At age 19, Sean Gilbert had no idea what to do with his life until he found himself on the set of a feature film.  From that moment on, he dedicated his career to mastering the craft of cinematography and technical camera work.  From his work on Avatar and Avatar sequels to Pirates of the Carribean, Into the Blue, and many other TV and Film productions, Sean continues his work alongside a burgeoning rental house business called Flocam.  Surf stories buried in that career emerge with Kevin and John.

As expected, our June 20 and August 22 screenings have officially been cancelled due to social distancing guidelines, and of course, your health.  Bummer…  But we’ll hopefully be back in November on the 13th and 14th.  We’ll keep you up to date as things develope.

Some exciting news… On June 9, 2020, we launched the FSFF – Surf Stories Podcast.  Our favorite movies tell brilliant, sometimes scary, always inspiring stories documented for the silver screen.  Since we can’t do that right now, we decided to record some great adventures for your listening pleasure.  In both Q and A and narrative format, we will hear stories from local surfers, filmmakers from around the world, and inspiring and/or charismatic folks who have a story to share.  Our first story comes from local surfer and lightning strike survivor, Frank Gilday, as he recounts that harrowing experience and his subsequent journey back to surfing.

In August, we will also launch the FSFF Book Line-Up – This literary/gab-session with the author will include the public in the Zoom session in an open-ended, but probably an hour long, cocktail chat.  We will host our first with Chas Smith, who is dropping his new memoir, Reports from Hell, in July.  Pre-order here!  The date of the first session will be August 27th.

In the meantime, please continue to stay healthy and sane and remember, we are all in this together so let’s look after one another and spread some love and joy.

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.

Principal Sponsors: Roark, YETI, Surfline, Globe Brand Footwear, Anson Stoner (Advertising and Creative), and Atlantic Center for the Arts.

Major Sponsors: AdventHealth, Firewire Surfboards, Florida Virtual School, Brian Layman Wealth Management, Red Dog Surf Shop, Kembali Board Shack, Café Verde, and Clancy’s Cantina

Sponsors: SurfEars, Scott Yurchison Real Estate, Dragon Alliance, LunDev Homes, New Smyrna Beach Brewing Company, Cigar City Brewing, Dex Imaging, Nixon, Mangrove Bay Design, Biological Consulting Services, Pura Vida Bracelets, La Ponderosa Beach and Jungle Resort, Total Vision, Funxion IT, Holistic Movements, NSB Spine and Injury Center, Beachside Tavern, Surfrider Foundation (Cocoa Beach and Flagler/Volusia Chapters), and Hampton Inn.

Media Partnerships include:  Surfline, The Surfer’s Journal, Surf Splendor Podcast Network, The SurfNetwork, and Encyclopedia of Surfing.

Encyclopedia of Surfing provides our historical and archival needs.

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.

In June 2018, Frank Gilday and six others huddled under a boardwalk while a squall roared over New Smyrna Beach inlet with lightning popping everywhere.  Some ran, some huddled, and in this case, Frank and his friends were the unlucky group who took the brunt of a damaging lightning strike. Hosted by John Brooks and Kevin Miller.

It’s our sincere pleasure to welcome Justin Purser to the short documentary jury.  Having taken the Viewers’ Choice – Feature award at the 2019 Florida Surf Film Festival for his six year long project And Two If By Sea about the competitive and complicated lives of twin brothers, CJ and Damien Hobgood, he has more than left a little skin on the pavement along the grueling and hard-earned road of documentary filmmaker.  We look forward to many more projects will his finely-crafted touch.

Born & raised in Florida, Justin started out at a very young age shooting surf films for international brands such as Quiksilver, Billabong, & Rusty with iconic professional surfers such as the Hobgood brothers and Kelly Slater. After moving to Los Angeles, he began working at Academy Award winning production companies A Band Apart and Anonymous Content where he was able to learn the directing process from the world’s top directors. He grew his role into writing music video treatments for directors on music videos such as Beyonce “Single Ladies”, Beyonce and Shakira “Beautiful Liar”, Pink “Nobody Knows”, etc. He went on to write Beyonce’s live performances for the 2011 Grammy Awards and her appearance on the final Oprah Winfrey show. Justin also co-produced The Shooter Series and Richard Brown (True Detective) where he directed interviews with Jay Z, Mark Wahlberg, and Outkast.

