Erik Ellington

Erik Ellington

Ellington in 2010
Personal information
Born	(1977-08-09)August 9, 1977 Anchorage, Alaska,U.S.
Home town	Tempe, Arizona,U.S.
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)

Erik Ellington(born August 9, 1977) is an American professionalskateboarder.

He establishedBakerboys DistributionwithAndrew ReynoldsandJim Grecoin 2007. The company provides distribution for closely related skateboard companies. In 2008, Ellington co-foundedDeathwish Skateboardswith Greco.

Early life

Ellington was born and raised inAnchorage, Alaska.In his teens, he moved toTempe, Arizona.On the "Epicly Later'd" episode ofVice Media'sInternet channel, he said of his early life,

We moved around a lot. When we lived in Alaska, my stepdad had money. He made a decent living; he had a body shop for cars and stuff. But then you move back and forth. Shit goes wrong up there, you move into a janky apartment, whatever. But we['ve] been up and down. I think it's a good experience, you know? To know both sides of the tracks.

Ellington said about living in Anchorage that "There wasn't a whole lot to do up there in winter. But in the summer you'd get between 16 and 22 hours of daylight. So you kind of got a year's worth of skating in those four months."

Ellington's early skateboard influences were the brands H Street and 101. As a teenager he sent video footage of himself to H Street and was sent aMike Carrollsignature model skateboard deck in response.

Professional skateboarding

Ellington first appeared on video when he played aZerorider inThrill of it All.Prior to this, he had appeared in the "Friends" section of the Toy Machine video,Welcome to Hell,but the part was uncredited.Ellington had relocated from San Diego to Tempe around the same time that he was recruited by professional skateboarderJamie Thomas,the founder and owner of Zero.He explained the initial development of his relationship with Thomas:

Jamie Thomas came out to Arizona. Me and Scott Copalman talked to Jamie quite a bit. We were on Balance at the time, and [Thomas] was starting Zero clothing. So he wanted us to ride for the clothing. Actually, he wanted Scott to ride for the clothing. And then Scott said he wouldn't do it unless I was on too. He just said, "I won't leave Balance unless Erik comes with me." So, by default, I got on Zero.

Following the 1997 release ofThrill of it All,fellow professional skateboarder Adrian Lopez told Ellington that Ellington was on the verge of being dismissed from Zero's roster.Thomas explained the situation in a telephone interview, "We were trying to film forMisled Youthand Scotty and Erik went through a spell of several months without doing absolutely anything. "

In 2005, Ellington co-founded theSuprafootwear company. The company has released six different Ellington signatureskate shoedesigns, with the sixth model, "The Ellington", released in late 2012.

He establishedBakerboys DistributionwithAndrew ReynoldsandJim Grecoin 2007. Bakerboys Distribution provides distribution for closely related skateboard companies.

In 2008, Ellington co-founded the skateboard deck brandDeathwishwith professional skateboarderJim Grecoand, as of 2013, the two partners continue to co-own the company. The company's initial professional team roster consisted of Ellington, Greco, and Lizard King. Deathwish and Baker released the promotional videoBaker Has A Deathwish.As of 2013, Copalman is an employee of Deathwish.

Ellington travelled to the Philippines as part of the "2012 Supra Asian Tour"where he was welcomed by the local media as a "living legend".While in the Philippines, Ellington participated in a street skateboarding demonstration at theCentris WalkinQuezon Cityand got a tattoo that reads "Thrilla In Manila".The Asian tour also visitedTokyoandOsaka,Japan, andTaipei.

In April 2013, the first full-length Deathwish video was released worldwide and Ellington appeared at premiers to promote the video.EntitledThe Deathwish Video,the brand's inaugural production features Ellington, Greco, Jon Dickson, Hansen, Neen Williams, Furby, Moose, and Lizard King.Production of the video was overseen by Ellington with assistance from other professional skateboarders likeDustin Dollin.

Sponsors

Ellington is sponsored by Deathwish, Supra,KR3W,Thunder, Spitfire, Mob Grip, and Shake Junt.

Bakerboys Distribution

In 2007, Ellington and fellow professional skatersAndrew Reynoldsand Jim Greco establishedBakerboys Distributionas an umbrella company for four skateboard companies—Baker Skateboards,Deathwish, Brigada sunglasses, Heroin, and Shake Junt.

Influence

Skateboard journalist Patrick O'Dell has identified Ellington as one of his favorite skateboarders.

Fellow professional skateboarderDaewon Song,who received a signed copy of a 2014 Deathwish signature skateboard deck, posted on Instagram telling Ellington to "keep inspiring with all your amazing video parts."

Personal life

Ellington resides inLos Angeleswith his two children.

In a 2011 interview, Ellington said that in his group of friends he is "probably" best known for "being a bit of a lagger. I'm always late. Nobody can really rely on me, for, uh... being on time." In his spare time, Ellington enjoys carpentry.

Videography

• Zero:Thrill Of It All(1997)
• 411VM:Issue 20 (1997)
• Baker and Bootleg:Baker Bootleg(1998)
• Zero:Misled Youth(1999)
• Landspeed:CKY(1999)
• ON Video:Spring 2001 (2001)
• Baker:Summer Tour 2001(2001)
• ON Video:Fall 2002 (2002)
• Emerica:This Is Skateboarding(2003)
• V7:Teenage Tour(2004)
• Emerica:Kids In Emerica(2004)
• Baker:Baker 3(2005)
• Thrasher:King Of The Road 2006 (2006)
• The Berrics: "Battle Commander" (2007)
• Streets: LA(2007)
• Baker and Deathwish:Baker Has A Deathwish(2008)
• Shake Junt:Chicken Bone Nowison(2009)
• Baker and Deathwish:Baker Has A Deathwish Summer Tour(2009)
• Supra:European Tour(2011)

Ellington has said that the music record label companies make it difficult to get rights to music for skateboard videos and that he doesn't think that the companies understand that kids end up buying music they hear on video featuring their favorite skateboarders.