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18/11/20

Catching Up with Greg Mirzoyan

With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing and travel restrictions around the globe, we have been limited on who we can “Catch Up” with in the inline skating community. We were however able to Catch Up with Rollerblade® athletes & content maker: Greg Mirzoyan.  We hope you enjoy this issue of “Catching Up”.

During the last few months movement in general has been very limited.  From travel to exercise, we have all felt a little more confined. How did you spend your time?
Here in Spain we had really strong restrictions.  We were not allowed to go anywhere for a long time, just grocery shopping near my house. Skating was not an option for such a long time. I did a lot of gardening at that time. I’m happy that we’ve got more freedom to move from our government now.


So you have switched and are a gardener now?
I love to let things grow and become more beautiful, it’s a similar approach to skating and filming. It takes time to create something beautiful. But to answer the question: No. I am a skater and I really mis that at the moment. Especially getting out and create with my good friend and Rollerblade® freeride athlete Ben Brillante.

Ben and you are a good team and create amazing content together. How come you guys are such a good team?
17 years ago, in 2003 Ben and I did the first production together. And from that point on we have always evolved ourselves. Skating wise but also in the way we would like to present inline skating to the world in our content. We are both perfectionist and have a “to-do” list in mind, and a shared file, of things we want to try to create something new, innovative and impressive for people to see and for ourselves. It’s like a perfect marriage

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Ben and I inspire each other, in this case two captains on a ship works very well. Also scrolling around on YouTube gives me tons of ideas. Either a cool video, an advertisement with a certain look or feel, a unique shot or angles I’ve never used before or a striking image. But it mostly starts with skating itself, it is often about details I want to show. Then I find a way to capture it. Sometimes an idea I already had, matches what I want to show; that’s golden!

In the years of creating content, skating, and working with Ben what has changed?
I always try to look forward, and be “better” or create something new. Although I am much older now when I’m skating or filming it still feels like back in the day. It is work now, but is the perfect mix of business and pleasure. If I look back at all the things in the past I can tell it is all quality work. If you look at content nowadays it is different and much faster. It’s like fine dining and fast-food.

What do you prefer: fine dining of fast-food?
In today’s world the consumer, or the client, demands the best possible quality in huge quantities. The user is overwhelmed by several sources and content. After finishing a video, the next video is already there. I feel like it takes away the value of content. Fast-food content is getting better. People evolve, skills get better and better. But waiting a bit longer, built up some anticipation will add more emotion to content and the value too.

The latest shoot I have done was the product shoot for the upcoming release. We had all the products of 2021 and the objective was to shoot short product video’s and make action pictures. As a content creator I always add my creative touch or try something new, but with fast-food content it is just a whole different ballgame than for example the Twister announcement video I did.


You are talking about the introduction video you made with Ben in Paris?
From my creative point of view this is probably the best video I have created. I used the RED handheld that made crispy clear shots. The sound is so good, so it transfers emotion exactly as I imagined. The slow-motion are on point as well, I love seeing this. Everything just came together at the right moment: the new Rollerblade® Twister Edge skate and the way I made and approached this production.

Go to Video


Is there anything you would really want to make?
Yes I have something really cool in mind and I can already see certain shots and what I would like to highlight in a video like this. I have been thinking about this for a while, but the moment isn’t there yet. Just like the Rollerblade® Twister introduction video, all thing have to come together for a project such as this.
The next video that will drop will be cool too. I wanted to take you along behind the scenes. So during our production we have taken behind the scenes shots. This will release soon and gives some nice insights of how we roll during production.

VIDEO