Professional street-skater Rob Dyrdek rose to fame not merely by virtue of his well-publicized gifts skateboarding on asphalt, but as one of the most cunning and savvy young entrepreneurs in any field. Dyrdek parlayed his skateboarding passion into a multimillion-dollar fortune when he lined up a formidable array of corporate giants to sponsor him, then successfully designed and marketed his own trademark shoes and endorsed a seemingly limitless string of action figures, skateboards, and related accessories. He also subsequently pooled his resources with those of DC Shoes to design a series of exorbitantly priced skate parks. Dyrdek transitioned to filmed entertainment as one of the titular participants of the candid reality series Rob & Big (2006), which follows the day-to-day adventures of Dyrdek and his bodyguard, Christopher "Big Black" Boykin. The skateboarder-turned-actor then further expanded his Hollywood activity with a dramatic role in the Jon Avnet-directed psychological thriller Righteous Kill (2008), opposite Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.