Dogtown As a concept has existed since the early 1970's. It was the birthplace of progressive skateboarding, Santa Monica/Venice, California. In the celebrated documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, Venice was a forgotten slum by the sea. Out of the wreckage of Abbot Kinney's dream town gone bad, roamed young surfers searching for outlets after the surf got blown out. They found it through an aggressive approach to skateboarding never seen before. Jim Muir, the founder of Dogtown Skateboards, was one of these kids. For nearly 30 years Dogtown Skateboards has been synonymous with hardcore skateboarding and has a hardcore loyal following.