Some San Francisco Stuff

Nico in The City, transcending pro-dom, and interviewing filmers

Jan 31, 2026

A few months ago I had the privilege of working as a field producer on the Nico Hiraga episode of Skate Tales, the excellent travel show hosted by Madars Apse for Red Bull. It was shot in San Francisco over a long weekend, one that coincided with the release of the Nico X Chico collaboration at FTC. Chico Brenes, the San Francisco legend who needs no introduction, has a brand called Chico Stix, and the collab featured a line of graphic t-shirts and hoodies, a plushie, and a deck with Nico’s name on it. The first time “Nico Hiraga” appeared on the bottom of a skateboard.

In skateboarding, this is usually the moment when a person goes from being someone who has dreamed of being pro to . . . being pro! A skater might be making money from brands, but in the eyes of the industry, they haven’t made it until their name is on a board. So why did this party at FTC, complete with a wall of boards for fans and friends to purchase, not feel like the moment of triumph that in many ways it was? Is it a sign of the times? Does being pro mean something different in 2025 than it did in, say, 2011, the year I turned pro at a party in San Francisco? And who is Nico in the context of professional skateboarding?

Nico is the rare case of someone who, even without the pro board, has long been pro, but has also already transcended professional skateboarding. Over the course of the last decade, he’s racked up the proper accolades as a skater. Nico has consistently appeared in videos big and small, local and branded. He’s had solo parts and montage clips. Viral IG edits. Nico’s even had the cover of Thrasher Magazine, a feat many other perhaps more traditional pro skateboarders will never accomplish. Most important, he’s really good at skateboarding. He’s a lifer.

Amazingly, while doing all of this, Nico has been building a solid career in Hollywood, landing a handful of leading roles in major motion pictures, along with numerous supporting roles in movies and TV Shows alike. Check his IMDb, it’s wild. He’s a working actor who skateboards on the side. And not in the sense that most people skate on the side, like in the evening after work or on the weekends. His work contractually prevents him from skateboarding while he’s on a shoot. Months off the board is not easy. So it’s only in between projects that Nico can really push himself. Which makes what he films and produces all the more impressive.

So no, the Chico Stix event didn’t “turn” Nico pro. But it celebrated something we already knew about Nico and cemented his status. Moving forward, I think that we as a culture should evolve from using the pro board as the trivial stamp of approval. The barriers that once made it mean something are gone. It’s never been easier to print off a few boards, make a website or consign them to a skate shop, and call someone pro. Hell, I haven’t had a pro board in years, but I have all the resources to print off some graphics, add a new product page on the Old Friends Shopify account, and boom! I’m pro again. I don’t know what the new metric should be, but we should come up with something. It’s time.

Another interesting thing about Nico is that he’s one of the few contemporary skaters to make a name for himself while growing up in San Francisco. I can only think of three professional skateboarders in the last twenty years who can say they were born and raised in San Francisco: Lil Dre, Jonathan Perez, and Nico. Where you’re born and raised is, of course, not up to you, so it’s not necessarily something to claim as an accomplishment. But I would think being a skateboarder from one of the industry’s most important hubs would make it easier. So why does it happen so rarely? There must be an added challenge. All that’s to say, it’s pretty cool that Nico is one of those guys. Working on this episode, I was also stoked to find that he is the same humble skate rat I met over a decade ago. He’s a kind soul who remains rooted in his local skate community. Wishing him nothing but continued success.

San Francisco is a city that has made countless careers over the last twenty years, not to mention the decades preceding it. But the majority of the more recent skaters were transplants. More interesting to me are the skaters who migrate to San Francisco to make careers, whether they intend to or not. The ones who film the locals and the transplants and make videos for the San Francisco brands. Working on this Skate Tales shoot, I was reminded of some writing I did for Red Bull a couple years ago that I haven’t shared here yet. Here is that piece:

Filming Skateboarding in the Streets of San Francisco

San Francisco is one of the most enticing and aesthetically pleasing cities to film skateboarding. From the Bones Brigade videos of the ‘80s, the technical progression at EMB and Pier 7 during the '90s, the hill bombing insanity of the 2000’s, and all the way to the 2023 showstopper, “City to City,” which crowned Miles Silvas Thrasher Magazine’s Skater of the Year; moments captured in San Francisco have made a permanent impact on the culture.

