rob Dyrdek engage in a $5,000 bet to "up the ante" of the competition.[7] In Season 2, Episode 8 of Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, titled "The Berrics vs. Fantasy Factory", Dyrdek pitted his own Fantasy Factory skate park against Koston and Berra's The Berrics' skate park.[8]
Today, Steve Berra does a majority of his skateboarding at his skate park, The Berrics.
Steve Berra's sponsors include Alien Workshop,Venture Trucks, DC Shoes, and Active.[9] Berra and Alien Workshop have teamed up to create several signature decks and wheels. He currently uses the Berra "Berrics II" deck, and Berra 50mm "Strobe" wheels.[10]
The Berrics is the brainchild of Berra and close friend and fellow pro skater Eric Koston. Together, they created The Berrics, a private skatepark named after the duo (Berra + Eric = Berrics). The private "training facility," located in Los Angeles, gained notoriety as a skater's "mecca." In 2009, ESPN skateboarding contributor Chris Nieratko gained entrance to the skate park, reporting on the ultra-exclusive warehouse-turned-skate park and its cardinal rule: "you have to film while you're skating The Berrics."[11] The footage is later posted on The Berrics' content-laden website, TheBerrics.com. TheBerrics.com has grown to one of skateboarding's most popular Web sites in only a few months. "In January, the site had more unique visitors than sites for all of the major skateboarding magazines, and ESPN.com's action sports page, according to comScore, a market research Hensley firm."[5]
After winning in the "The Berrics vs The Fantasy Factory" episode of Fantasy Factory on MTV, Rob Dyrdek was forced to add a statue of Koston and Berra to the Fantasy Factory with the inscription "We are the inspiration behind the Fantasy Factory." Berra was initially upset about the inscription because "you don't know who 'we' refers to" but laughed it off as he left the factory. After Berra leaves Rob Dyrdek and his cousin Chris 'Drama' Pfaff put the statue at the top of the twelve foot quarter pipe that is in the factory and proceed to push it off in protest to a questionable rap battle between CC and Berra. As it crashes to the floor Dyrdek is heard saying "they are pro skateboarders, I thought for sure they would make that." [12]
In 2009, Skateboarding company DVS Shoe Company hosted a skateboarding competition at The Berrics, pitting 32 skaters against each other in a "March Madness" style SKATE battle called the Battle at the Berrics. Competitors included Berra and Eric Koston themselves, as well as skating notables Rob Dyrdek, Andrew Reynolds, Jeron Wilson, Mike Carroll, Arto Saari, Marc Johnson, Erik Ellington, Bryan Herman, PJ Ladd, and Sean Malto, among others.[13] True to The Berrics' m.o., all of the footage was collected and displayed at theberrics.com. The first winner of the Battle at the Berrics was Mike Mo Capaldi, an 18-year-old pro skater sponsored by Girl Skateboard Company.[14] For his efforts, Mike Mo was awarded a $10,000 prize courtesy of DVS Shoe Company.[15]
Battle at the Berrics 2 began in June, 2009. The second installment of Battle at the Berrics allowed fans to choose 32 skaters, of more than 150 potential skaters, to participate in the event.[16] Chris Cole won the Battle at the Berrics 2 competition, and Paul Rodriguez Jr. came in second. Upon winning second place, Paul Rodriguez donated his second place winnings of $5000 to the Nick Mullins Fund.[17]
"Battle at the Berrics 3" was won by Paul Rodriguez, with PJ Ladd coming in second.
The latest Battle at the Berrics is the fourth one. The winner of that tournament was Morgan Smith, and PJ Ladd became second.
Berra has maintained an interest in acting since the age of 18.[18] He was a series regular on the short-lived Fox drama 413 Hope St., portraying Quentin Jefferson, a young man infected with HIV.[19] Berra has also held brief roles in the television shows Felicity and Nash Bridges, as well as a minor role in the 1999 film Anywhere but Here.[20]
Since the age of 18, Berra has juggled his interests in skateboarding and acting, although he maintains that skateboarding has always been his primary passion.[18]
In the winter of 2006, Berra began his role as director of The Good Life, a film he penned starring Mark Webber, Zooey Deschanel, Bill Paxton, Harry Dean Stanton, Chris Klein, Patrick Fugit, Drea de Matteo and Donal Logue. On his website, Berra acknowledged: "it had been my "other woman" for many years, but because of my commitments as a professional skateboarder I couldn't pursue it 100%."[21] The film was coined "a coming-of-age tale set in Lincoln, Nebraska, portrayed as a grim town of vacant lots, shuttered buildings, sidewalk drug dealers and deep poverty, all accented by overcast skies." It premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, receiving a positive reception.[22]
