Jerry Hsu

Jerry Hsu (born December 17, 1981 ) is a Taiwanese-American skateboarder, photographer and owner/operator of the skate company "Sci-Fi Fantasy".

Hsu started skateboarding in the early 1990s and he explained what he was attracted by in a 2013 interview: "I remember the reason I started skating was because I saw these kids with green hair and big pants and they looked so stupid, and I wanted to be that."

His mother brought home a discarded concrete parking block during his early period of skateboarding and he later regarded the gesture as "very thoughtful."

Hsu's first skateboard deck sponsor was Maple, where he was a team member alongside Marc Johnson (skateboarder), who facilitated his recruitment, Louie Barletta, Chad Bartie, and Chad Knight, among others.

After he joined Maple, Hsu appeared in a promotional video for the northern California retail outlet NC Board Shop's clothing line, called "NC Clothing," alongside other sponsored riders, such as Gershon Mosely and Pancho Moler.

Released in 1996, Montage runs for a duration of 30 minutes and also indicates that Hsu was sponsored by a brand named "Sutters" at the time.

The first Maple advertisement announcing Hsu's professional status with the brand was published in 1999, when he was 17 years old, and featured the tag line: "Not another brick in the wall."

Hsu appeared in the 1999 Maple video Black Cat, which also featured Johnson and Barletta.

Around the same period, Hsu was first sponsored by the Osiris Shoes company, which had rebranded itself after it was first launched as "Evol Casuals" during the preceding two years.

Although he was not yet a professional for Osiris, Hsu appeared in the 1999 Osiris video The Storm.

His video part garnered attention for a never-before-seen trick that became known as a "Storm flip”, in which the skateboarder performs a "nollie backside 180 kickflip”, and while still in midair, adds a "late front-foot kickflip" before landing on the ground (a nollie trick is executed at the front end of the skateboard).

Hsu membership of the Tilt Mode Army was first revealed in 2000 with the release of the inaugural TMA video Tilt Mode!.

Described as a group of skateboarder friends from the San Jose, California area, TMA's membership also consists of Johnson, Barletta, Matt Eversole, Steve Caballero, and Jose Rojo.

Prior the dissolution of Maple, Hsu joined the enjoi company, which had been started by Johnson, who recruited both Barletta and Hsu, as they were all close friends at the time.

Hsu explained that Johnson was primarily interested in Barletta to begin with, but Hsu was later included as part of a "package deal."

Commencement on the production of the inaugural full-length enjoi video commenced after Johnson's departure in 2003.

Entitled Bag Of Suck, the video was released in 2006 and features a two-section part from Hsu as the conclusion.

With a duration of just under eight minutes, the first section of the part is accompanied by Cass McCombs's "Sacred Heart", while Sonic Youth's cover version of The Carpenters' song "Superstar" is used for the second section.

Hsu also joined the Ricta skateboard wheel team during the same year.

As of 2007, Hsu's family home remains located in San Jose, California, United States (U.S.).

Hsu's family is originally from Taiwan, and his parents speak both English and Mandarin Chinese.

Following the notability and success from Bag Of Suck, Hsu underwent significant sponsorship changes, leaving WeSC clothing and Osiris for Emerica, which offered him both a shoe and apparel deal, in 2007—the tag line "GuessHsu?"

was used in the promotional material.

The Vice web video series "Epicly Later'd" published its "Jerry Hsu" episode in May 2007, which is hosted and created by Hsu's friend Patrick O'dell, who was previously a staff photographer at Thrasher Magazine.

Hsu received attention after the episode was released, as Hsu shows O'dell his family home—including footage of his parents—and VHS footage of Hsu skateboarding at the age of 13 years, leading O'dell to use the description "child prodigy."

Johnson is also interviewed by O'dell and his high regard for Hsu is obvious:

The way that Jerry [Hsu] lives his life is, like, he lives it on his own terms.

He wears what he wants to wear, he sleeps when wants to sleep—he does whatever he wants to do.

And, when you're in a "business" situation, they either don't like that because they can't do that, or, they don't like that because it's not marketable, or whatever.

He's kind of like an "old soul" … He's the guy that's younger than you and you look up to him.

Hsu released his first signature shoe with Emerica, the "Hsu" (including a lowtop variation that was released at a later stage, named the "Hsu Low"), in 2008.

Hsu explained in 2010 that his Chinese-language fluency is akin to a "third grader."

Hsu was then sponsored by the MOB skateboard griptape brand in early 2010.

Hsu revealed in a September 2012 online interview, for the RIDE Channel's "Weekend Buzz" series, that he was offered a sponsorship deal with Nike, Inc. following the end of his contract with Osiris; however, Hsu declined the offer in favor of Emerica, due to the effect of a questionnaire that he was emailed as part of the recruitment process:

I was asked if I would want to … well, I was sent, like, a email questionnaire, that was like pre-written.

Like it seemed just like it was this pre-written thing, towards … like it was totally impersonal.

It was, ah, like, "What do you like about Nike? What do you think you can bring to Nike? What like, ah, blah, blah, blah, blah, bah. Like I don't even know if it was, like, a serious consideration that I could ride for them, but, yeah, when I read that thing, like, this was kinda, like, if this is their deal, then I don't really, I'm not really into it.

In a May 2013 interview, Hsu explained that he is still asked to perform the trick on a frequent basis, but he tries not to perform Storm flips, as they are "too busy" and he feels embarrassed.

Hsu also said that he enjoyed this time period with Osiris, as he was able to constantly travel, including international trips, and participate in the benefits that the company was reaping from market success.

Regarding Hsu's recruitment, Johnson said in a 2013 interview: "We stole the fuck out of this guy."