“I Sold my Life Story to Hollywood!”
It’s not every day that someone says that to you with a straight face. But in the case of this well-known bicycle industry member who lived in Australia for many years, it’s 100% true.
Although he’s lived in the USA for four years now, many Australian bicycle retailers would recall the broad accent and endless energy of ‘Scottish’ John Buultjens who previously worked for a number of Australian BMX companies and visited many shops as a sales rep.
From his USA base, John now designs bikes for Haro worldwide. He has a huge personal collection of early Haro BMX bikes and was hired after the company discovered his passion for the brand and his obsessive attention to detail.
That in itself is quite and Australian success story, but the next chapter borders upon the surreal.
“Three years ago a Hollywood producer contacted us wanting to buy a Mike Dominquez bike for his office,” John recalled.
“His name is Ali Afshar. Some of his movie projects are funded by Lucas Oil, which is a billion dollar American company.
“Twelve months later he contacted us for another collector’s edition bike, but said that he’d drive down to pick it up and asked, ‘Are you free for lunch?’
“So we had lunch. And he asked me, ‘John, how did you get into BMX?’”
John then proceeded to summarise what had clearly been a horrific early childhood.
“So I told him. ‘When I was three years old my dad, threw me into the fire. By five years old I was so scared to go home I was living on the streets most of the time, eating out of trash cans. At seven, on 24th December 1979, my dad has beaten my mum up and I ran in and attacked him with a kitchen knife. I didn’t actually stab him. I ran in with the knife and he knocked me out.
“I got locked up on Christmas eve.
“This all happened in Glasgow, Scotland. I was taught to be a white supremacist. I was a little racist kid. In the area that I grew up, ‘You don’t like black people!’
“I was meant to be in a juvenile detention centre for nine years, but there was a foster program, three years in. So I was in there from age seven to 10.
“I was recommended to go into the foster program. The new foster parents walk in, mother white and father black. I was advised that this was the best opportunity that I’d have.
“This was how I got into BMX. They took me to see the movie E.T. Then I wanted to jump my bike over police cars and to do all this crazy stuff on bikes. That was my freedom.”
“When I was telling this story to Ali he looked and me and said, ‘I’m going to make your movie!’ This was over a sandwich at a lunch bar.”
In true Hollywood style, this producer wasn’t joking, as John soon found out.
He continued, “Eighteen months later I’m on the set with Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges. He’s in six of the eight Fast and the Furious movies.”
In fact, the latest instalment ‘Fate of the Furious’ made world headlines when it was released in early April, three weeks after Bicycling Trade spoke to John because it had the biggest opening week of any movie in history, US532.5 billion (A$710 million) overtaking the previous record holder Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
John continued to run through the cast of ‘his’ upcoming movie. “Sasha Alexander, she’s in NCIS, Shameless and is the daughter in law of Sophia Loren. We have Brian Craig who won an Emmy Award last year for his role in General Hospital where he was playing a role for five years. He’s the lead skinhead in our movie.
“It’s surreal, it really is. I’m getting goose bumps even talking to you about it.
“They were still filming yesterday, while I’ve been here in Taiwan. It was at a skate park. It’s for a scene at the end of the movie where there’s a big contest and John wins against the best riders in the world!” (laughs) “That part is typical Hollywood!”
“But the movie is based upon my true story and the real story is that you’re not your past. Be living in the present moment. You are who you are today.
“It’s about passion. It’s about love. It’s about this little white supremacist kid falling in love with his black father. That’s the strength.
“When Ludacris read the script, he asked to be in the movie. He’s told me that this is the best movie he’s ever done.
“It will be out in theatres in November. It launches at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and then it will go global.”
John was heavily involved in production, both playing a role and behind the scenes, as he explained.
“I had just over a month away from work during the movie filming, but I was also doing branding. Haro didn’t pay anything, but we got all this branding through it. Ludacris has a Haro mountain bike, Shane Grehan who plays the 15 to 18 year old John, he’s on a Haro Nyquist bike.
“Then all the other kids shared the branding. So I contacted Volume, Demolition, Subrosa, my Australian friend Clint’s brand Colony, BSD… so many brands. I didn’t want it to look cheesy with just one brand. Another Australian brand called Thriller, whose owner used to own Unit clothing, Paul Everest. He helped me out over the years.
“Then I contacted all my friends in the BMX industry and said, ‘Hey, do you want to be a part of this?’
“As well as being in charge of branding, I was in charge of athletes.
“The judges in the movie are my BMX heroes from when I was a kid. So we had Matt Hoffman, Ron Wilkerson, Mike Dominguez, Brian Blyther as judges. Then Mike ‘Rooftop’ Escamilla is the one doing the talking, he’s the MC.
“Then as the current day stunt riders we have Ryan Nyquist, Dennis Enarson, Chad Kerley, Tyler Fernengel, Chris Fox, Larry Edgar, Mike Parenti and Daniel Sandoval. These are the best of the best, including all the gold medallists at the last four X-Games.
“So we had the legends of BMX as the judges and the best riders of today in the contest, and obviously I win!” (laughs)
“It was a US$10 million (A$13.3 million) budget movie, which for a cycling movie, is pretty big. For Hollywood to do this is incredible.”
Perhaps most significant for the bicycle industry is the potential boost to the BMX market in particular this movie could bring if it’s a box office success.
“The Hollywood producers involved say that 99% of the people who see this movie will have never seen a BMX competition. So if it puts BMX on the big screen like it will and inspires some kids to get off the couch, get off the computer, put down the pizza and get on a bike, that’s what I want to see from this. That it inspires young kids who think they’re worth nothing.
“There’s more kids in the world that are growing up through trouble than who are having the best life. So if this can inspire some kids then I’ve definitely made my mark in this world.”
As well as potentially boosting bicycle sales, if this new movie, which will be called Ride, is successful, John’s life will also be changed for ever due to the fame that will follow.
“I still can’t comprehend,” he said. “I don’t know how it’s going to be or how I’m going to react. Would you believe I’ve already been asked to have a cameo role in Rad 2. Rad was made in the 1980’s. I definitely will take up that offer.
“A British publishing company has contacted me and they want to do the real story of John Buultjens in a book. It will be about how cycling saved my life.
“If you Google ‘John Buultjens Movie’ you’ll see an interview I did with Ludacris on Fox News in November when we were filming in Northern California and Ludacris was saying that this is the perfect time for this movie.
“Everyone is blaming everyone else for all troubles they’re going through. Take ownership of who you are. So he’s been great.
“I’m playing my biological father. That was pretty terrifying actually. But it was also the most rewarding day of my life because I know I’m nothing like him. I’m a lover and not a fighter.”
Ride is due to be released this November. There have been previous movies also named ‘Ride’ so for more details it’s best to Google ‘Ride Movie 2017’
