The Pitch: Ice Village Demo
After sitting around on my ass for a week or so, I decided to write to some of the magazines to try and get them to pay for my return trip to SLC in exchange for a story and some photos. Below is the email I sent out to Thrasher, Big Brother, and Strength:
Gentlemen,
Send me to the Olympics to take pictures and interview pro-skaters.
Here's why:
I was recently hired by a pal to help him build a large vert ramp for the Ice Village at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. I kept a rather humorous (at least to me) journal and took some digital pics of the process. The results can be viewed at: http://www.skateandannoy.com/temp/ramp
Reasons why this would be a good story for your mag:
- Vert skating is hugely popular. - OK, that's a lie.
- It's the middle of winter, and the ramp is outdoors. This will cause the skaters to be uncomfortable and crabby, resulting in hilarious tom-foolery, or at least angry comments, possibly a lot of no-shows.
- It's the Olympics! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
- You'll be sending a message to terrorists, since it was (probably) illegal to skateboard under Taliban rule.
Reasons why I'm qualified:
- I did infrequent freelance photography for Thrasher in the mid to late eighties. Kevin Thatcher spoke highly of my work. Actually, he said "Try using a faster shutter speed."
- You may or may not remember me as the co-editor of the midwest based 'zine, Skate and Annoy, from the same time period. Both options might be in my favor.
- I have access to free lodging in SLC.
- I actually can take skate photos, as evidenced at http://www.skateandannoy.com/temp/photo-samples/
- I'm unemployed and often funny.
IN CONCLUSION:
Please send me to the Olympics to take pictures and interview pro-skaters. If I act soon enough, I can get pretty cheap plane tickets. In all seriousness, the story that I posted could use some editing and an occasional spell check. Also, the digital photos are low res. I have other writing samples online at http://www.annoying.com - anything credited to editorial or "kilwag" is mine.
Please do not hesitate to contact me, whether or not you decide to send me there.
Next Page: the replies, and my decision.
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