Professional Skateboarders Set the Pace for Action
Christian Hosoi Brian Sumner
& T
Writer: Kelli Gillespie
he upcoming movie Hardflip, features captivating and compelling skateboarding scenes. The live action boarding can be credited to the skills of professionals Brian Sumner and Christian Hosoi. While these two pros may be known throughout the world for their boarding skills, they recently shared with Risen how they met, the experiences that brought them together and the faith that they now share.
Interviewed Exclusively for Risen Magazine in San Diego, California
Risen Magazine: What first intrigued you about Hardflip and made you want to be involved with the movie? Brian Sumner: A friend and pro surfer, Matt Beecham, had worked on the film Cutback, with the same director as Hardflip, Johnny Remo. Matt called me and said, “Johnny has a script that is set with the background of skateboarding and obviously with you being a Christian, I think you might want to come alongside.” So I met with the director, we ate some pizza, and he handed me a script. Then for whatever reason, my 10-year-old son picked up the script and just started reading it. Within two days, he finished a 90-page script and said he understood it and loved it. [I thought] If you can tell this story to a kid and he gets it, [coupled with the fact that] I began to see layer upon layer of biblical truths in it, it became clear that this was a project I wanted to be involved with. I wanted to help and make sure the heart of it was for reaching others. It was really cool to see it all happen. Christian Hosoi: I thought it seemed like a great project that I could be a part of and [help] change people’s lives. And really that’s what I want to do in this world, change people’s lives. The film is all about relationships, redemption, discovery, and second chances. It’s about overcoming obstacles in life and the struggles people go through. It’s interesting how skateboarding is the platform for it, but also the backdrop for what the real message is, and that’s the Gospel, and that’s Jesus’ love, mercy, and forgiveness being revealed through the characters in the film. This movie could bring a lot of restoration and reconciliation between relationships and I think that’s super important today, because we’ve got a fatherless generation. Kids are out there, wanting to be mentored, wanting to be disciplined and loved and cared for, and it’s just not happening. You look at the product of that, you see these kids and they are just rough. This movie is a great tool in the hands of God to change the world we live in. RM: Not only are you both great skaters, but you are friends too. Brian, how did Christian impact your decision to follow Christ and your friendship now? BS: I heard of Christian when I first started skating. At 13 years old in Liverpool, I had watched a contest event he was skating in. He was of an older generation; I always looked up to that stuff, but I was primarily a street skater. Years later when making it over to America, I ran into Christian a few
times when he wasn’t doing so well. It was some five or so years later when I was going through [some stuff myself ] and [searching] for the Lord that I ran into him again at the Lake Forest Park, at an event at The Skate Lab, and then again at Vans [Skate Sponsor]. I was trying to figure things out. Christian had just gotten out of prison and heard I was “searching”. When [we talked] he invited me to church. I had also met Pastor Jay Haizlip who was skating with him at Vans one night. Just after that I showed up at the church and heard Pastor Jay preaching out of [Bible references] Galatians 5 and Matt 7:21, the word of God spoke to me that night eight or so years ago, and I have been close with Christian ever since. Today our faith comes before our skating and we have the same goals. We hang most days, and are always doing some kind of ministry together, even aside from serving at the same church. RM: Speaking of some of those challenges, Christian, you’ve been very open when it comes to discussing your time spent in prison. What was it for you that helped make a change in your life? CH: It’s funny how people finally cry out to God in a rock bottom experience, and for me, it was that. It was me not being able to get myself out of a situation – all my strings were cut, there were no resources for me to draw on, so I finally cried out to God. And from a prison cell I said, “God if you’re real, will you help me?” And in the prison cell I questioned, “God why am I here? What did I do wrong?” I’m sitting there pointing my finger at all these people that I thought should be here [behind bars] and [why] I shouldn’t, and in reality, I’m not responsible for anyone else, I’m responsible for my choices. In that place I cried out to God and God revealed himself through his scriptures. My wife Jennifer said, “Christian, you need to go get a Bible.” And I was like, “What are you talking about? I need a lawyer. I need an attorney. I need bail, babe.” She said, “No we’ve got to trust in God; God’s going to get us through this [trial].” And that was the moment that I finally opened up my heart and asked God to come in and he revealed his truth to me. I was in a prison cell, but really a revelation happened. It was like I had been in a prison of sin and death my whole life, and then actually being in a real prison cell, [allowed me to ask] and to be set free by the Lord. He loved me and died for me to give me that freedom and the liberty to live a life of peace and joy and forgiverisenmagazine.com 15