This was before the drunk driving accident that killed Australian pro Shane Cross and put Ali into a coma. From the perspective of a Vice-made ‘Sk8 TV’ show, it was all way too dark and depressing to cover, so I never even considered it. We were doing episodes about Dustin Dollin shopping for pants at the time. Fast forward to a year or so ago, I posted a photo on my Instagram of Stevie Williams, where Stevie said ‘I want to do an episode your show, but I don’t want any of that depressing bullshit…’ and in the comments, Ali Boulala wrote, ‘I’ll do an episode, but i’m sure it will be all depressing.’ I contacted him to see if he was serious, and was soon on a plane to Stockholm to visit him. He hasn’t done too many interviews since the accident so I wasn’t sure what I would find. But staying with Ali for a week was nice, most of the trip was full of laughs and good food. You can see that he has not shut the door on the past. There is a picture of Shane Cross on his living room wall, and it always hangs in the air. But he is moving towards putting his life back together, and I’m proud of him for that. This is a heavy episode, and I want to thank Ali for his honesty. – Vice.
For the Love of Skateboarding