HBO’s ‘Betty’ debuts on Friday, May 1 at 11:00 pm EST. Now it’s almost, like, scary.”. “I think anything that portrays New York in a romantic kind of way always gets people wanting to come here,” says Moonbear, 26, who plays Honeybear on the show. While the big part of Betty is about how these girls bond over skateboarding, throughout six episodes, Mossel also manages to tackle some serious topics without making it such a big deal. The end result is that we, like Moselle, want to follow them and see what happens next, even if they’re only spending a day tracking down a backpack or getting high or having conversations that give viewers a fly-on-the-wall look at what young women really discuss when guys aren’t around. On Betty, HBO's languid, sun … A lot of that, I believe, is down to how she discovers her subjects in a way that feels like fate. For that reason, the stories presented in Betty feel fresh. Thanks for contacting us. Betty, their latest collaboration, follows many of the same Skate Kitchen actors and real-life friends: Janay (Dede Lovelace), Honeybear (Kabrina Adams), Kirt (Nina Moran), Indigo (Ajani Russell) and Camille (Rachelle Vinberg). “I used to go to that park a lot, but didn’t really go too much right before filming that, so it was kinda like, ‘Oh, we’re back here again!’ ” she says. Sitemap Betty A spinoff of the movie Skate Kitchen, Betty explores the lives of a diverse group of young women trying hard to stand out in the male-dominated world of skateboarding in New York. Critics Pick ‘Betty’ on HBO: TV Review The new series, from 'Skate Kitchen' director Crystal Moselle, follows a pack of teen girl skaters with gorgeous cinematography and verve. Betty White marks her 99th birthday and reveals her celebratory plans Kate Winslet reveals her father Roger has received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination: 'Feels like a huge relief' Do Not Sell My Personal Information, Your California Privacy Rights They’re well aware of the risks, and their journey is an intoxicating one. And if you don’t already live in New York, it just might even make you want to move here post-pandemic. Skate Kitchen isn’t a homework assignment needed to understand Betty, but we’re not exactly saying don’t watch it. Betty, HBO’s six-part series about a group of female skateboarders, started with a fortuitous subway ride. Professional actors also appeared in the film too (including Jaden Smith). She’s most prone to straying from the girl gang but always knows how to come home; Together, they’re an unassumingly entertaining crew, whose stories don’t shy away from harsh realities, from which they eventually emerge with glorious results. That film brought us the coming-of-age adventures of an inclusive group of friends who spend their free moments in skate parks. “It’s called being down for my girls.”Betty premieres May 1st at 11PM on HBO. In the opening scene of the new HBO series “Betty,” premiering Friday at 11 p.m., a young female skateboarder (Nina Moran) weaves around cars and through the traffic down Madison Avenue — … Let me assure you that these ladies skate, and they frequently do so together out of a sense of community, although they might happen to pull off solo board-bound tricks in parks along the way, all in six breezy half-hours of programming. And then we just said, ‘F - - k it’ and we just [kept] shooting, and we’d bring in dialogue later. But it’s like a cathedral of skateboarding.”, Another “epic” place where they shot was the Maloof Skate Park in Queens, with the Unisphere providing a backdrop in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. We've received your submission. HBO’s ‘Betty’ Is A Very Funny, Freewheeling Followup From The ‘Skate Kitchen’ Crew Kimberly Ricci Twitter Film/TV Editor May 1, 2020 HBO ‘s Betty follows a … The real skate girls starred in the movie as fictionalized versions of themselves. As the origin story goes with the Betty ladies, Moselle overheard a conversation between these two (^^^^^^) New York skaters, Nina Moran and Rachelle Vinberg, and she immediately felt compelled to learn more about the pair. Moran is Kirt, a fun-loving, outspoken skater and the mastermind behind the callout for skater girls. “We’re all dancing in the park,” she says of the scene that was inspired by the Soul Summit outdoor parties. Unlike with the movie, she’s a novice skater in the TV show; – Kirt (Nina Moran) is the most mellow, stereotypical stoner type of the bunch, never worrying about anything until someone attempts to do one of her friends dirty. The HBO series “Betty” is the spin-off of that film and shares the “Skate Kitchen” cast and well as its combination Instagram Story-meets-surf-style photography. Skate Kitchen isn’t a homework assignment needed to understand Betty, but we’re not exactly saying don’t watch it. But the show — about a diverse group of five young women cruising around New York City on their skateboards — was just shot last summer. The scene was actually a sobering one and lifted straight from Rachelle Vinberg’s (first) real-life credit-carding trauma. Moselle’s been perfectly open about how, prior to making The Wolfpack, she spotted the six Angulo brothers, all dressed like the suited-and-sunglassed characters from Reservoir Dogs, and chased after them down a New York street to investigate their story. Genre: Comedy Year: 2020 FPB Rating: 16LSD Betty airs on … They play kick-ass young women taking on the male-inundated NYC skate scene. “The girls have such a connection to the concrete, the shapes of buildings and the shapes of curves and grates and all these things that they can play with on their skateboards,” says Moselle. Terms of Use With naturalistic performances from the IRL Skate Kitchen and … “I would be out more, because I like to start skating again around spring,” she says. There’s an overriding freedom that these young women claim from the perspective of their boards. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Skate Kitchen was about the girls carving out an existence for women in the male-dominated world of skateboarding. At first, we’d try to shoot in between the trains, so that the audio would be good. As a TV show, Betty is very slice-of-life and doesn’t necessarily set out to make any heavy-hitting statements. Depending on your baseline interest in their culture, you might initially assume that this TV show is not for you. Your California Privacy Rights A diverse group of young women navigating their lives through the predominantly male oriented world of skateboarding. