platfrm skateboarding

Manny Santiago: Reconnecting with Puerto Rico Through Skateboarding | Portraits – The PLATFRM

April 30, 2026 No Comments

Born in Puerto Rico, Manny Santiago moved to the United States with his family around age 5. He makes it clear that his upbringing in Lowell, Massachusetts, introduced him to skateboarding—and his life’s passion.

Manny splits his time between the U.S. and Puerto Rico and built a professional career on a skateboard, creating space and cultivating a scene for skateboarding to flourish on the island has become part of his life’s calling. In 2011, he organized the first Prince of Puerto Rico skate contest.

Portraits explores Manny Santiago’s early life in Lowell and chronicles his present-day life in Puerto Rico. Find out who were the biggest influences in his humble beginnings—from his first skate crew to his lifelong friendship with Dave Bachinsky. Then travel to the island with Manny to see where he rediscovered his Puerto Rican roots, made new connections, and started a movement to get local kids rolling into the professional ranks alongside him.

Montage / Edit, Tour, Video

Swim Skateboards Co. Part 2: Sac to Portland | Life in the Van Vol. 6 – The PLATFRM

April 27, 2026 No Comments

The Swim Skateboard Co. squad hops back in the van to complete their trek north, leaving California behind en route to Oregon for greener pastures and more terrain. Led by Kevin Terpening, with Dan Plunkett managing the vibes, Ethan Loy, Justin Drysen, Ryan Connors, Keenan Lewis and Marley Humphrey pack in for the journey.

Their first major stop is in Eugene, Oregon, where they slam a meal at pro skateboarder Josh Mathews’ restaurant before being blessed with a session by the man himself. Then they skate a few crusty spots in true Pacific Northwest style, and Ethan explains how he scored a quick come-up on some cash in the gambling-friendly state while en route to drop a different deuce.

They continue on to Portland, where they have a plethora of pins provided by local legend Silas Baxter-Neal. After hitting a ton more spots, linking with plenty of homies, and stacking more Life in the Van moments, the Swim team wraps things up in high spirits after stomping their first road trip together.

Montage / Edit, Video

Swim Skateboards Co. Part 1: LA to Sac | Life in the Van Vol. 6 – The PLATFRM

April 23, 2026 No Comments

Meet Swim Skateboard Co. and jump in for a two-part series of Life in the Van. The crew comes together for their first official team road trip, covering ground from Los Angeles to Sacramento, California, before ultimately reaching Eugene and Portland, Oregon, for a true West Coast classic.

After 15 years of living in L.A., professional skateboarder Kevin Terpening moved back to his home state of Ohio and started Swim Skateboards in 2023. Soon thereafter, Dan Plunkett joined the effort, and everything else has since come naturally for the brand. Today, they have a full team (all of whom—besides Kevin—live in L.A.), featuring pros Justin Drysen, Ryan Connors, Ethan Loy, and Keenan Lewis (no longer on Swim Skateboards) and Marley Humphrey.

They start things off with a dream backyard skatepark session before taking their first pit stop under a bridge to stack manuals. After that, they squad up at a junk jam for the parking lot party vibes, then continue north, ripping their way up the coast and bringing us along for the ride.

Interview, Montage / Edit, Video

Paul Rodriguez’s Evolution: Fatherhood & Skateboarding Longevity | Captain of Industry Ep. 3

April 16, 2026 No Comments

In this third and final episode of Captain of Industry, Paul Rodriguez shares a few of the secrets to his success—and how he’s watched his goals shift before his eyes. P-Rod talks about what it’s been like skating since he was 12, pushing through bouts of burnout, and continually finding the hunger to reach new peaks.

He also reflects on growing up watching his dad live out his dream at the highest level, and how that inspired P-Rod to chase his own. Then, at 23—right in the prime of his career—he had a daughter of his own, pushing him to shift gears once again.

Paul has been putting in the hard work for years and, over time, has learned the keys to staying inspired.

“All the cliché, corny stuff that you hear—‘Passion. Love for the game. Focus. Dedication.’—they’ve become clichés for a reason. Because they’re true.” — Paul Rodriguez

Interview, Montage / Edit, Video

P-Rod’s Mindset: Brand Deals, Primitive Growth & Skateboarding First | Captain of Industry Ep. 2

April 13, 2026 No Comments

Episode two of Captain of Industry picks up with P-Rod recapping his, at times, lucky findings in life. However, nothing has proved more important than maintaining a keen focus on his craft—and delivering.

Which he has, time and again.

P-Rod takes us through his early days landing major sponsorship deals, starting a beer company with a marketing plan that returned 10x his investment, and the early stages of transforming Primitive. It wasn’t always golden skateboard drops and two-minute sell-throughs, though.

Paul knows all too well that business and culture decisions rarely align. He’ll be the first to welcome you to say what you will about his business choices. But you can never say he wasn’t on his board—skating in the streets, putting out video parts, and consistently contributing to the culture.

“In my mind, if I’m going to take these opportunities, then I better make sure that I always come correct when it comes to the streets.” — Paul Rodriguez

Interview, Montage / Edit, Video

The Rise of Paul Rodriguez: Pro Career, NikeSB Deal & Building Primitive | Captain of Industry Ep. 1

April 9, 2026 No Comments

Paul Rodriguez, aka P-Rod, has become one of the most well-recognized figures in skateboarding today. His ability on a board speaks for itself—loudly. But more than just his skating, Paul’s path to the upper echelon has been carefully carved by the mindset it took to get there.

