NEW PODCAST: E43 – No. 1 Surfer in the World with Sterling Spencer

Sterling Spencer is the undisputed No. 1 surfer in the world, but he took time off his schedule to visit with us sincerely about his migration from early blogger to the very funny Instagram producer and personality that he is today. We discuss brain injuries, Jeremy Flores, Kelly Slater, being chosen as a subject for parody, and more. Enjoy.

Find Surf Stories Podcasts wherever you listen to podcasts.

 

NEW PODCAST: E42 – Cacao Barrels with Shannon “Hopper” Eichstaedt

Shannon “Hopper” Eichstaedt has an addiction; it’s a healthy one. Big barrels provide the spike in adrenaline necessary to flood endorphins and face-numbing tingles…. We truly enjoyed capturing this super-stoked human to share some stories about his wild times with Andy Irons and many more memories throughout his career as a fully-accredited charger. Enjoy.

Find Surf Stories Podcasts wherever you listen to podcasts.

Taylor Steele Filmmaking Residency – June 11 – 16th

APPLY HERE

June 11 – 16, 2023

Taylor Steele’s Background:

Apple, National Geographic, Corona, Pacifico, Samsung, and HP computers represent a sample of Taylor’s commercial clients, but some time before, he made surf films.  Named one of surfing’s “Ten Most Influential People” by Surfer Magazine, director Taylor Steele’s two decades of experience and 25 award-winning films continue to challenge and redefine the ways we see, think about, and experience the art of surfing.  Steele’s breakthrough films Momentum, Campaign, and Loose Change of the ’90s established The Momentum Generation, a close-knit collection of progressive surfers including Kelly Slater, Rob Machado and Shane Dorian, who have each proceeded to redefine the limits of modern surfing.  This group, including Taylor, was featured in an Emmy Award winning feature documentary of the same name on HBO in 2018.  He recently completed work on Barons as executive director and second unit director, a television series about the early days of a major surf brand.  Over the past decade, Steele’s films have continued to pioneer the outer limits of the genre, with epic travelogues like Sipping Jetstreams and Castles in the Sky, eclectic profiles like The Drifter and Missing, and social experiments like Innersection and This Time Tomorrow. “I never want to repeat myself,” says Steele, “so each project I try to push to another level. Something that scares me just a little.”

Taylor’s Residency Statement: 

I am interested in working with dedicated, imaginative, curious filmmakers that could work in any film genre. Applicants should be interested in expanding and understanding their creative practice through discussions, workshops, masterclasses, and lots of unstructured creative time. Through these activities, we will develop creative and business understanding skills and understanding of how to talk to crew, cast, peers & clients. We will also discuss the broader cultural context of intention in our artmaking.

As a multidisciplinary filmmaker, I am committed to making artwork that profoundly impacts viewers’ understanding—both intellectual and emotional. I’m looking to mentor and work with filmmakers that combine disciplines within their practice.  The week-long engagement will also include a workshop that will address strategies and intentions to advance your creative practice.

Information about the Residency:

Florida Surf Film Festival (FSFF) will operate a filmmaking residency at Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) for up to fourteen early to mid-career artists, chosen from a pool of applicants.

Artists will work with Taylor as part of the five-day residency, gaining first-hand experience through an interactive and practical approach to the art of filmmaking.  While surfing and documentary films can be a focus of their work, there are no restrictions on an appropriate topic of their choice.  Their work may have already been shot in some cases and brought to the residency for further post-production work. The candidate may have an idea in its infancy, needing further work and writing.  Core curriculum for the guided lectures may include topics such as how to develop story ideas, film financing, developing a budget, approaching and working with sponsors, and a practical discussion of social media tools for marketing and fundraising.  Artists may also work in small production groups as well, developing interviewing, research, and writing skills.

The structure of each day will be open to the mentoring artist’s discretion.  However, Taylor will meet with candidates for at least four hours per day for guided lecture on various topics, group discussion, workshopping artists’ work, and demonstrations of editing, technique, and craft.