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Betty (the title is a reclamation like Skate Kitchen), is a funny and tender coming-of-age story of women skateboarders who are outsiders on many levels — … Betty is about “a diverse group of young women navigating their lives through the predominantly male oriented world of skateboarding,” according to … The series is part-continuation/part-spinoff of the 2018 narrative feature film, Skate Kitchen, from director Crystal Moselle (The Wolfpack), once again working within the cinema verité movement with a slightly different structure than the movie. Written by Moselle and Arfin, Betty, inspired by Moselle’s 2018 Sundance film, is set against the backdrop of New York City. The plot of Betty also feels fast-and-loose, and mostly there to string together the tight relationships between these characters. She’s inventive when it comes to digging out of scrapes and is fiercely loyal. Through Honeybear’s relationship with another female skater Ash (Katerina Tannenbaum), Betty gives us a poignant portrait about the anxiety of first love. ‘Betty’ Review: Sisterhood of the Traveling Skaterats HBO’s half-hour series follows the hazy misadventures of an all-female skateboarding crew, and scores a … This story has been shared 82,739 times. As mentioned, Betty is based on the critically-acclaimed 2018 Sundance film Skate Kitchen from Crystal Moselle, who now directs and executive produces the HBO series consisting of half-hour episodes. Betty also does something notable with its title. Skate Kitchen viewers will notice that the main characters keep their names for the TV series, but some of their personalities are tweaked. HBO‘s Betty follows a group of young women — all real-life skaters, who aren’t Actors with a capital “A,” in fictionalized roles — who simply want to skate. If that happens, watch out, the fists will fly; – Janay (Dede Loveless) is the vlogger who finds herself tangentially involved in a #MeToo story, one that demonstrates Betty‘s deft handling of a few complex issues in contemplative ways without falling into heavy-handed approaches; – Camille (Rachelle Vinberg) is the reflective, bespectacled one who expends too much energy in attempting to be taken seriously by the guys. “It’s so loud that it, like, vibrates in your head. You’re probably not as hip as they are, but they’d still have your back, quite like they watch out for each other. It follows the main protagonist Betty. HBO's Gen Z skater comedy, based on the 2018 film 'Skate Kitchen,' is a subdued celebration of young female friendship. And it’s sad to not be able to connect with the city like we once were. It’s also a freeing viewing experience that lets you live vicariously as the ladies glide down the street in beautifully shot, authentic sequences. A few years ago, the show’s creator, Crystal Moselle, a documentarian best known for … Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Moselle simply hung out with them, much like what happens in Betty with plot coming secondary. “We shot there so many times, and it is the most difficult place to shoot at because there’s a train going overhead every 30 seconds and there’s the traffic on the [Manhattan] Bridge,” says Moselle, 39. She subsequently met their friends from the Skate Kitchen gathering of female skaters, and she got to know their struggles and successes, on and off the board. They’re largely a collective, yet the end result of their tight-knit group is liberating, in a way that showcases Moselle’s nearly unparalleled ability to harness an authentic view of youth culture. Watch on A diverse group of young women navigate their lives through the male-dominated world of “When we were filming the overnight scene, I was actually really tired, so that part where I fell asleep, I was basically sleeping.”, But Moonbear’s favorite moment to film took place at Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick, where the girls were grooving instead of skating. “A lot of the boys in our [show], they grew up in that area, so they would skate there. I wanted to make sure that we would bring people from the park into the show, so that we were giving back to the community.”, For Moonbear, a special location was Chelsea Skate Park, where they shot under the lights at night. 43,626, © 2021 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved “We were constantly working with the locals from each of the parks and hiring them [as extras] for background, so they got to skate for the day and get paid. Betty is contagious and worth your time to witness. You know, being around people.”. Yet if you take the ride, you’ll be treated to the street-level adventures of effortlessly cool characters, several of whom would literally give you the shirts off their back… to mop up the blood when you inevitably fall and scrape the hell out of your own bod. A big setting for the four-wheeling action is the LES Skate Park. There’s a sense of freedom that, since we’ve been on coronavirus lockdown, feels like light-years ago now. That crude injury’s name refers to what crudely happens when a lady skater takes a spill and lands with the board between her legs. So, what actually happens takes a back seat to the overarching attraction — like the director, the audience is driven to simply follow these girls in a quest to learn more about them. Privacy Notice Airing on Friday nights, Betty is a spinoff of the 2018 movie Skate Kitchen, directed by Crystal Moselle, and follows a bunch of skaters over the course of a couple of summer days in New York. “That’s a beautiful park as well. “Betty” — which stars Moran, Dede Lovelace, Moonbear, Ajani Russell and Rachelle Vinberg playing fictionalized versions of themselves — will definitely make you long for the good ol’ days when we could all be outside and enjoy the city in all its gritty glory. The contraption pushes him across a frozen lake while he skates at 25mph. At the end of the day, though, “Betty” comes back to the girls on their skateboards riding through the concrete jungle without worrying about social distancing. A few do happen, although they feel organic, and the show feels like an immersive experience for all involved, including the audience. “And it was my birthday that day.”. 72,846, This story has been shared 43,626 times. In Betty, the girls take their own right to … “I hope that people can get lost in it and feel the love that they have for the concrete and being outdoors and connecting with people. Where Does Griselda Records’ ‘Conflicted’ Rank In The History Of Rap Record Label Movies? Yes, it’s gruesome, but the scene sent an immediate message: Moselle aimed to present the female skater experience, not only through brutal realities but by later showcasing transcendent moments that make the bruises, scrapes, and stitches seem like badges of honor.