Interview – Pretending I’m a Superman with Ralph D’Amato

We’re back again today taking a look over one of my own favourite franchises, the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, or as I first knew it Tony Hawk’s Skateboarding. It’s been over 20 years now since the first entry released back on PlayStation One, and at the tender age of thirteen I was thrown into a world of halfpipes, 720 Maradonnas and sketchy landings.

While the most I ever managed in real life was a basic ollie and having enough balance to look cool while riding in the street (well, cool for me, you understand) the THPS franchise absolutely had my back. When engrossed in the various schools, warehouses and streets of the digital world, I could be the skater I was in my dreams.

A few weeks ago, I was overjoyed to find a new entry while browsing the various streaming platforms in Pixel Towers. Pretending I’m a Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story. With never-seen-before footage and interviews with the legend that is Tony Hawk, as well as names familiar to anybody who’s played the first titles in this epic franchise. Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, Chad Muska, Erik Koston and more famous faces give us their thoughts on what was an extraordinary journey.

No doubt releasing in at least unofficial synchronisation with the video game release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 (One of the best games of 2020 and you can check out the full Pixel Bandits review and common sense parent’s guide just here) this in depth documentary tells the story of a title which shaped at least two industries.

The production company behind the new documentary is D’Amato Productions, headed by the eponymous Ralph D’Amato, who takes credit as the producer for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, THPS2, THPS3, THPS4, THUG, THUG2, American Wasteland and Tony Hawk’s Project 8. With all this under his belt, he is almost certainly the best person to talk to about Tony Hawk.

I’ve been blessed with a few moments of time with Mr D’Amato, to put some of our questions to him on the new movie, and one of gaming’s biggest gaming franchises;

Mr D’Amato, firstly thank you for spending some time for us today to go over things here. If you don’t mind I’ll open with a little pop quiz blast.

Are you a skater yourself? – I don’t consider myself a skater. I did skateboard as a kid, starting in the mid-late 70’s with a plastic “penny board” style skateboard. I didn’t really do any tricks other than jumping off curbs, bombing downhills and tic tac’ing up hills. It was just a second form of transportation if I didn’t want to bring my bike along. I haven’t really skated in a while but I still enjoy skateboarding from a fan perspective.

Who was your favourite skater to work with – Tough question because they all were so unique. Of course working with Tony was awesome but I enjoyed time with Rodney, Cab,…and who could forget The Muska. Chad always lit up the office with his personality when he came in.

Which is your favourite Game, and / or individual level – I get asked this a lot and I always say THPS2. I just feel that was the game we wanted to make from the beginning because it was so full of features.

Varial kickflip or 540 melon – I’d go with the 540 melon…there’s something about a melon grab that looks cool to me.

What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done on a skateboard? – At one point the Neversoft miniramp made its home in my backyard. I never really skated transition so pumping a ramp was a challenge in and of itself. I sorta got the hang of it and decided it was time to try a Rock Fakie. Bad idea…I ended up hanging up and landing on the flat on my butt. I woke up with lower back pain for months and that was it for my rather short attempt at skate tricks.

I was amazingly excited to see Pretending I’m a Superman and dived in instantly. There are a huge number of famous faces who’ve returned for the documentary, was it a tough task pulling them all back in?

For the skaters, not really. Over the years working on the game I had built up friendly relationships with all of the skaters. It really came down to making the schedule work. I did put in some work trying to get the band members. For most bands I started with their “info@“ on their webpages. I feel the positive effect the game had on their bands inspired them to want to be part of our documentary, so once the contacts were made, again it was just a matter of making the schedule work.

The Director of the new documentary is Ludvig Gür, who we understand is a YouTube content creator who has worked a lot with the franchise in the past. This is a bit of a dream transition for most content creators out there. What was it which drew you to his work and do you have any tips for those who’d want to follow in his footsteps?

I ran across his “History of THPS” video and it blew me away. There was SO much detail he knew it was amazing. My wife, a teacher, inspired me to reach out to him so I messaged him. At that time I think we both had ideas of doing a THPS doc but we didn’t talk about that until much later. I will say this for Ludvig, he’s put in thousands and thousands of hours creating content, editing, directing and with films in general. He loves what he does and is very passionate about it. I feel that goes a LONG way for success in anything.

And speaking of close colleagues, I can only imagine that you’ve spent a great deal of time with Tony Hawk himself. We heard a lot in the documentary his relationships with fellow skaters, even today as a household name in both skateboarding and gaming. What was your experience of working with him from a gaming point of view?

