Photosynthesis by Alien Workshop

Widely considered one of the greatest skate videos of all time. Directed by Joe Castrucci, Photosynthesis fused groundbreaking skating with an artistic sensibility and a landmark soundtrack to create something that transcended the genre entirely.

Company: Alien Workshop

Released: 2000

Era: Turn of the Millennium / The Artistic Peak

Featured Skaters: Anthony Van Engelen, Anthony Pappalardo, Jason Dill, Rob Dyrdek, Josh Kalis, Brian Wenning, Kerry Getz, Fred Gall, Danny Garcia, Mark Appleyard, Tim O’Connor, Pat Corcoran, Rob Pluhowski, and the Habitat team.


Released in 2000 — Alien Workshop’s third video — it wasn’t just a collection of video parts. It was a complete atmosphere, a mood, an experience that hit differently from anything else being made at the time. Directed by Joe Castrucci, the video opened with a Rolling Stones intro, featured music from Iggy Pop, Tortoise, Philip Glass, Chemical Brothers, and Radiohead, and treated the editing as seriously as any of the skating. The result was something that felt closer to a film than a promo tape.

The team was stacked. Anthony Van Engelen opens with a hard-charging ledge attack that sets an immediate physical standard. Anthony Pappalardo follows with a methodical, clockwork-precise section filmed largely at Love Park — East Coast control in its purest form. Rob Dyrdek, still years away from his mainstream television fame, brings raw energy and creative lines that show why he was considered one of the best in the world at that point.

The Habitat section gives space to a young Mark Appleyard, Danny Garcia, and Brian Wenning — all of whom deliver parts that would define their reputations. Wenning’s section in particular holds up as one of the best of the era. Josh Kalis closes out the Workshop portion with a banger-loaded part that cemented his status as a Philadelphia legend.

And then there’s Jason Dill. His closing part — set to Radiohead’s “Polyethylene” — is unlike anything else in the video or in skating at the time. Aggressive and vulnerable at once, edited with a rawness that felt almost documentary, it’s a part you feel as much as watch. It became, and remains, one of the most discussed video parts in history.

Photosynthesis matters because it proved that a skate video could be art without losing any of its power. It raised the bar for what editing, music, and atmosphere could do in the format, and that bar has never really been cleared. If you haven’t seen it, track it down.