Captain of Industry is a three-part series with P-Rod that explores how he went from learning kickflips in the grass in front of his mom’s house to getting his name on 10 signature Nike shoes, and eventually starting his own brand to stay closely connected to the skateboarding industry for years to come.

In this first episode, Paul recaps a few of his career highlights, like signing with Nike and how Primitive first launched as a sneaker store before transforming into the full-fledged skateboard brand it’s known as today. P-Rod sheds light on how these moves came to be while describing what his headspace was like along the way.

“The greatest in their field, I think they all are—more or less—on the same wavelength mentally.” — Paul Rodriguez

Montage / Edit, Video

Koston Eaton Inside PHXAM 2026: Qualifying 1st, 100° Heat, and Finals Pressure | First Person – The PLATFRM

April 7, 2026 No Comments

Experience the PHXAM from Koston Eaton’s perspective—a local-grown legend in the making. One of Arizona’s own, Koston dropped in for his fifth time at Cowtown’s annual event, all while keeping us in tow the entire, blisteringly hot weekend. Skating in 100-degree heat is anything but easy.

On Saturday, Koston qualified first, earning a “golden ticket” directly into Sunday’s final. However, his work was far from finished. Watch how he handled the contest mayhem and hear exactly how he felt while battling through experience in this episode of First Person.

Contest, Montage / Edit, Skate Park, Video

PHXAM 2026 Highlights: The Ultimate Skateboarding Event – The PLATFRM

April 1, 2026 No Comments

PHXAM 2026 brought together the future of skateboarding in one place. The vibes stayed high despite the Arizona heat, the music stayed loud, and every session pushed the limits. Huge shoutout to all the skaters, fans, and crew who made it happen. This is more than a contest—it’s a community. Relive the weekend, and see why PHXAM continues to set the tone for the next generation.

Interview, Montage / Edit, Video

Bradley Church: Weekend at PHXAM 2026 | Spot to Spot – The PLATFRM

March 31, 2026 No Comments

Hit the heated streets of Phoenix, Arizona with one of the nicest, and freshest skaters in town—Bradley Church takes the crew around for a day (and a couple nights) of skating, going Spot to Spot.

Despite Cowtown’s PHXAM coming to town for the 24th annual event, Bradley found the time to give us the royal treatment and unveil a few of his favorite places to stack when he wasn’t in contest mode. And if you’ve seen any of his parts, you know he has the goods. One city, four spots, nearly a dozen clips and the nicest tour guide you can ask for.

Contest, Montage / Edit, Skate Park, Video

PHXAM 2026 Rockstar Energy Best Trick Highlights: Junseung Lee, Steven Vasquez, Carlos Garcia & More

March 27, 2026 No Comments

The Best Trick event took place on the Rockstar 6-stair handrail setup, featuring curved handrails on the sides and a third going straight down the middle. Open to ALL of the contestants from the weekend, the mayhem could hardly be controlled as the masses swarmed the set.

Junseung Lee took home the win for his heelflip blunt slide bigspin out, Deyvid Tuesta Mota’s nollie 270 heelflip back lipslide and Steven Vasquez’s bigflip bluntslide took home some cash as well.

Featuring Deyvid Tuesta Mota, Kenny Reed, Logan Perez, Reemy Aniceta, Carlos Garcia, Drew Nguyen, Greg Rodriguez, Mark Dipasquale, Cassius Booker, John Osborne, Isaac Relis, Steven Vasquez, Anthony Guerrero, Erick Borges, Victor Ramon, Nick Todero, Bryshan English, Shinga Ma Uemura, Victor Castillo and Junseng Lee.

Montage / Edit, Video

Keenan Lewis Destroys Street Rails & Stair Sets | Spot to Spot – The PLATFRM

March 16, 2026 No Comments

After moving to California about two years ago, Keenan Lewis has been dialing in his skating on all fronts. Last year, he pulled a well-deserved Lunatic Fringe feature in Thrasher and then earned the win at PHX Am. From the contest formats to the streets, he’s undeniable. A self-proclaimed Skatepark of Tampa baby, Keenan spends the day showing off a bit of his impeccable rail game—he blames it on SPoT.

Keenan takes us for a warm-up session at Paul Rodriguez Skatepark off Laurel Canyon Boulevard before hitting two totally different styles of sidewalk spots in Sun Valley and North Hills. Then, to cap things off, he stacks a final round of clips at Los Angeles Valley College. A couple of quick ledge tricks to rewarm the legs before toying around on a six-stair, then he battles through a broken board to get the backside tailslide down the healthy 10-stair. Like we said, he’s undeniable.

Interview, Montage / Edit, Video

David Reyes and the Persistence That Took Him From Denver to Zero | Portraits – PLATFRM

March 12, 2026 No Comments

Meet up with David Reyes at the Denver skate park to take it back to the very beginning. Revisit his stomping grounds in full. Learn about his childhood, his influences growing up and his introduction to the skateboarding industry. Then take the journey full circle to where he’s landed now — with his name on a Zero board.

Hard work and dedication don’t always pay off as fast as they should, but persistence does. David Reyes’ skateboarding is relentless. His approach to life and love for the craft are relentless, too. And as he keeps going, that drive is proving to pay off in full.