Jamie Thomas (born October 11, 1974) is an American professional

skateboarder Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. S ...

and skateboard industry entrepreneur. Thomas is the owner and founder of Zero Skateboards and Fallen Footwear, until he announced its closure in January 2017. Thomas' nickname in the skateboard industry is "The Chief".

Early life

Thomas was born in Florida. He grew up in

Dothan, Alabama Dothan () is a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties and the Houston county seat in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is Alabama's eighth-largest city, with a population of 71,072 at the 2020 census. It is near the state's southeastern corner ...

, but also spent time as a child in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

and

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County in the U.S. state of Florida, 77 miles north of downtown Miami. , the population was 59,182. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6 ...

for his father's work as a nuclear engineer. Thomas started skateboarding in Palm Beach Gardens at the age of eleven.

Skateboarding career

In 1991, Thomas won a skateboarding competition in

Panama City, Florida Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated city of the Panama City–Lynn ...

. In 1992, Thomas left Alabama and relocated to

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in order to pursue a career in professional skateboarding. At the time, he was sponsored by Thunder Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Vans and as a flow rider for Real Skateboards. Thomas turned pro for a short lived brand called Experience. Thomas went on to ride for

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

-based Invisible Skateboards. After relocating to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

in 1994, Thomas was featured on the cover of ''TransWorld SKATEboarding'' magazine and filmed video parts for Spitfire and Invisible. In 1995 Thomas left Invisible to join skateboarder/artist

Ed Templeton Ed Templeton (born July 28, 1972) is an American professional skateboarder, contemporary artist, and photographer. He is the founder of the skateboard company, Toy Machine, a company that he continues to own and manage. He is based in Huntingt ...

at Toy Machine Skateboards. Thomas filmed and directed two Toy Machine videos, the second one being ''

Welcome to Hell ''Welcome to Hell'' is the debut studio album by English extreme metal band Venom. It was released in December 1981, through Neat Records, at the culmination of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. The album was re-released by Sanctua ...

'', one of the most influential skate videos of the 1990s.

"Leap of Faith"

The Zero video ''Thrill Of It All'' featured Thomas's attempt at what would be coined " The Leap of Faith" (an "ollie melon" over a handrail and down an 18-foot, 8-inch drop). The location of the "leap" was the

Point Loma High School Point Loma High School is a public high school in the San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, California, United States. It is located in the Loma Portal neighborhood of Point Loma. The school serves the neighborhoods of Point Loma and ...

in San Diego. Although Thomas did not successfully land the trick, his attempt garnered notoriety.

Business career

In 1996, Thomas started Zero Skateboards through skateboard distributor Tum Yeto. In 2003, Thomas started the skate footwear brand Fallen Footwear. In 2006, Thomas won a regional "Entrepreneur of the Year" award from business leaders

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...

. In a June 2014 interview with the ''Jenkem'' online publication, Thomas explained that the

Dwindle Distribution Dwindle Distribution, based in El Segundo, California, is an American skateboard distributor. It is a component of Transom Capital Group Limited. The company was founded by Steve Rocco and Rodney Mullen. Its formation is recognized as a key event ...

skateboard company—responsible for the

Enjoi Enjoi is a skateboarding company that produces skateboard decks as the brand's primary product; the company also manufactures skateboarding accessories and clothing. The company, distributed by Dwindle Distribution, has, since inception, been kno ...

Blind Skateboards Blind (stylized as bLind) is a skateboard company founded by Mark Gonzales in 1988 under Steve Rocco's World Industries distribution company. Gonzales has since left the company and today the company continues under the ownership of Dwindle Dis ...

Almost Skateboards Almost Skateboards is an American skateboard company founded by professional skateboarders and business partners Rodney Mullen and Daewon Song. The company manufactures skateboard decks using 7-ply, 8-ply, and carbon fiber constructions, while th ...

, Darkstar and Cliché Skateboards brands—will take over "the sales, finance, production and distribution aspects" of the Zero brand, without citing a time frame. Thomas further explained that the Zero employees will remain independent and will focus on "the team, marketing and creative aspects" of the brand. On June 27, 2014, two-time ''

Thrasher Thrashers are a New World group of perching bird, passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the family (biology), family Mimidae. There are 15 species in one large and 4 monotypic genus, genera. T ...

