2012 was a productive year for the Etnies BMX program. The shoe company filled the entire year with team additions, team trips, welcome edits, and collaborative efforts with several core BMX companies and team riders on signature colorways for a few of Etnies popular shoe models. 2013 began with an announcement that Chase Hawk would be joining the pro team this year and with that came mention of a new Etnies DVD. If you're familiar with the Etnies "Forward" (2002), and "Grounded" (2007) DVDs, then you know that the companies reputation for quality content and production value precedes them.

Video projects like these take a lot of energy, and resources, and with respect to quality web content from Etnies, it seemed like a good time to talk to John Povah, manager of Etnies BMX program, to confirm a new DVD was in the works, and see what else Etnies has in store for us in 2013.

XGames.com: Chase hawk recently joined the Etnies team and in his welcome statement he mentioned being excited about working on some projects for Etnies including a DVD. How far off is the DVD?
Povah: The ball hasn't really started rolling just yet. "Verbally" I've told the team that we're getting going on a new video, some guys even have a clip here and there, but with other projects and the day to day we haven't quite pulled the trigger. We're still trying to finalize planning. I was hoping to have it rolling by now, but there's a lot more behind the scenes work than you might imagine. We have to make sure we allocate budgets and resources to make sure we roll this thing out effectively in a way that will have the most impact. It has to be easily accessible, affordable or free, or with another kind of incentive for people to want to buy it with how the market is and accessibility of content on the Internet. We have some cool ideas we're working on but we haven't set a deadline.

There's no way of knowing what the final product will be like on a project like this, but are there any plans laid out for the framework yet?
It's slightly easier to make a video that appeals to BMXers, so my goal for bigger productions like "Grounded" is to try to have it appeal to a broader audience than just BMXers. This project will be much the same, but obviously with a different team, vibe, etc. [Mike] Manzoori will have creative control and be the driving force behind the whole production.

We'll be using Mike for filming as much as possible, and outside filmers when Mike is unavailable, there's not going to be one single filmer -- it's hard for one person to be in all places at all times. We'll do our best to use filmers that have a track record such as Christian Rigal, Will Stroud, Navaz etc. The riders feel comfortable working with them. We'll have specific camera settings, filming styles, and guidelines that we'll encourage filmers to use to create continuity across the whole production. If I had my way I'd have Manzoori do the whole thing, but it's just not a reality with all the other projects he has going on. It'll be a full team video, and with Mike's creativity, I'm sure he'll come up with something quality.

Last year Etnies had team trip edits like the "Club Med Tour" and also a few edits from individual riders like "6400 Miles With Ruben Alcantara." What can be expected this year?
It's difficult to keep up with the usual rate of content, but we do have specific initiatives, collaborations, colorways, product releases, and tours planned. So hopefully we'll be able to keep up with the needed output and content aside from filming trips for the full-length DVD. I think we'll be able to keep up with the demand.

Is there anything coming up soon that people should be anticipating?
We have a lot going on. There's a team rider series of animal tees that are out right now and will continue to be available in the coming three seasons, so keep an eye out for those, they're pretty cool. There's also a tee featuring Nathan Williams. We also have the Ben Lewis/Fit Bikes footwear and apparel collaboration that will be available any day now here in the US (available now in Europe). Next season we're doing the Chase DeHart Fader Vulc colorway, then we'll have the CINEMA Wheels X Etnies collab., the United X Etnies 2.0 collab. featuring shoes for Nathan Williams (Barge LS), Corey Martinez (RVM), and Geoff Slattery (Brake 2.0). Spring '14 is the FIT 2.0 X Etnies collab., affectionately called "Battle of the Fittest" featuring both Tom Dugan and Ben Lewis. Aside from all this, we still have the Number Mid and Brake shoes. Somewhere in here we're going to get some product going for Chase Hawk which will be awesome, and there's always new product coming down the line.