Skating the small screen

Jackson Bell

When Disney Channel scouts asked skateboarder James Rodriguez if he

wanted to skate in a music video, he jumped at the chance.

On Tuesday, the 42-year-old Glendale resident performed tricks at

Glendale Skate Park in Verdugo Park while a production crew filmed

the video for teen actor Kyle Massey’s first movie, “Life is Ruff.”

The movie will debut July 15 on the Disney Channel.

“So far, it’s a cool experience, just a lot of hard work,”

Rodriguez said after skating in an empty pool as background for a

photographer taking promotional shots of Massey posing. “We’re in

perpetual motion until they say the magic ‘cut’ word.”

Kyle, the 13-year-old actor who also stars in the television show

“That’s So Raven,” spend Tuesday lip-synching to a rap song he

recorded for the upcoming movie. Cameramen filmed different angles as

Rodriguez and the other skaters rode their boards in the background.

“Life Is Ruff” is about Kyle’s character Calvin, who adopts Tyco

the dog to win a cash prize at a dog show so he can buy a rare comic

book, producers said. He ends up falling in love with Tyco and

learning the true meaning of friendship.

Tuesday’s shoot, in which Kyle raps about getting along with the

dog, will be a segment of the movie, he said.

“I’m not the singing or rapping type,” Kyle said. “I’ve never done

anything like this before.”

Glendale Skate Park was chosen because the setting is green and

there is nothing that sticks out, like signs, said Jill Lindeman,

vice president/creative director of Disney ABC Cable Networks. Scouts

checked out a wide variety of skate parks, from Chatsworth to Long

Beach.

“This had the nicest surroundings,” Lindeman said.

All the rental money will be used for skate park upkeep, said

Joanne Venditto, the city’s community services manager. The city

charges $1,500 for weekdays and $3,000 on weekends.

Garret Shigenaka, a 35-year-old Diamond Bar resident, and

Rodriguez were offered the job Monday by scouts who saw them skating

at the park.

They were paid $100 each, but it wasn’t about the money, Shigenaka

said.

“It’s pretty cool to just do what you love to do,” he said. “It’s

a chance to get the sport out to a wider audience, too.”