Rom Boys: 40 Years of Rad

It’s one of the world's oldest and most unique skateparks, but following a devastating fire, it’s financially on it’s knees. Meet the parks skaters, BMXers and street artists, who against all the odds, are fighting to keep the park alive. Welcome to Britain’s Dogtown.

Shot beautifully in stunning 4K this is the first time a feature length documentary has looked at the early British skateboarding scene and the first generation of skaters and BMX riders from the late seventies and eighties who are still going strong. Rom Boys features archive footage from the past forty years and over thirty interviews with some of the worlds biggest names in skate and BMX.

  • Matt Harris
    Director
  • Lucy-Emma Harris
    Producer
  • Lance Mountain
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Bob Haro
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Andy Ruffell
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • John Buultjens
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Matt Harris
    Writer
  • Fernando Martinez
    Composer
    Bending Steel, Spreading Thin, It Hurts to Win
  • Will Berridge
    Sound Design
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    sport, human interest, arts, culture
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 19 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 20, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    100,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.9:1
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Matt Harris

First time Director Matt Harris, London based, with 30
years experience as a DoP and photographer shooting commercially from documentary to music video and commercials.

Matt has an MA in Interactive Digital Media from Ravensbourne college in London, is an elected Fellow of the NY Explorers Club and Royal Geographical Society and for the past twenty years, alongside his camerawork work he has lead and built digital agency Pixelwork specialising in all aspects of digital branding and marketing as well as post production and VFX.

An experienced underwater and aerial cameraman Matt has shot internationally for some of the biggest brands in the world as well as chasing some of the biggest underwater wildlife on the planet.

An old school Rom skater and BMXer from back-in-the-day when he re-discovered Rom 5 years ago he knew he was the only person to do the story of Rom justice.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I first visited Rom as a teenager in 1983 and then five years ago returned with my daughter and was amazed to see not only that the park was still open but that the only customers were these guys in their forties ’s and fifties all skating and riding the vertical pools and bowls as if they were STILL teenagers.

After several return trips I began to get to know the characters and felt that they had a great story to be told, and then when I learned it had recently achieved historical listed status I knew there was something in this.

I then spent the next six months getting to know the skaters and riders and introducing the idea of making a film about their perspective of the park and why they held it in such high regard (these guys were a tough crowd to get on side, visually and creatively savvy and also a very tightly knit community).

A devastating event in the midst of filming altered the trajectory for the film and the story then became a fight for the very survival of the park.

The story of Rom, isn’t just about these sports, as Max, one of the interviewees says,

"..It's more than just a sport, its shaped my whole life”

And that's the important thing to remember, these "sports" if you can call them that, have shaped more than just peoples lives but have influenced all forms of creativity and thats why the film also looks at the influence skateboarding and BMX has had on street art, music, fashion and culture in the UK with Rom arguably being at it's epicentre .