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Jan Welch
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Jan Eric Welch is an American director of aggressive skating videos and commercials. He is also a freelance journalist and a SXSW Interactive Media Award winning designer.

Career

Jan Welch started his aggressive skating career in 1991. He travelled and skated throughout the state and the rest of the southwest. Through these travels, he met and inspired many of the key players who built a foundation for their sport during its infancy. Jan had a vision to unify the unorganized lesser-known factions within the sport through the creation of Scum Magazine. Only two years after starting Scum, it became a global phenomenon that encompassed aggressive skating, its lifestyle, music and art. This magazine brought many unknown skaters during the '90s into the spotlight, through the web and its print publication that lasted from 1995-1999.

In 1999 Jan was offered a position to build a web site for Daily Bread Magazine and went on two create two videos for them, entitled Quatro and No One's Children.

He attended the University of Texas in Austin to study architectural engineering
Architectural engineering
Architectural engineering, also known as building engineering, is the application of engineering principles and technology to building design and construction...

, before moving on to film and advertising and subsequently dropping out. Jan obtained an associates degree in Printing Management from Austin Community College
Austin Community College
The Austin Community College District is a regional community college district with eight campuses and 12 centers located in and around the city of Austin, Texas, United States....

.

In 2002 Jan Welch and professional aggressive skaters Jon Elliott and Brian Shima
Brian Shima
Brian Matthew Isoa Shima is a professional inline skater.Came to fame in the early rollerblading community because of his unique style on skates and winning many competitions. He also holds the record for the most pro skates held by any person...

 started a distribution
Distribution (business)
Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...

 company called Rat Tail. Rat Tail was to be the foundation of a collective that now includes some well known companies in aggressive skating. These are 4x4 Urethane, Vicious Bearings, Ground Control and Nimh Skates. As is the case with most skater-owned companies, it has been mired in controversy from the beginning and has failed to gain significant traction.

In 2005 Leading the Blind won Video of the Year from the French blog Pello Mag.

Personal life

Jan Welch was born in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, and raised in Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. His father was Eric Welch, who was a political consultant in Texas in charge of running campaigns for US Senate, Congress, the Texas Supreme Court and countless judicial and legislative elections. His mother, Bettina Welch, was the personal physical therapist for many of the Texas political elite, including Lady Bird Johnson
Lady Bird Johnson
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 during the presidency of her husband Lyndon B. Johnson. Throughout her life, she was an advocate for beautification of the nation's cities and highways and conservation of natural resources and made that...

, President LBJ's widow, and Liz Carpenter
Liz Carpenter
Mary Elizabeth "Liz" Sutherland Carpenter was a writer, feminist, former reporter, media advisor, speechwriter, political humorist, and public relations expert....

, LBJ's press spokeswoman and executive assistant as well as an artist specializing weaving. Mrs. Welch also specializes in museum quality restoration of antique rugs, tapestries and clothing. She comes from a long line of German artists including her uncle Dieter Lange who was a well renowned German illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

 whose work included numerous children's Pixi books, board games for Ravensburger
Ravensburger
Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH is a German game company. It is a leader in the European puzzle market.-History:The company was founded by Otto Robert Maier with seat in Ravensburg, a town in Upper Swabia in southern Germany. He began publishing in 1883 with his first author contract...

, as well as illustrations for the political magazines Die Zeit
Die Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...

 and Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...

. Her grandfather was a university art professor in the former German state of Western Pomerania, now part of Poland. All of his oil paintings from prior to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 were confiscated by Polish and Russian interests and never seen again. Due to his family's post-war refugee status he was never able to afford to paint in oils again, instead focusing on water color. Jan's German grandfather Wilhelm Urban was a prisoner of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 during World War II and his American grandfather, Thomas Irwin Welch, of the Seventh Army was also a prisoner of war and was captured in Belgium on January 9, 1945 by the Germans at the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...

. After the war he went on to run the family business, the Welch Grain Company in Dalhart, Texas
Dalhart, Texas
Dalhart is a city in Dallam and Hartley counties in the U.S. state of Texas, and the county seat of Dallam County. The population was 7,237 at the 2000 census. Founded in 1901, Dalhart is named for its location on the border of Dallam and Hartley counties. Dalhart sits at the intersection of U.S....

, which still has major grain storage facilities across the Texas Panhandle
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...

.

Filmography - director/producer/editor/filmer


Filmography - director/editor/filmer


Filmography filmer


Appeared in the following videos as a skater


Journalist

Has contributed to the following magazines:
  • Inline Magazine (Germany) out of business
  • Flavor BMX Magazine (U.S.A.) out of business
  • Crazy Roller Magazine (France) out of business
  • Scum Magazine [U.S.A]
  • Be-mag (Austria)
  • Daily Bread (U.S.A)out of business

Notable awards

  • 1999 - South by Southwest - Best Recreational/Hobby/Sport Site for Scum Magazine
  • 2005 - Video of the Year for Leading the Blind from the French Pello Awards

Interviews


Resources and links

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