FSFF will provide a light breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day at Atlantic Center for the Arts.  Every associate artist will be required to bring their own camera and editing equipment.  Lodging must be handled by parents if under 18 years of age, and if over 18, ACA will be providing housing should the candidate choose to stay on-campus.

The cost of the workshop is $2,500 for on-campus lodging at ACA, and $2,100 if you do not need on-campus lodging.  This DOES include a Patron Pass for the Florida Surf Film Festival.  This includes a 2023 FSFF t-shirt, FSFF YETI Tumbler, and Clancy’s Cantina dinner both nights at the festival.  Your room on campus will be automatically extended, checking out on Sunday, June 18th.

APPLY HERE

Financial Aid:

If you are selected and you need financial assistance to attend, you may apply for need-based aid.  We will require a copy of your most recent United States tax filing and/or bank statements or copies of recent pay stubs to ascertain need.  If you live outside the USA, you will not be eligible for financial aid.

NEW PODCAST: The Impossible Wave with Jessica and Jay Johnson

Fernando Aguerre’s quest to bring surfing to the Olympic Games is a 27-year story. Jessica and Jay, co-directors and co-producers, took on this project to share this story of persistence, passion, and character. Please enjoy our discussion with the team behind the ISA’s successes and challenges to produce live broadcasting for all of these wonderful events. Next up, the Teahupo’o’s 2024 Olympic surfing competition…  Check out the trailer for their new documentary The Impossible Wave.

Find Surf Stories Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.

NEW PODCAST: Florida Boy with Ashton Goggans

Ashton Goggans has figured out a way to report on a pastime and culture he loves, make documentary films, and create entertaining content for surf fans far and wide. His No Contest and No Contest: Off Tour series are inside looks at professional surfing that capture the sidelong views of tour life. His documentary, Andy Irons and the Radicals, captured the vibrant, chaotic early days of the three-time world champion in a way we want to remember AI. Enjoy.

Find Surf Stories Podcasts wherever listen to podcast.

NEW PODCAST: Leeward Wrap with Mikey Corker

“Sending it” on a wave could be a good analogy for the outstanding feature film director Mikey Corker just finished. It’s called Savage Waters, and his DIY career leading up to this exemplary work of documenting adventure and exploration is personified by the tone and grit we hear in this interview. The patience required to time an unknown wave in the Savage Islands, sold to the boat captain in an 1891 treasure hunting book, is the stuff of well, movies…. Take a listen to Mikey’s journey from grunt gigs to director to Savage Waters.

Find our Surf Stories Podcast where ever you listen.  Or try here.

Programming Announced for February 4, 2023

New Smyrna Beach, FL – As we kick off the tenth year of the Florida Surf Film Festival, we are proud to announce the first quarter programming coming up February 4th at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.  Check out our annual Green Room Membership.

Buy Tickets Here

Ben Sturgelewski’s Creation Theory, featuring Pete Devries, kicks off 2023. Whether it’s the grandest cosmos or the smallest human idea, true creation arrives in moments of unexpected convergence — extraordinary synchronicities between space and time, science and art, music and mountains and sea. In Creation Theory, these raw elements converge in the Westfjords of Iceland, taking us on a journey from the interstellar birth of gravity and rhythm, to their ultimate human creative expression: surfer on wave, snowboarder on peak, and musician on stage.

The Impossible Wave by Jessica and Jay Johnson shares the journey of Fernando Aguerre’s 27-year journey to qualify surfing as an Olympic sport.  Jessica and Jay will be in attendance for a Q&A after the screening.

Rounding out the night, Savage Waters from Mikey Corker and Ghislane Couvillat is a stunning and intimate portrait of modern adventurers as they follow clues left in a 19th century treasure-hunter’s journal to find and ride a mythical wave in some of the most dangerous waters of the Atlantic.

