Through My Board took home Best Documentary Feature at the 2026 Chelsea Film Festival in New York, with director Dan Eason recognized for the film.
The award caps a festival run that has taken Paul Johnson's story from Burnside to audiences across the country and abroad.
Willamette Week profiled Through My Board ahead of its premiere, describing Burnside Skatepark as a Portland landmark that has shaped a global skate subculture. The story centers on OG skater Paul Johnson, known around the park as Deaf Paul, and his decades-long relationship with Burnside.
Writer Brianna Wheeler credits the film with "canonizing the lore" that lives beneath the bridge.
¿Confusion? International Skateboard Magazine announced the world premiere of Through My Board at the Portland Panorama Film Festival on April 16, 2026 at 5PM.
The film follows Paul Johnson's 33 years skating Burnside as a Black, Deaf skater, along with the park's OGs as they face aging, addiction, and a changing skate culture. Director Dan Eason, a skateboarder whose production work ranges from music videos to community arts, took the premiere outside the theater with a skate alley takeover, a best trick contest on the bike rack with $500 in prizes, and a product toss.
After the screening, filmmaker and Burnside OG April Jones moderated a panel and Q&A with Paul Johnson, Brooke Durgin, and Dan Eason.
Cincinnati Magazine previewed the 2026 Cindependent Film Festival, which returned with a renewed focus on accessibility and inclusion for filmmakers and audiences, from captioning, audio description, and ASL interpretation to sensory-friendly programming.
Through My Board screened as part of the festival's push for more films by and about people with disabilities. The article highlights director Dan Eason, a Cincinnati native now based in Portland, who filmed Paul Johnson's story over seven years for his directorial debut.
Paul Johnson and director Dan Eason joined Greg Nibler on FOX 12's Happening Now to talk about Through My Board ahead of its world premiere at the Portland Panorama Film Festival, April 16 at 5PM at the Hollywood Theatre.
Through my board is happy to announce being selected by The Film Collaborative for a generous fiscal sponcorship.
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THE FILM COLLABORATIVE is the first nonprofit focused on distribution-education. TFC educates filmmakers about and helps filmmakers with all aspects of distribution without taking rights. TFC believes in and stands by our three taglines: “filmmakers first.”, “nonprofit, on purpose”, and “we don't own your rights…you do!”
The Portland Film Office, in partnership with Travel Portland, has announced the recipients of its 2022 Portland Post-Production Grant Program. Selected from a pool of 23 applicants, four local filmmakers will receive $7,500 each for their respective projects.
The grant program is intended to support the professional development of local Portland filmmakers by providing funds for such activities as sound, picture editing, color matching, color grading, closed caption, tech specs for distributors, and music clearances using local post-production houses.
Grants encourage the completion of a local feature-length film and position local producers to build toward larger, more resourced productions.
