Glenn P. P. Milligan is a heavy hitter when it comes to the world of BMX videos, dropping his unique style and creative eye on countless titles over the years. From BASE to Ride BMX to Volume to Nike and beyond, this dude has the chops to make BMX vids entertaining to watch. I threw a ton of questions at him recently, and he was happy to oblige. This here is part one; keep an eye out for part two tomorrow...

How long have you been making videos?
Something like 15 years...holy crap I'm old!

Do you know the total number of full-length videos you've made?
I actually have no clue; I've tried to count like 20 times and keep losing track. It's somewhere in the neighborhood of 32, give or take 3.

Has your production experience been all trial and error, or did you have any schooling or something similar?
The first few videos I made weren't done on a computer (again, I sound very old!). Digital editing wasn't quite available for the masses back then, so I've seen it start from its early stages, which was tons of trial and error. Hard drives were so small then, you'd have to edit a video a few minutes at a time and put the section on tape and edit the tapes together. To output a three-minute segment would take like 12 hours to render, so if you made a mistake you'd have 12 hours to try again! It was hell. I never took any editing classes; I did take a graphics class last year, though. You can teach an old dawg new tricks!

When you start a new project, what is your process for creating the unique visual feel for it (graphics, effects, titles, etc.)?
Usually there is a movie or TV show I like that is giving me an idea - I won't straight rob a concept, but more go for the feel of it. Sometimes a name or the music dictates quite a bit of how it's going to go. It's always a process, sometimes I find old files on my computer - ideas I had for videos that got released completely different; most of the time I think, "thank god I didn't do that," sometimes I'm like "Aww MAN, I should have done that!" Trial and error!

How do you keep from getting burned out, video after video?
When I'm not burned out anymore I'll tell ya!

Are you super into seeing movies and do you get any inspiration from them?
Yeah for sure. I just saw Transformers 2 and got tons of inspiration from that piece of crap. After seeing how much it sucked I realized I really can have a career doing this stuff!

What are some typical problems you run into when making a video?
Not enough footage and not having footage the rider is stoked on are two major ones. If you are clearing music, 90% of the time the music sucks, it's so hard to work with and around that, but if someone needs or wants cleared music, you gotta do your best!

Name one (or more) of the best experiences you've had while working on a video project.
To narrow it down would be so hard, but the moments on a roadtrip when you laugh so hard you almost piss yourself makes all of it worth it!

The worst?
Almost the same thing. Sometimes you don't get along with people and being on the road with someone that doesn't like you or you don't like is rough, especially for me, cause I have diarrhea of the mouth and I can't keep it shut!

Looking back, is there anything you've done that you now cringe at?
A couple of the Ride BMX [magazine] videos. I won't call out which ones, and in no way is that a stab at Ride, but there was pressure to get them done as quick as possible. Looking back, I wish I had fought harder on a couple to merge a few titles together and cut a ton of footage out. Part of the problem lies with me; dudes would try hard to get footage in and I hated cutting them out. I always felt like if they put in the work, who was I to dis 'em? I guess I don't regret that feeling, but I do cringe at it!

What title(s) are you proudest of?
Neighborhood Superheroes, Turbulence, Living in Exile, On the Clock, and Nice Try!

NICE TRY promo2 from PRIMO on Vimeo.

What video project was the best overall experience for you? Which was the worst?
Neighborhood Superheroes. Everything was new then and it was fun. I had a scrappy part, and everyone involved were basically friends. It was the best!

The worst was the last one I did for Ride, "FLIPSIDE". I guess first I have to say there was so much drama involved but nothing to do with the riders at all. Again, this is no stab at Ride either, it wasn't anyone there at the magazine, but two higher-up suit types. Basically they sold me on the idea of making a TV show and not a DVD, but when the project was more than halfway through they bailed on the BMX project a little and decided to make it a DVD. The problem was, the thing wasn't really being shot like that. I ended up quitting, but stayed on to finish only because the riders in the video had already put in some work.

To be continued...