Top Image: Courtesy of Connor Widdows

Joshua Church is an English videographer that records some pretty epic skate-footage. His latest project is Pacific Palisades, a documentary style home-video made by Church and a few of his mates. It’s about the beginnings of the skate company YARDSALE, and follows a group of English skaters having fun, escaping the British winter and jumping into LA youth culture.

The video features Darius Trabalza, Curtis Pearl, David Bowens, Jason Landau and Jhian Namei Taro. Shot nearly two years ago, it’s released in anticipation for their latest trip to LA, which was shot earlier this year in winter, early-spring time.

How often do you get to LA?
Joshua Church: I’ve been going for three years now. The first time we went I was only 19; I couldn’t even drink; we had to get people to buy beer for us when we went to parties.

What was the process of shooting like?
Very sporadic. There’s no plan. I generally get taken places by my mates in LA and shoot what I think’s interesting at the time: funny or weird stuff, and palm trees always look good.

The editing process on the other hand is more organised. I try not to watch anything until I get back to the UK; I think it’s better to have a bit of space between shooting and editing. I treat it like taking pictures on film. Then I make a select of what I have, think of a concept and then organise it into something that makes sense.

When were you there for this film, and for how long?
We usually leave in February and stay for three months (avoiding the worst part of the British winter).

What’s the best part about visiting LA and filming?
That’s hard. Me and some friends went to Ojai (the shots of the mansion with the girl in the pool) which turned out to be a nudist commune. Basically it was a rich guy who would invite his weird hippie-mates around. They would also chant in the living room.