The Long Road to Marvin Moran’s “Cherub”

By Matthew Becerra

Moran debuted “Cherub” at the Brain Dead studios Theater on Farifax. Image by Jaime (@panteraizmm), courtesy of Moren.

Marvin Moran has been filming skateboarding for years, documenting skaters around him as they grew from local shop kids into the biggest pros in skating and capturing others finding their way into the scene.

But “Cherub” is different for him.

What started as an idea to have his own video in 2016 became a project Moran would abandon and restart multiple times with injuries, people quitting skating, and more pushing the video further away. At different points, Moran wasn't even sure it would come out.

“I kind of had lost hope a few times,” Moran said.

The video eventually came together through the people Moran chose to keep filming. Rather than filming a certain style of skaters, “Cherub” grew around friendships that had developed over years with some having been around since he was a child. Once Moran started gaining momentum again, more people wanted to be involved, forcing him to become selective about who would actually make the final cut.

Adam Barragan and Nate Macias were two of the people who made it.

Both were hand selected by Moran to work at the FA Hollywood store with him, Moran had been filming Barragan for years watching him develop and influenced his approach and taste.

“Marvin has high standards and knows what's good in skating,” Barragan said. “He showed me what was sick and what wasn't.”

This led to a semi-viral moment with Barragan skating the stairs in the FA store due to an AEW wrestling event held at the store and getting the clip posted by Thrasher and others. 

Macias and Moran grew up skating together before Macias eventually drifted away from it, years later, Moran helped him get back, and after falling in and out of skating again, Macias returned to work on a part for “Cherub.” At 36, he felt he was skating better than he had in his early 20s, making being filmed by Moran more meaningful after growing up with him and watching the skaters he documented.

That history is what allowed Moran to make “Cherub” feel like a true core homie video while still featuring skaters with completely different places within the industry. Alongside longtime friends and prominent local figures like Lamare Hemmings, Moran was able to include pro skaters like T-Funk, whom he has filmed since he was young and considers himself one of the first people to take Funkhouser street skating.

Hemmings is the kind of skater Moran describes as a “unicorn,” someone who rarely reaches out to skate or film but would consistently hit Moran up and Moran considered it an honor to have his part in “Cherub.”

After nearly 10 years, “Cherub” finally exists, and it’s Moran first independent video not tied to a brand or shop.

For a project that spent years on the verge of disappearing, finally seeing it come together meant something to everyone involved.

“We were like, ‘Oh man, this thing's never coming out,’” Macias said. “And then to finally see it, we were like, hell yeah, I’m so proud of Marvin.”