'' magazine Skater of the Year Chris Cole (perhaps the brand's top pro at the time) announced his departure from Zero on the social media platform Instagram, without a corresponding reason; however, a reply from the Zero Instagram account thanked Cole for his "loyalty & dedication". Thomas explained in a June 24, 2014 interview with the Active brand's online media channel that core skateboard brands will need to remain authentic to survive in the marketplace. He also revealed that he continues to enjoy the process of working in collaboration with sponsors and companies on projects, and recommended skateboarding projects to the audience for motivational benefits. In 2017, Thomas announced on Instagram that he would be joining a new footwear brand called STRAYE footwear, alongside Chad Muska and Antwuan Dixon. Thomas announced on April 24, 2019 that he sold his collectible skateboard business, Garage Days Collection, to a collector. Garage Days Collection sued the collector, Florida resident and attorney Matthew R. Wendler, in the San Diego County Superior Court a month later, on May 24, 2019. Two days later, Wendler sued Thomas and Garage Days Collection in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The California case is now pending before the Honorable Janis L. Sammartino, and the Florida case is pending before the Honorable Roy K. Altman.

Personal life

Thomas is married to Joanne and they have three children, born in 2003, 2006 and 2008. The Thomas family resides in

Encinitas, California Encinitas ( Spanish for "Small Oaks") is a beach city in the North County area of San Diego County, California. Located within Southern California, it is approximately north of San Diego, between Solana Beach and Carlsbad, and about south ...

. Thomas is a Christian, with several board graphics that feature Christian imagery and scripture. Thomas has explained that his nickname, "The Chief", was started by professional skateboarders

Elissa Steamer Elissa Steamer (born July 31, 1975) is an American professional skateboarder. Early life Steamer was born in Fort Myers, Florida, United States, and began skateboarding in 1989. Steamer frequented a small city owned skate park on Grand Avenue. ...

Erik Ellington Erik Ellington (born August 9, 1977) is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and designer. Early life Erik Ellington was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, to Rose Ann Ellington and Charles Luther Ellington. His parents separat ...

and Jim Greco. In January 2000, Thomas appeared with

in a print ad for the

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is a non-profit research and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., which promotes a plant-based diet, preventive medicine, and alternatives to animal research, and encourages ...

to promote vegetarianism.

Trivia

Blur guitarist,

Graham Coxon Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Cox ...

wrote an eponymous song in tribute to Thomas, which can be found on his solo album, " The Golden D".

Videography

* Spitfire Wheels: ''Spitfire'' (1993) * Invisible Skateboards: ''Invisible'' (1994) * Toy Machine: ''Heavy Metal'' (1995) * Etnies: ''High Five'' (1995) * Toy Machine: ''Welcome to Hell'' (1996) * Emerica: ''Yellow'' – shared part with Adrian Lopez (1996) * Zero: ''Thrill of it All'' (1997) * Zero: ''Misled Youth'' (1999) * ''Landspeed: CKY'' (1999) * Transworld: ''VideoRadio'' (2001) * Transworld: ''Chomp on This'' (2002) * Zero: ''Dying to Live'' (2002) * Zero: ''New Blood'' (2005) * ''Reason to Believe'' (2005) * Thrasher: ''King of the Road'' (2004) * Thrasher: ''King of the Road'' (2005) * Thrasher: ''King of the Road'' (2006) * Zero promotional video (2007) * Fallen: ''Ride The Sky'' (2008) * ''Bill Maher's

Religulous ''Religulous'' () is a 2008 American documentary film written by and starring comedian Bill Maher and directed by Larry Charles. The title of the film is a portmanteau derived from the words ''religious'' and ''ridiculous''. The documentary exami ...

'' (2008) * Zero: ''Strange World'' (2009) * Insight: ''Untitled'' (2011) * Zero: ''Cold War'' (2013) * Zero: ''Damn It All'' (2019)

Video games

* ''

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'', released as ''Tony Hawk's Skateboarding'' in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe, is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It was released for the PlayStation o ...

'' (1999) * ''

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the second installment in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series of sports games and was released for the PlayStation in 2000, with subs ...

'' (2000) * ''

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3'' is a 2001 skateboarding video game and the third installment in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision under the Activision O2 label in 2001 for the PlayStation, Pl ...

'' (2001) * ''

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4'' is a skateboarding video game and the fourth entry in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision under the Activision O2 label in 2002 for the GameCube, PlayStation, X ...

'' (2002) * ''

Tony Hawk's Underground ''Tony Hawk's Underground'' is a skateboarding video game and the fifth entry in the ''Tony Hawk's'' series after '' Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4''. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2003 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, ...

'' (2003) * ''

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

'' (2020)

References

External links

Black Box Distribution official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Jamie American skateboarders Sportspeople from Dothan, Alabama 1974 births Living people Skateboarding video directors