Justin was one of the original creators and directors of Maker Studios (acquired by Walt Disney Corp.) that pioneered the Multi Channel Network YouTube centric companies of today. He conceptualized and directed one of Maker’s first ever YouTube talent driven branded campaign (Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino Las Vegas) creating the model on how brands advertise utilizing YouTube & influencers. He is the only director to concept and direct a brand sponsored video (Cosmopolitan Magazine & Nivea) to take number one on the Ad Age Viral Charts with no Advertising Agency involvement beating out top brands such as Nike, Pepsi, & Toyota. He has also directed music videos for major record labels and companies such as Interscope, Warner Bros, Capitol, Apple Music, & Sony; for artists Eva Simmons, Corey Taylor, Jason Derulo, A Fine Frenzy, Bret Michaels, The Midi Mafia, Miggs starring Lindsay Lohan, Mickey Avalon, Taproot, along with a fun little PSA for To Write Love On Her Arms with Joaquin Phoenix, Miley Cyrus, & Liv Tyler.

New Smyrna Beach, FL – Florida Surf Film Festival (FSFF), presented by Monster Energy, will host its’ first event of the year at Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on March 7, 2020, at 5PM. Movies begin at 6PM. The first quarterly screening will feature new work from Keith Malloy starring Jack Johnson, Spencer Frost, Jack Coleman, and Nate Laverty.  Tickets are $20 for an adult and $10 for a child 10 and under.  We also have our Green Room Annual Membership at $200, which includes:

• YETI FSFF 20 oz. tumbler with lid
• FSFF t-shirt
• FSFF posters (by request)
• Entry for quarterly screenings for 12 months
• Meal ticket for all NSB events
• 4 Drink tickets for each NSB event
• RESERVED SEATING by request
• Annual Encyclopedia of Surfing Subscription
• Exclusive annual subscriptions discount from our partner – The SurfNetwork at 10% off.  Send an email for your discount to kevin@floridasurffilmfestival.com after you’ve signed up.

Ryan Bingham and Jack Johnson for Yeti.  Photo: Jeff Johnson

Keith Malloy, in partnership with YETI, turns on the camera in The Midnight Hour with surfer-first, singer-songwriter-second Jack Johnson, and singer/songwriter Ryan Bingham.  What we get is a master class in songwriting from two authentic, humble, hardworking musicians; one of which happens to be able to ride flawlessly through 10 foot Haliewa barrels.  Check out the trailer here as soon as it becomes available.

A Corner of the Earth is a cinematic exploration of surfing in the brutal northern winter featuring aspiring professional surfer Fraser Dovell who is struggling with the harsh realities of competitive surfing.  Along with filmmaker Spencer Frost and photographer Guy Williment, Fraser throws himself out of his comfort zone to embark on an adventure of a lifetime.  The trio journey to a far Corner of the Earth to search for waves in the wildly beautiful and treacherous solitude of the arctic.  Battling extremes of weather and close encounters with the majesty of nature, Fraser comes to a new appreciation of what it means to be a surfer. Check out the trailer here:

Nate Laverty’s Transition, Volume 2 is set in the rugged rainforest of the west coast of Vancouver Island, which brings the story of professional surfers, Pete Devries and Noah Cohen to life. When introducing a child into Pete’s life changes his priorities, mentorship becomes an important part of fulfilling his goals as a surfer. Noah’s failure to qualify for the Canadian National Surf Team alters his path as his dreams of competing in the 2020 olympic games are now in the past. Instead, his mission to follow the best swells from Mexico to Australia alongside good friends becomes his new goal.

