A while back, I had the privilege and the honor of witnessing my good friend Stew Johnson, build from scratch what would become a masterpiece, the sequel to his original flagship video, Anthem. He had slowly been assembling what would become Anthem 2, while working at least one other full time job, Stew’s Hard work had earned the trust and respect of some of our industry’s most influential and talented riders, and they all participated in what would be talked about for a good long while.
One of the riders which helped Stew successfully pull off an award winning piece of art, was a guy named Sean Burnz. The two of them stayed with me, while wrapping up filming Sean’s Section,or at least a small part of it…
Sean is a pretty unique character, and his riding style might seem borderline self destructive if you didn’t know any better. One of my favorite parts of the video was the legendary Hollywood Cemetery gap, that had been eyeballed for years. It’s Gnarley.
Sean dipped out one evening, climbing through a hole in a fence and scouted the gap, bringing with him a shovel, attempting to clear a route. Imagine that dude, looking like a psychopath, with a shovel in hand, creeping into a cemetery where U.S. Presidents are buried, in the darkness…
The only thing weirder was what he intended to do, a 25 or 30 foot step-down off a mausoleum, after charging through a bumpy runway of dead people and ornate cement work.
I was stunned when He ended up trying it 3-4 times, as Its seemed nearly impossible. I shot a few snapshots, and quietly applauded the efforts of a madman. I was stoked, I can’t even imagine how he felt…
Stew and Sean continue to do great things, and when I cross path’s with them, I consider myself lucky to know such motivated and accomplished lunatics.
