Ryan Sheckler

Ryan Allen Sheckler (born December 30, 1989) is an American professional skateboarder and entrepreneur, and the star of the MTV-produced reality television series Life of Ryan, which ran from 2007 to 2009.

He also starred in four seasons of the short-format video series Sheckler Sessions on Red Bull TV.

Sheckler was listed in Fox Weekly's "15 Most Influential Skateboarders of All-Time" article.

Sheckler was raised in a family of three children—his two younger brothers are named Shane and Kane.

Sheckler was introduced to skateboarding when he discovered his father's skateboard at the age of two.

Sheckler's father provided encouragement by revealing that he had learned his first kickflip when he was approximately six years of age.

Etnies invited both Sheckler and his brother Shane to the company's California headquarters, where he was given his first pair of Etnies shoes; however, his official relationship with the brand ended in 1998.

In 1999, Sheckler was featured on the cover of Big Brother magazine's controversial "Kids Issue".

He was not allowed to read the issue by his parents due to the graphic material contained in it.

Backlash of the publication resulted in lawsuits forcing the magazine being labeled as 'for adults only' due its inclusion of inappropriate interview questions of the teenage skateboard subjects, instructions on drug use, how to commit acts of self harm, and explicit photos throughout the magazine.

In 2003, professional skateboarders and entrepreneurs Rodney Mullen and Daewon Song founded the skateboard company Almost.

Sheckler, together with Greg Lutzka, was a foundational member of this team and was promoted to professional status during his time with the company.

After appearing in Almost: Round Three, Sheckler resigned from the company to join the relaunched Plan B Skateboards deck and apparel company in 2007—at that time, the team consisted of Brian Wenning, Pat Duffy, Ryan Gallant, PJ Ladd, Paul Rodriguez, Colin McKay, and Danny Way.

Sheckler's MTV reality series, Life of Ryan, premiered in August 2007.

Jason Carbone and Sarah Kane were the show's executive producers, and both of Sheckler's brothers starred in the series, alongside his childhood friends Tony, Casey and Taylor.

Following his recruitment into the ranks of Plan B, Sheckler successfully cleared a 55 ft gap on Bob Burnquist's Mega Ramp construction (a segmented ramp that typically consists of 50 ft, 60 ft, or 70 ft-foot gaps, and a 27 ft-tall "quarterpipe" ramp ) in April 2008, with Way also in attendance.

Sheckler appeared in the final section of Plan B's Superfuture promotional video, released in 2008, which also consisted of footage from Sheckler's Mega Ramp skateboarding.

The Superfuture part also featured a historic trick that Sheckler completed at a location known as the "Costco gap."

The Life of Ryan series concluded in 2009 after three seasons, with only half of the planned episodes completed in the final season.

Sheckler later explained the decision to cease production, which was entirely his own:

When I started the show I said, "If it gets me away from my actual skateboarding fans and gets me away from skateboarding, then I'm not going to do the show anymore."

That's why our third season was just six episodes; we cut it in half.

I was, like, "I can't do it anymore! It's going to be more detrimental to my career than positive."

We just quit.

We stopped it.

In a 2012 interview for the internet-based channel Network A, Sheckler revealed that the San Clemente skate park is the location where he began skateboarding with his best friend Jered Marburger and that he was present at the opening of the park.

Sheckler's sponsors were the Etnies skate shoe company and Oakley, Inc., both of which made contact with Sheckler when he was around seven years old.

Almost team member Chris Haslam explained in January 2012: "Almost is when Rodney [Mullen] came together with Daewon [Song] ... and Lutzka, and Sheckler."

Sheckler appeared in the inaugural Almost video Almost: Round Three alongside Cooper Wilt, Haslam, Lutzka, Mullen, and Song; Sheckler's video part is edited to the Cure song "Why Can't I Be You?"

The Red Bull online series "Sheckler Sessions" was launched in June 2012 and the first episode featured the Plan B team at the Zumiez "Couch Tour" event.

In an online interview that was published in September 2012, Sheckler revealed that, at the time of the interview, he was in the process of building a new skateboard training facility.

Skateboard photographer Atiba Jefferson and filmer Ricki Bedenbaugh were present when Sheckler completed the trick, and both recalled in 2013 that they were very nervous due to the degree of difficulty involved.

The trick was finalized on the fourth try and led to Sheckler appearing on the cover of The Skateboard Mag magazine, which Jefferson shot.

Jefferson later described what he observed: "No hands down, no nothing. He just, like, once he caught it, he just ... set it down."

By the beginning of 2013, discussion continued, among both skateboarding fans and the industry, regarding whether the relaunched Plan B team would release its first full-length video.

Way confirmed that the production process was underway in a January 2013 interview for the online magazine Jenkem, during which time he mentioned Sheckler:

They [Plan B team] are doing the best tricks consistently with every variation of it down the biggest stuff.

And it doesn't take them long, so they have a lot of it.

For example when we went to China recently, Sheckler alone has more footage from his one trip than all of the Girl team from their China trips combined.

I'm not trying to diss on Girl, just trying to put it in perspective, what I think his strengths are.