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

Principal Sponsors:  Roark, YETI, Surfline, Globe Brand Footwear, Anson Stoner (Advertising and Creative), and Atlantic Center for the Arts.

Major Sponsors: Firewire Surfboards, Florida Virtual School, Brian Layman Wealth Management, Red Dog Surf Shop, Kembali Board Shack, Café Verde, and Clancy’s Cantina

Sponsors: SurfEars, Scott Yurchison Real Estate, Dragon Alliance, LunDev Homes, New Smyrna Beach Brewing Company, Cigar City Brewing, Dex Imaging, Nixon, Mangrove Bay Design, Biological Consulting Services, Pura Vida Bracelets, La Ponderosa Beach and Jungle Resort, Total Vision, Funxion IT, Holistic Movements, NSB Spine and Injury Center, Beachside Tavern, Surfrider Foundation (Cocoa Beach and Flagler/Volusia Chapters), and Hampton Inn.

Media Partnerships include:  Surfline, The Surfer’s Journal, Surf Splendor Podcast Network, The SurfNetwork, and Encyclopedia of Surfing.

Encyclopedia of Surfing provides our historical and archival needs.

-Kevin Miller

Florida Surf Film Festival mission: 

Florida Surf Film Festival’s is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to invigorate surf culture and artistic appreciation by exhibiting contemporary documentary films with surfing as a focus from artists far and wide and operate featured-artist workshops in journalism, photography, and filmmaking.

Future Dates:

2020 – March 7, June 20, August 22, and November 13th and 14th

New Smyrna Beach, FL – Florida Surf Film Festival (FSFF), presented by Monster Energy, is proud to announce awards for the feature and short documentary film categories for the 2019 festival, which convened on November 8^th and 9^th at Atlantic Center for the Arts, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

The rain kept us indoors on Friday night, and the Harris Theater at ACA was naturally vibrant from the start.  Snowy landscapes in Nordurland and Within Reach began the evening and made an encore appearance in Fire on the Mountain, a wonderful production of ski, snow, and surf set to The Grateful Dead’s live performances from years past, generating some pleasing visuals and some great reactions from the crowd.  In Skyline, the local crowd recognized the acerbic, powerful turns of Michael Dunphy, and Kelly Slater’s solid two waves at Ponce Inlet earned a raucous howl.  Ending the evening, the jury was proud to present Jack Coleman’s efforts with BEST SURF MOVIE – FEATURE of 2019.  Zone Frequency presented the artist’s work from the last three years with narration from Gavin Beschen.  Poetry on film, lacquered with innovative board designs put to work by Rastovich, Disney, Lovelace, Young, and more.  Stellar work by a true bodhisattva of surf film, culture, and positivity.  It was our true pleasure to host Jack Coleman for the weekend and share his work.

Saturdays’ drizzle of the afternoon became a cool, crisp evening in the amphitheater, beginning with the work of Hunter Martinez, a stand-out young filmmaker whose work impressed no small share of the crowd and jury.  The young cast was full of talent set to an incredible soundtrack.  Lost in Thought hit the spot for the early crowd.  Followed by a fun run down a river in the middle of nowhere Africa with Go Easy on the Zambezi by Ashton Goggans and a solid effort at narrative film by Ben Gulliver called Boogie Man, a surf-horror parody.

Next, Beth O’Rourke shared her look at skateboarder Elissa Steamer and her journey from Florida to California, through a minefield of youth and adulthood challenges, to a place of inspiring serenity in the water, and out.

Creed McTaggert is an incredible surfer.  Joe G. has the footage.  And we saw it.  Joe is the winner of the 2019 BEST SURF MOVIE – SHORT, as determined by the jury of 11 individuals, for the latest installment of Cult of Freedom – The Creed Part.  Our last short documentary, called Beyond Tradition, was also a big winner, taking home BEST DOCUMENTARY – SHORT, by Shin Aoki.  The filmmaker and star, Takuya Tutsumi, accepted the jury’s decision with surprise and smiles, carrying their trophy through the night to Beachside Tavern and home to Japan (their flight left at five in the morning on Sunday).

