by The Editors on May 2, 2015
Surfer Keala Kennelly is reportedly suing the producers of the Bethany Hamilton bio pic Soul Surfer (Brookwell McNamara Entertainment, Inc.) because they denied her a role in the film based on her being “a lesbian, but also because they believed she starred in gay porn,” according to a story on Courthouse News.
In January 2010, Kennelly learned that Brookwell McNamara had chosen not to give her any role for the biopic, according to the suit. . . . Kennelly claims that as producers mulled over casting, a female producer told director Sean McNamara she “had some dirt on” Kennelly. . . “‘For one thing, she is gay,'” Kennelly’s complaint quotes the producer as saying. “‘And she does gay porn. It’s on the Internet.'”
Okay, so according to Courthouse News “though openly gay” Kennelly denies ever making pornographic movies. Kennelly lost her Screen Actors Guild health coverage because she didn’t get the role in the film. Now she is “suing for religion discrimination based on sexual orientation and sexual orientation discrimination. She seeks compensatory, special and punitive damages,” in Hawaii’s First Circuit Court. She filed the lawsuit on April 29, 2015.
[Link: Courthouse News]
by The Editors on April 24, 2015
The International Assn. of Skateboard Companies (IASC) and the International Skateboarding Hall of Fame (ISHOF) are proud to announce this year’s Icon Award recipients for the 6th Annual Skateboarding Hall of Fame: Steve Van Doren, James O’Mahoney and Tracker Trucks. The Skateboarding Hall of Fame will be held during the IASC Summit on May 14 at the Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel in Costa Mesa, Calif. For the official word from the IASC, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on April 22, 2015
Ryan Drexler, the president of Consac LLC, sent a letter to Quiksilver begging the company to put itself up for sale, according to a story on Bloomberg.com.
Drexler, said
. . . the company should find a buyer “in order to preserve diminishing shareholder value before Quiksilver’s conditions get even worse.”
Quiksilver has lost nearly 75 percent of its value in the last year and Consac owns 3.5 million shares. So anything that would bump the price up would
be great for them. Then again, who would listen to a company that owns 3.5 million shares of Quiksilver.
[Link: Bloomberg]
by The Editors on April 17, 2015
Canada’s alternative action print group The King Publishing Project has just rolled in a few new titles. Joining them at King Shit, King Snow, and Later are Canadian skate mag Concrete and the trade mag The Board Press.
“Every skateboarder here knows what Concrete has meant for the scene in this country; they’re the original Canadian skateboard mag. Even when King Shit was competing against it, we respected everything they did for skateboarding,” said King Publishing Project President Ryan Stutt. “By bringing Concrete and their team into the King fold, we’re going to be creating a whole new media network for Canadian skateboarding, which we hope the community here will rally behind.”
Concrete’s Jeff Thorburn and The Board Press’s Mike Prangnell will stay on with the titles. For the official word from King, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on April 17, 2015
Michael Jager (pictured right) the creative design mind behind Burton Snowboards, and the legendary design firm JDK is now turning his considerable marketing muscle toward the business of legal weed in the State of Vermont.
He and five other CEO’s have have created the Vermont Cannabis Collaborative, according to story on Seven Days VT. What is this collaboration intending to do?
A dream team of six seasoned CEOs — almost all of them old enough to join AARP — is trying to figure out how their alternative business philosophy could be applied to commercial cannabis. Vermont lawmakers appear poised to legalize recreational use as soon as next year, in which case there will be plenty of money to be made. The RAND Corporation estimated earlier this year that Vermonters bought between $125 million and $225 million in marijuana on the black market in 2014.
That’s right. They’re hoping to cash in on Vermont’s newest legalized vice. But, you know, do it the “Vermont way.” Which reminds us: pot smokers always have made us laugh.
[Link: Seven Days VT]
by The Editors on April 3, 2015
Eternal Board Shop owner Mike Dunn announced today (April 3, 2015) that after 21 years in business in Sparks, Nevada he’s shutting down, according to a story on KOLOtv.
It used to be pretty popular spot. One of the few locally owned places to get outfitted for winter. . . “The small snow and skateboard shop is maybe a things of the past, maybe a dying breed,” said Mike Dunn, Owner of Eternal Board Shop. “It’s just the lack of snow, mostly on the whole west coast is the biggest reason this year.”
Sad to see another great shop go. It will be greatly missed! Reno shreds can help out by going in and buying something while the shop is still open. For the rest of the story, click the link.