But what’s it like for the unsung heroes behind the lens? Filmers standing in the wind and cold, for hours on end, waiting patiently for the right shot. Skating bent over and angling their fisheye just right as they soar down hills alongside their subjects. They need to get their shot right 100% of the time, while the skater only has to land their trick once. What challenges come with filming in one of the most storied and dangerous cities for skateboarding?

We sat down with two filmers who contributed to this installment of ‘Greetings From’ to see what it’s like to be behind the lens documenting the magic. Otto Ray and Mack Scharff help shed some insight into the process.

Otto is from San Diego and moved to San Francisco in 2015, drawn to The City by the GX1000 videos, Static IV, and projects by Zach Chamberlain. Today, he works for Thrasher and GX1000 and is in the streets every day. The name of the game, for his crew, is patience and persistence. “In San Francisco, the process is definitely harder. The spots that we get clips on, it usually takes us a bunch of times going back. But I feel like the size of The City makes it perfect for doing that. You search around and keep tabs on all these spots, waiting for a car to move or something.”

Mack grew up in Boise, Idaho and moved to San Francisco around the same time as Otto. “I didn't want to live in a place where it's 100 degrees in the summer and zero degrees in the winter,” Mack says. “I just packed up my truck and put a mattress in the back. I lived in that for the first six months. I just wanted to skate and film.” Today, Mack works for Deluxe distribution as one of their videographers and editors. But like most skaters who make the move to The City, in the beginning, the hills took some getting used to. “Right when I first moved, I was bombing this hill in North Beach and a car was in the intersection and kind of slowed down. So I was dragging my foot at first and then had to jump and slide over the hood. And then my camera bag kind of flipped me around and I just landed on my ass. I was fine, but I'm sure it looked super crazy.”

The threat of a car rolling into an intersection at the wrong time makes filming on the big hills all the more nerve-racking. Otto’s approach to filming his friends on hills includes bringing a group to allow for spotters at every intersection. “Sometimes there's not enough people spotting and then some pedestrians will help us out. We definitely try to make it as safe as possible.” For Otto and his crew, it helps having multiple filmers on the session. “There’s definitely been a couple of times where I had to decide, do I spot right now or do I film it? I'll be nervous that I have to jump out and stop a car while I’m filming. So it's nice when there's another cameraman there, so I'm not the only one.”

Mack agrees that it can be intense being behind the lens. “For the most part, it’s always freaky. People are flying, but you get used to it. The guys I film with are top notch, though. They know what they’re doing. I’ve gotten a little desensitized to it.”

Stationary filming at the top (or bottom) of a hill is one thing, but taking the hill with the skater, as they weave together lines down streets and sidewalks, is another skill entirely. Mack has a few tips he’s learned over the years for downhill filming. “I try to have a dedicated pair of shoes in the van, because I’ve gone through a whole shoe in an entire day from dragging my foot. Also, it definitely helps to bomb the whole hill first. A few months ago I was at a spot and it was a hill I’ve bombed a bunch before, but that day I didn’t bomb it and it was starting to rain. I was like, we gotta get this right here! The skater tried it once and did it and I started pushing downhill, trying to keep up with him and then rode off this curb and fell and exploded my elbow into two different pieces. Had surgery the next day.”

Another unique challenge in San Francisco is theft. Both Otto and Mack have been robbed at gunpoint for their cameras while filming. “People are looking out for targets,” Mack muses. “Just like skaters are looking for spots. People see skaters and they know we have cameras.” Though these are extreme cases, and somewhat rare, “bipping”, or stealing bags from parked cars is practically an epidemic. If you visit San Francisco, Mack advises the following: “Bring everything with you everywhere you go. Lock your car like it’s Fort Knox. Don’t even try to hide your bag under the seat. They’re going to take it. People hear all about the crazy stuff that happens in San Francisco, and they think they’re going to be fine. They think they can just leave their gear in the van for five minutes, midday. But it’s going to get taken.”

Despite the risks and challenges, there are days that make it all worth it. “When you do figure out something new,” Otto says, “it’s the most rewarding feeling. You’re in this tiny little city that’s been skated by all the best people for the past 30 years, and you find something new. It’s just the coolest thing. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing in life. It’s definitely a dream come true.”

Thank you for reading! If you’d like to check out some more of my writing for Red Bull, you can find it here:

https://www.redbull.com/us-en/iconic-san-francisco-skate-spots

https://www.redbull.com/us-en/red-bull-sky-line-twin-peaks-san-francisco

https://www.redbull.com/us-en/red-bull-sky-line-behind-the-build

If you’d like to read a skateboarding adventure novel set in San Francisco, consider Top of Mason.