DB.

How do you tell an Olympic story without being cliché? 

For me, it was by discovering a first-time competitor who didn’t grow up with Olympic aspirations, or even ideas of seeing the world beyond her community. But Samarria Brevard channeled her skating skills to great heights, becoming the first Black woman to medal at the X Games, en route to qualifying for the first-ever U.S. Skateboarding National Team.

When the opportunity arose to shoot with Samarria in her hometown of Riverside, California, I assembled a small crew and self-produced a documentary, capturing her world before it would change forever. The resulting 7-minute film remains one of my favorite doc projects to date.

Cultured Magazine premiered “No Handouts” as its first-ever piece of sports content, and Skateism and Transworld SKATEboarding picked it up, as well. 

Director: Dan Buyanovsky

DP: Mikul Eriksson

AC: Celeste Barbosa

Edit: Andrew Moorehead + Dan Buyanovsky

Thanks: Yulin Olliver, Playback Digital, Aether Films