[Link: KOLOtv]
by The Editors on March 30, 2015
We tweeted it the other day (after reading about it on Yobeat.com). Everyone has been posting about it. But for your pleasure, the official explanation of why Factory Media has finally decided to go digital with most of its titles and stop wasting everyone’s time, money, and coffee table space with printed issues.
Darryl Newton, CEO of Factory Media, said: “The prospect of focusing wholly on the areas of our business that are experiencing unprecedented demand is both logical and incredibly exciting. Last year saw a leap of over 200% in our branded-content production activities, with digital ad revenues up by 25%. Although moving on from our heritage as a magazine publisher is an emotional shift, it also represents a significant opportunity to create even more content for a significantly larger online audience without the barriers of accessibility and affordability.”
As we said in our tweet, the only reason they went as long as they did with print is because many misguided marketing people still have massive chubbers for paper and ink. Not sure why, but they do. Unfortunately for those who print magazine, those marketing people are slowly being phased out. And because of that many media companies are no longer interested in printing magazines that no one is reading. For the official word from Factory, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on March 30, 2015
Not content to own nearly every major winter resort in North America, Vail Resorts announced today that it is adding Australia’s Perisher Resort to their portfolio at a cost of approximately $136 million in cash.
“The acquisition of our first international mountain resort is a significant milestone for our Company. We’re thrilled to welcome the guests and employees of Perisher, Australia’s largest and most iconic resort, into the Vail Resorts family and deepen ties with one of our most important international markets,” said Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts. “This acquisition is part of Vail Resorts’ continued strategy to drive season pass sales and build loyalty with guests from around the world. Australia is one of the most important international markets for ski resorts across the Northern Hemisphere, generating an estimated more than 1 million skier visits annually to resorts in North America, Japan and Europe.”
And yes, if you’re wondering, next year’s Vail Epic Pass will now include unlimited access to: Perisher, Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly, Northstar, Kirkwood, Canyons, and Park City. If you’re going to take a year off to shred the world, this might be the year to do it . . . all year long. For the official word from Vail Resorts, please follow the jump.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on March 27, 2015
It likely wasn’t quick enough for some, but it appears that Andy Mooney’s two year run in the Quiksilver CEO position is over. In a release today, Quiksilver said that Mooney is “no longer with the company.”
From our perspective that is one of the best bits of news out of Quiksilver in a while. On Mooney’s watch (which began January 11, 2013) Quiksilver sold off Mervin, Hawk, Moskova, and Maui & Sons. They lost Kelly Slater and began turning in some pretty big quarterly losses.
At first it seemed the street thought the losses were part of the pain of Mooney’s restructuring (with some help from a down market). By Halloween 2013 the stock was up to $8.11 on the promise that Mooney was pointed the right direction. But by June 2, 2014 it was obvious things weren’t going well and the stock began taking hit after hit until that ultimately left it at $2.25 at the close today (March 27, 2015).
Today’s after-hours dip of 15 percent (down to $1.90) may suggest some aren’t happy about today’s news either, but the Quiksilver board has a plan. It looks a little like this:
. . . Pierre Agnes, President of Quiksilver, Inc., has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer and added to the Board of Directors; he succeeds Andy Mooney who is no longer with the company. In addition, Greg Healy, Quiksilver’s APAC Region President, has been promoted to President of Quiksilver, Inc., and Bob McKnight has been appointed Chairman. All changes are effective today. . . “The board has great confidence in Pierre’s ability and skills to lead our company. His primary focus will be on improving operational execution and efficiencies, and identifying growth opportunities, especially in the U.S. wholesale channel.”
It’s always good to see the people who intimately know the brand back at the helm. We’ll leave it at that. For some deeper thoughts on the news read Jeff Harbaugh’s post by clicking here. For the official word from Quiksilver, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on March 26, 2015
Some investors (Malone Family Superannuation Fund) who lost money when Billabong shares tanked in 2012 are now suing the company saying Billabong breached “its disclosure obligations,” according to a Reuters story.
The fund bought just under A$30,000 ($23,466) worth of Billabong shares at an average of A$4.35 per share in November 2011, the statement from the legal firm added. The shares later fell following a series of earnings downgrades. . . If Billabong had been more forthright, the fund “would either have bought Billabong securities at a price which had not been artificially inflated or they would have acquired securities in another listed entity instead”, the statement added.
Not surprisingly Billabong disagrees and says it will “vigorously defend” itself.
[Link: Reuters]
Surfer Keala Kennelly is reportedly suing the producers of the Bethany Hamilton bio pic Soul Surfer (Brookwell McNamara Entertainment, Inc.) because they denied her a role in the film based on her being “a lesbian, but also because they believed she starred in gay porn,” according to a story on Courthouse News.
