‘It’s raw’: ‘N-Men’ documentary puts Sacramento’s ‘untold’ skateboard scene in the spotlight

James Sweigert was on a school field trip in Old Sacramento the first time he saw the skateboarders hauling down at “Stoker Hill.” This was the nickname for an embankment under the Interstate 5 freeway that linked Old Sacramento with the K Street Mall downtown.

And if you were a local skater back then, especially in the mid-1970s, Stoker Hill was hallowed ground.

Sweigert marveled as a multiracial crew of skaters sped down the ramp as fast as they could. Then, it was up and down the sides, like charging a concrete wave.

They came from all parts of town, from south Sacramento’s “Garden Block” to Tahoe Park, Sierra Oaks, Larchmont Riviera and beyond. They called themselves the N-Men, a nod to their Northern California roots and a sly jab at the Z-Boys, then an emerging crew of skateboard superstars from Santa Monica.

And now, the N-Men are the subject of an award-winning documentary that takes the typical skate flick to new levels of storytelling and emotion. As actor Josh Brolin narrates, such skateboarding trailblazers as Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi and Steve Caballero testify to the N-Men’s impact.

Sweigert, a 1982 graduate of Jesuit High School, spent more than a decade in bringing “N-Men: The Untold Story” to light as its director, writer and co-producer. The film premieres at a sold-out Crest Theatre on Friday night, complete with a red carpet and RSVP list that includes such skater icons as Hosoi and Tony Alva, the first rock star of skateboarding and one of the original Z-Boys.

“I want as many people to see (the documentary) as possible,” said Sweigert, in a call from his Southern California home. “This is a documentary of discovery. The N-Men were underground, so we’re pulling the covers up. It’s raw, underground, pure soul.”

This weekend, the epicenter of California skateboarding will be in Sacramento. Friday’s red-carpet premiere sold out in 72 hours, with a second screening to be held Saturday afternoon. That night, the N-Men party rages on at midtown’s Goldfield Trading Post for a show headlined by JFA, the iconic skate punk band.

And of course, skateboard sessions will go down, from the Power Inn skate park to a local backyard pool, where in true N-Men fashion, you need to be in the know.

“I want this film to put us on the map,” said Randy Katen, an original N-Men member who now lives in Montana, in a recent call. “The people in skateboarding who’ve been at it as long as I have recognize that not only were we here, we still are here. James saw the vision.”

RECONNECTING WITH THE CREW

Sweigert had always wondered what happened to the N-Men. During his own Sacramento skateboarding days in the 1970s, he’d not only watch the N-Men rule Stoker Hill, but at such long-gone parks as Sierra Wave and Skateboard Palace. Later, he was roommates with Gary Cross, an original N-Men skater known for his ferocious runs, especially in slalom contests.

“Those guys were crazy,” Sweigert said. “I wondered if any of them were still alive.”

Like so many stories these days, the answer was found on social media.

Sweigert started to sleuth around Facebook in the mid-2000s and learned that most of the crew weren’t just above ground. A lot of them were still skating hard in their middle ages, like it was Stoker Hill all over again.

A couple of them had even shaped skateboard history. Judi Oyama – yes, women are welcomed into the N-Men fold as well – was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in 2018.

Don Bostick sports an N-Men baseball cap in a recent Facebook profile picture, a nod to his local roots. Back in the 1980s, Bostick organized contests around Sacramento with fellow N-Men skater Steve “Steve-O” Brockway.

From those grungy roots, Bostick emerged as a pioneer of producing skate contests on a world stage. He designed the X Games skateboarding and snowboarding contest format and ran it for 15 years. Bostick also served as chair of the Olympic USA Skateboarding Association.

Some of them had fallen off the map, like Doug Jones who co-founded the N-Men with a south Sacramento buddy named John O’Shei.

In the course of making the documentary over 11 years, a few of them had passed away as well.

Sweigert knew there was a movie in this. But the project was slow going at first. He was attempting to make a documentary with very little visual documentation of the N-Men in their heyday.

“A bunch of the guys said, ‘Yeah, we have tons of footage!’” said Sweigert. “But once we started filming, nobody could seem to find it.”