Both working with him on the game and working for him at his company, I can say he’s an awesome person to work with and for. Probably the best boss I’ve ever had for sure. He’s 100% involved in everything with his name on and he’s passionate about everything he does from his skating to his philanthropy. He’s also a gamer and very techie, so we connect on a few different levels which was always cool.

As you’ve recently looked back on the creation of the first title, with the build up and release, is there anything you would change, or any elements of gaming today which you think could have contributed to the game? Also as a cheeky twofer, is there anything you wish you could have got into the documentary that you didn’t get around to, or which found its way to the cutting room floor?

I do think the game led the way with the soundtrack. We really made it an integral part of the game which was somewhat new at the time. Many people got their first taste of the California punk scene through the game. I don’t really think we cut anything from the film that would be considered integral…including my own interview. I’m happy with all of the decisions Ludvig made along the way in post production.

Looking back a little further at the first game itself, it’s known in most circles I’ve been a part of over the years, particularly for its soundtrack. It’s an all killer OST in the first title, and looking back now it seems to be quintessential Skater music. Was it hard to filter it down to the final tracks chosen, and how did you manage to pull it off? What would you say is your favourite track from the first game, and why is it Goldfinger’s Superman? (And we all know that the best track from THPS 2 is You by Bad Religion, yeah?).

The soundtracks over the years became a balancing game with our music budget. We tried to get as many tracks in as possible…and as the disc would hold really, especially with the first PS1 games that were on CD’s. I agree with both of your choices…Superman is definitely my favorite from the first and You for THPS2. To be honest though, I had a LOT of favorite tracks in the game. Being the producer that managed the music budget, I certainly had a little influence there..haha. It was also great adding tracks from unsigned bands…like my band Dead End Road. I was able to put our song, Sin City in THUG2. There were a few other Neversoft employee bands that made the soundtrack too.

It seems that both during the creation of the first game, and during the production of the new documentary, everybody was fully invested, and having a great time. It’s always brilliant to watch and see something when you know that the creators had a blast making it as well. If you had to pick one anecdote from the creation of the game franchise or documentary, which one fills you with the most joy?

The one that gives me the most joy is how Ludvig and I connected via YouTube and how that has become a successful Director/Producer relationship. It just goes to show you that you never know when your next opportunity in life will be or how it will even come about.

I didn’t approach it from a skating background, but for me the game just felt right, instantly. As mentioned during the franchise one of the aims was to make it so that even non-skaters could get their hands on it and just run with it (or skate with it, I suppose) and it achieved that perfectly. What was the hardest part in striking that balance between realism and accessibility, and how did you overcome the challenges it presented?

We were trying to make a game that WE liked and kept true to skateboarding as much as possible first and foremost. Staying legit to the skate world was a bit easier having guys like Tony Hawk and Jamie Thomas providing crucial feedback, but integrating their feedback wasn’t always easy. There were many, many challenges along the way, but getting the control scheme nailed down was the biggest. Through LOTS of game testing and tweaking I feel we were able to nail down a control scheme that would make the player feel a bit like they were skating. There was quite a lot of developer talent on the Pro Skater team which ultimately lead to the final product.

With the releases for the documentary and rebuilt game releasing at almost exactly the same time, it seems too much of a coincidence to think that there wasn’t at least an aim of getting them out together. Was there any opportunity to work between the two during production at all, and have you had a chance to get hands on with the newly released game as yet?

Hard to believe I know, but our project was 100% independent of the Activision game. Of course we were STOKED when we heard the rumblings of a new game coming out, not only for the timing of the film, but also as a fan of the series. When I first spoke to Tony about our documentary back in 2016-2017 I did tell him I would LOVE for the documentary to bolster nostalgia for the game in hopes the series would be relaunched. It’s cool to see that exact thing happening now! I pre-ordered the game so I was able to play the Warehouse demo and I have played the full game. Vicarious Visions should be proud of the great work they did. The new game is RAD!

I can only imagine there’s been a huge amount of positive feedback from the documentary. As a long time fan of the game series I’ve loved it. Can you give us any insight into what’s next for you at D’Amato Productions?

I don’t have much info I can really share at this time but Ludvig and I are already at work on our next project. It’ll be quite different, a scripted sci-fi thriller, so be prepared for the Swede and the Italian to freak you out soon!!!

As well as saying thank you for the time you’ve taken here today, I also just wanted to pass on a quick thank you to yourself and all those involved with the creation of both the games and the new documentary. The first entries within the THPS franchise have been truly genre defining, and the new documentary has had me absolutely wallowing in nostalgia. It’s been great to learn about the driving forces behind the title which had such a huge impact.

Thanks for the very kind words and the interview. Cheers!