Here’s the anticipated schedule for the night:

February 4th, 2023:

5:00 PM – Doors Open

6:30 PM –

  • 10TH YEAR COMMENCEMENT with John Brooks, Festival Director
  • RAW – The Sound of Teahupo’o – Tim McKenna – 4 min.
  • Creation Theory – Ben Sturgulewski – 22 min.
  • The Impossible Wave – Jessica and Jay Johnson – 40 min.
  • Q & A with Jay and Jessica Johnson
  • Raffle – Roark, Globe, Creatures of Leisure

8:30 PM –

  • Savage Waters – Mikey Corker – 93 min.
  • Raffle – Cronin Surfboards, YETI and more

Find your Surf Stories wherever you find podcasts.

We are proud to have Monster Energy serve as our presenting sponsor again for this year’s festival, providing travel and lodging for the filmmakers who attend the festival.

Podcast Sponsor:  Surfing’s Evolution and Preservation Foundation

Principal Sponsors:  State of Florida Division of Arts and CultureVolusia CountyRoarkYETI, Sun BumSurfline, Anson StonerGlobe Brand Footwear, Valileros Wagner aka The Lawyer Dude and Atlantic Center for the Arts.

Major Sponsors:  Cronin SurfboardsFlorida Virtual SchoolBrian Layman Wealth ManagementRed Dog Surf ShopKembali Board ShackCafé Verde, and Clancy’s Cantina.

NSB Sponsors:  Flaunt Electric BicyclesScott Yurchison Real EstateDaytona Climbing CompanyDragon AllianceLunDev HomesNew Smyrna Beach Brewing CompanyNixonMangrove Bay DesignBiological Consulting ServicesMyEyeDr. – Phil StephensFunxion ITPura Vida BraceletsNSB Spine and Injury CenterBeachside Tavern, Solento Organic Tequila, and Surfrider Foundation Flagler/Volusia.

Media Partnerships include:  SurflineStabThe Surfer’s JournalSurf Splendor Podcast NetworkBeach GritThe SurfNetworkThe Inertiaand Encyclopedia of Surfing.

Encyclopedia of Surfing provides our historical and archival needs.

SAVE THE DATES:  
February 4, 2023, and June 16-17, 2023, August 26, 2023, and November 10-11, 2023

Entry fee is $5.00.

Submissions for the 2023 festival are open via our website here.

Florida Surf Film Festival Mission:

Florida Surf Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, public charity, invigorating surf culture and artistic appreciation by exhibiting contemporary documentary films with surfing as a focus from artist far and wide while also producing a story-driven podcast, literary group discussions, and artistic workshops.

January Podcasts: New Smyrna Beach Pioneers with Kem McNair and David Coffee & Rear Ended in Indonesia with Michael Dunphy

Tune in for a history lesson from East Coast Surfing Hall of Famer, Kem McNair, and New Smyrna Beach long-time local, David Coffee. They discuss Hobie sponsorship, trailing smoke from freshly resined fin, their first surf shop and board-building venture, near stardom in the music business, and the discovery of the best wave on the east coast of Florida.

Michael Dunphy, a professional surfer based in New Smyrna Beach, has been putting in the time. We have WSL alerts set for his heats. He’s committed, hard-working, and a hell of a nice person. We were lucky enough to sit down with him and cover the ins and outs of sponsorship, the nuance of life trying to qualify for the show, and the occasional unlucky parts of travel. Enjoy.

Find Surf Stories Podcast wherever you find your podcasts.  We are part of the Surf Splendor Podcast Network.

NEW PODCAST: Island X with Ben Weiland

New Smyrna Beach, FL – NEW PODCAST:  Episode 36 – Island X with Ben Weiland – He holds three awards from the nine years we’ve run festivals. Island X won Best Surf Movie – Feature for 2022. Here’s a chat with one of our favorite people on earth, and a man who knows how to shoot a story and tell one. Being a good guest in a foreign country has its limits, but Ben muscled through some Faroe Island aged beef for your listening pleasure.

Presented by Surfing’s Evolution and Preservation Foundation @surfingsevolution@flsurffilmfest @surf_stories_podcast

Find your Surf Stories wherever you find podcasts.