about With Buttery Steez, He drops DVDs Like hammers

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For those who don’t speak skateboarding, John LaCroix has the creative style to nail a fast, dangerous trick (in his case, making DVDs) and instantly gear up for the next. That’s the goal and the prize in this thrill-chasing world: keep pushing, but with the seeming ease of those who shrug off monikers like athlete and extreme sports.

Whether it’s skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding or BMX, “It’s just something you really enjoy doing with your friends,” LaCroix explains with the necessary patience of the devotee asked to define his world. “It’s not a hobby, it’s not something you do when you’re bored — it’s your life.”

Skateboarding Philosophy
A skateboarder himself, LaCroix long ago erased any distinction between board and job. “My life and my work are not separate,” he says. “I don’t get paid for skateboarding, but I look at it the same way as my work: I’m always trying to improve, do new things.”


That zest for the untried trick has rocketed LaCroix to the position of art director at Orange County-based 411 Productions, where he helps create the look, feel and sound of print, web and video projects on skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding and BMX. (Derivation of the company name: “What’s the 411?” means “What’s up?”, as in information or directory assistance.) At just 27, he works with a staff of about 40 videographers, editors, designers and artists, as well as dozens of contributing freelancers, and the nearly 100 pros featured in every issue.

Among 411’s five regularly published multimedia magazines and many special travel and educational editions, it’s the skateboarding videos, created with DVD Studio Pro and other tools, that score highest with the hottest segment of this exploding audience. (There are an estimated 22 million skateboarders worldwide, with the vast majority in the coveted male 14 to 21 demographic.)

Pictures & Words Aren’t Enough
“Pictures and words just aren’t enough sometimes,” says LaCroix. “Yes, there are skateboarding competitions and paper magazines and some TV coverage, but the primary expression of skateboarding to the real core market is through DVDs like ours.”