![]() ![]() This may be a slight inconvenience for a lot of locals, but for one of San Diego's most well-known local celebrities, this alters the fabric of his life. It has been nearly 2 months since San Diego's Ocean Front Walk connecting Mission Beach and Pacific Beach was closed to the public as a precautionary measure to battle the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. And we need him! Please sign our petition to FREE SLOMO! We are asking San Diego County & City officials to open Ocean Front Walk to Slomo, San Diego's most well-known celebrity-on-wheels! He needs it. John Kitchin, aka "Slomo" will be in attendance to answer questions.For many San Diegans, the picturesque "boardwalk" known as Ocean Front Walk between Mission Beach and Pacific Beach makes for a welcome respite from the daily grind, but for one man that space is life. "SLOMO" screens Sunday as part of the San Diego Film Festival. Slomo and some of the crew will be on the boardwalk in Pacific Beach this Saturday promoting the film. Right now, they're just trying to build an audience for the film. Micheli says fingers are crossed, but that's a ways off. The film won a best documentary prize at Austin's South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival, which makes it eligible to be nominated for an Oscar in the documentary shorts category. One guesses he's a Vietnam veteran another thinks he's homeless. People along the boardwalk are interviewed in the film speculating about Slomo's background. As he steps into skates and onto the boardwalk as Slomo, he's someone altogether different, more visceral and otherworldly. The man in the interviews is articulate, thoughtful and philosophical about life and the choices he's made. "So many of the people we see on screen are young, but it's nice to see something different." One of the remarkable aspects of the film is the difference between the Slomo we see in interviews and the familiar character, some might say San Diego legend, we see skating the boardwalk. Micheli says she and Izenberg are both interested in older characters. "The people that love Slomo are cheering for one person that got away and got to real freedom where he skates all day," Slomo explains in the film. "It was much more fitting with Slomo to have these three guys moving together in an organic way."Īs they skated, passersby would give Slomo high-fives and call out his name. "So it was sort of like this little caboose, going down the boardwalk," explained Micheli by phone from San Francisco. As Slomo skated, the cameraman shot on rollerblades behind him, and Izenberg, the director, was on a skateboard recording sound. Amanda Micheli produced "Slomo," and says the crew had to get creative during the shoot. The film includes stunning footage of Slomo skating. "I think what I’m doing, with all due modesty, is a type of flying," Slomo told the filmmakers. As Slomo, he's become known for that signature balancing move on one leg, arms spread like wings. He's fully embraced his nickname and hasn't stopped skating. "Every night I just went back to it like it was some sort of religious thing," he says in the film. He bought rollerblades and started to skate. He moved to Pacific Beach and a studio apartment. He said to himself: "Why don’t I just cash it in and start a whole new life?" He decided to be a completely different person. After a failed marriage and a health scare, he walked away from it all. They'd gone to medical school together.ĭespite all his wealth, Kitchin felt empty. It's simply titled "Slomo." Joshua Izenberg directed the film after his father told him about Kitchin's transformation into Slomo. "I lived in a mansion," he explains in a new documentary short chronicling his life and love of skating. John Kitchin, a hardworking neurologist who made a lot of money, which he spent on things like a BMW, a Ferrari, and an exotic animal farm. It looks like he’s skating in slow motion, which is how he got the nickname "Slomo." He's often grinning and listening to music as he weaves in and out of the crowds. He skates there every day – arms outstretched, gliding on one leg, the other lifted behind him.
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