The game changed about 2½ years in. Sweigert connected with Bill Golding, an amateur photographer who had boxes of photos that captured the N-Men skating Sierra Wave and other spots. It was exactly what the film needed: rare action shots of Sacramento skating from decades gone by, all to be projected on the big screen with maximum pop.

“N-Men: The Untold Story” unspools not only the crew’s own history, but Sweigert’s journey in making the film. Beyond the scenes of the skaters reminiscing on their glory days, some moments capture long-awaited reunions and news of tragedy that make for perhaps the most emotional skateboard movie ever created.

“N-Men: The Untold Story” has earned a number of accolades since Sweigert started entering it on the festival circuit, including best director at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, special jury winner at the Los Angeles Film Awards and best sports feature at the Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival.

“It was like braiding hair with three strands tied together,” said Sweigert about the film’s narrative. “One story is the chronology. The second is the events like discovering Doug Jones, the photos and the co-founders. And, there’s my story of making the movie. Telling those three stories in a way that didn’t feel disjointed is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

SACTOWN AND N-MEN

“N-Men: The Untold Story” will inevitably be compared to “Dogtown and Z-Boys,” a 2001 documentary about the Zephyr skateboard team from Santa Monica circa the 1970s.

Their run burned hot and fast, just about three years, but team riders like Alva, Jay Adams and Stacy Peralta established themselves as pioneers of modern skateboarding. “Dogtown and Z-Boys” is a definitive skateboard documentary that also won an audience award and directing award at the Sundance Film Festival.

But the Z-Boys weren’t the only ones ruling pools back then. Golding’s photos of the N-Men are more than just a time capsule. They are receipts that the N-Men were breaking ground in how pools could be skated, right at the same time as the Z-Boys. That makes for a bit of NorCal-SoCal rivalry that keeps the film’s narrative punchy.

The money quote comes from Alva himself, the alpha dog of Dogtown.

“I’m here to say the N-Men were just as great, if not better than the Dogtown guys,” he says. “They just had a different territory that was their zone. And they basically flourished, grew and continued to carry on the mission.”

ROLLING INTO THE SUNSET

Ultimately, “N-Men: The Untold Story” is about falling in love with skateboarding in Sacramento and never stopping. It’s about skateboarding as a vehicle for building community and lifelong friendships.

Following the Sacramento screenings, the movie will have its Los Angeles premiere Saturday, right near the heart of Dogtown. Down the line, Sweigert’s hoping for a full theatrical run.

“To me, the movie is about passion,” said Brockway, 62, in a call from his Orangevale home. “I’ve been through some things in life and skateboarding has never left me. Nobody cared what color you were in the N-Men. The criteria was do you rip or do you not? And, are you down with having fun with the crew or not?”

Like Brockway, some of the them are still skating in their 50s and 60s, dads and grandpas who don’t believe skateboarding has an expiration date. Jamie Hart, a downhill and slalom skateboard champion, still skates in his early-70s and proudly wears an N-Men hat.

“I’m not done skateboarding,” said Katen, 63. “I’m healthy. I’m the weight I was when I was 21 years old. I will probably skate this weekend.”

So that’s why you find Brockway on a recent Sunday rolling on the outskirts of Davis.

The scene is a drainage ditch turned DIY skate spot with a ramp that’s awash in graffiti and crusty parking blocks for grinding. He’s joined by 50-something townies who fly the N-Men flag including Rusi Gustafson, a local elementary school teacher, and Matt Weiland, a Davis educator who’s held down the spot for decades. Old schoolers such as Deano Thompson from Rancho Cordova and Woodland’s Jeff Contreras, who started skating in 1977, have made the trip as well.

Metallica and the Misfits blast on a Bluetooth speaker. By noon, the crew rolls more than a dozen deep with an age range of 10 years to 62. It’s a warmup of sorts to a weekend that will be all about celebrating the N-Men’s past and present.

“This is the best thing I could be doing,” said Brockway, before taking a run and catching a frontside grind on the ramp. “And I’m excited that our story’s finally being told.”