Behind The Scenes Of Ben Kadow’s ‘epicly Later’d’

Nobody expected Ben Kadow to do Epicly Later’d, least of all series creator Patrick O’Dell.

The 31-year-old New Yorker has a reputation for being elusive and kind of intense, i.e. not exactly someone you’d picture giving a (semi) candid on-camera interview about their entire life story. But watch the film and, just like O’Dell, you’ll be glad he said yes.

We caught up with Patrick, previous Epicly subject Heath Kirchart (who produced and edited this episode), and co-editor Kynan Tait after the film’s premiere in NYC, to talk about Ben’s moldy hot sauce and what didn’t make it into the final edit.

VICE: Why do an episode on Ben, Patrick?
Patrick O’Dell: When someone has it, you know it—and I think he’s an icon. There are so many skaters, and as I get older I can’t even identify who’s good any more, so they really have to stand out. I always had those skaters growing up—Tom Penny, Andrew Reynolds, Ali Boulala, Mark Gonzales—that when their name popped up onscreen, you knew something special was about to happen. And I think Ben is like that.

What surprised you most about him during the process?
Heath Kirchart: Just the fact he did this is the most unexpected part of the whole thing. He doesn’t have himself talking in literally anything, so to sit there and do an Epicly Later’d and tell his whole life story on camera wasn’t something we thought he’d even agree to do.

Kynan Tait: Also how funny he is. He might come off as, like, ultra-serious, or standoffish, or aloof, or aggressive, but he’s not—I mean, he’s not completely the opposite, but he’s definitely more of a fully fledged person. There’s more layers to his personality than you might get at first glance, and I hope people see the humor that shines through.

O’Dell: I’m surprised when I talk to somebody and they don’t know who he is, because to me he’s already up there with, like… I don’t know about the longevity of an Ed Templeton, but I see him as a classic pro now.

Ky, what was it like working with Heath on the edit?
Tait: I’ve always edited by myself, and I’ve grown to hate it, so I was really reluctant to do it at all—but I learned that editing collaboratively with someone whose tastes and sensibilities you respect makes all the difference in the world. Being able to sit next to somebody and bounce ideas off of them helps immeasurably. This is the first editing experience I’ve actually enjoyed.

Well, that’s positive. Were there any tough decisions about what to leave in or take out?
Tait: There was a conversation around, ‘How do we talk about anxiety or mental health?’ Because those are big topics, and Ben’s had his struggles with it. So there were questions of, ‘How much of that do we put in or leave out?’

Kirchart: Music plays such a big part in Ben’s life, but we didn’t get into that in the episode for a couple different reasons. We probably couldn’t get the rights to use it, but also it was more important to focus on Ben as a skateboarder and a cook than his interest in music.

O’Dell: They tried to take out the hot sauce thing [where Ben pulls some mold-covered, homemade hot sauce out of his fridge], but I thought that was a real example of his personality. People can say, ‘Oh, he dresses a certain way, or looks a certain way,’ but I think the hot sauce thing was a real time example of something pretty unusual. I have a phobia of mold, though. Where I see mold in the fridge—like, moldy milk—I’ll throw up. But I did taste his hot sauce.

Nice, what did you think?
O’Dell: Tasted like gasoline.

Heath, having been the subject of an Epicly Later’d yourself—where obviously you had no input in the edit—what was it like stepping into the editor role and shaping someone else’s narrative?
Kirchart: Yeah, I had zero input. Zero. And it should be illegal to make a documentary on yourself. You need a third party to tell your story so that it’s not through your own eyes. For Ben, I wanted it to feel like it felt to be there that day, which was kind of uncomfortable. That’s kind of what it feels like to be around Ben when he doesn’t know you, and you don’t know if he likes you or thinks you’re a kook, or whatever.

Did you uncover any moments in Ben’s journey that resonated with you on a personal level?
Kirchart: Yeah, he didn’t talk about it on camera, but after the fact he talked about the stresses of being a professional skateboarder. How, when you’re in it, you don’t want to do it much longer. For Ben, that means going back into the kitchen, where it doesn’t involve the stresses of being judged for your video parts, or the stresses on your body through slamming. I try to explain to people: run this as long as you can, because if you look back on it and didn’t give it everything, you’ll regret it, because there comes a time where you won’t be able to do it. The kitchen will always be an option for Ben, but the skating will not.

Ben never skated with the aspirations of being a professional skateboarder, it all just fell into his lap, and he’s kind of perplexed that he’s where he is. Anyone that ends up being good at skating has dedicated the time, and gone through the pain, to get good at it, and wants to get paid, and wants to do it as long as they can. Whereas Ben… I don’t know how he got so good if he wasn’t pursuing it in that manner. That’s not a very common tale in skating.

Are there any Easter eggs in the episode?
O’Dell: Yeah, when Ben does the lipslide, originally it was edited so Ben pulls Heath out from behind a tree and gives him a fist-bump. So each attempt at the lipslide, you’ll see Heath hiding in the background.

I’ll keep an eye out. And any last thoughts?
O’Dell: I just hope people enjoy it. Heath and I were only worried about what one or two people thought of the episode, and that Ben appears to like it is such a relief.

Watch Ben Kadow’s Epicly Later’d episode here.

The post Behind the Scenes of Ben Kadow’s ‘Epicly Later’d’ appeared first on VICE.