Finally, the evening was capped by the final film of the year, and Spoons delivered.  Wyatt Daily and Justin Misch accepted the award for BEST DOCUMENTARY – FEATURE for 2019.  The work entailed a breakdown of George Greenough’s influence on Renny Yater’s shaping in Santa Barbara over the course of many years on influential surfers and shapers, like Tom Curren and Al Merrick.  Please seek it out on iTunes in February 2020.

For 2019, we, the fans, must share appreciation for works that attracted the most attention for their cinematic genius.  The most notable of the year are given the Viewers’ Choice Award for both short and feature length films.  Rail Road by Gustavo Imigrante and starring Nick Von Rupp is the winner of the 2019 VIEWERS’ CHOICE – SHORT award.  And your very own Justin Purser has earned the 2019 VIEWERS’ CHOICE – FEATURE award for his dedicated effort to document the careers of CJ and Damien Hobgood in And Two If By Sea.  It’s a tour-de-force on the impact of professional surfing on sibling/twin rivalry and the glowing reign of stoke the Hobgoods have bestowed on us Floridians and beyond.

Congratulations to all the winners, and congratulations to all of the selections for 2019.  We sincerely appreciate all your hard work and can’t wait to see where you turn your lenses next.

In attendance at the festival were Matt Warshaw (Encyclopedia of Surfing), David Scales (Surf Splendor Podcast Network), Chas Smith (Beach Grit), Marcus Sanders (Surfline), Dayla Soul, filmmaker, Scott Hulet and Nathan Myers (The Surfer’s Journal), and Matthew Shaw (Surfer Magazine and Void Magazine), all jurors for 2019.  David Scales recorded an episode of The Grit! podcast on-site that is currently available at the Surf Splendor website or wherever you find your podcasts.

Here are all the winners for 2019:

Best Documentary – Short:  Beyond Tradition by Shin Aoki

Best Surf Movie – Short:  Cult of Freedom – The Creed Part by Joe G.

Best Cinematography – Short:  The Forgotten Archipelago by Ben Weiland

Best Soundtrack – Short:  Aquamantra by Cole Yamane

Viewers’ Choice – Short:  Rail Road by Gustavo Imigrante

Best Documentary – Feature:  Spoons, by Wyatt Daily and Justin Misch

Best Surf Movie – Feature:  Zone Frequency, by Jack Coleman

Best Cinematography – Feature:  Beyond the Noise, by Andrew Kaineder

Best Soundtrack – Feature:  Self Discover for Social Survival, by Chris Gentile

Viewer’s Choice – Feature:  And Two If By Sea, by Justin Purser

It’s been an incredible year, and there’s no way to thank all of the producers, directors, cinematographers, and editors that put their hard work into these projects. Their stories are the ones we want to hear. Adam Steckley constructed our 2019 awards from mahogany, specifically a fallen tree from a 2004 hurricane.

For a full archive of the film presented during the festival year, please visit our website at https://floridasurffilmfestival.com.

We recognize the difference between Best Documentary and Best Surf Movie.  Those who approach the art form by documenting a character, locale, etc. with personal interviews, historical footage, and anecdotal clips will be in competition for Best Documentary, and those movies focusing on the high performance, action-driven sequences will compete for Best Surf Movie. This award will be extended to short films as well. In addition, Best Cinematography and Best Soundtrack will be awarded for both feature and short films, along with a Viewers’ Choice award.

Florida Surf Film Festival’s jury, comprised of twelve individuals with journalistic, cultural, and/or experiential factors will determine recognition.

Juries include: Feature Films – Matt Warshaw, Chas Smith, David Scales, Taylor Steele, Keith Malloy, Nathan Myers, Matt Pruett, Lauren Hill, and Ira Opper.  Short Films –Marcus Sanders, Takuji Masuda, Dayla Soul, Matthew Shaw, Scotty Sherin, Scott Hulet, Ashton Goggans, Mimi Munro, and Joe Turpel.

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

Principal Sponsors:  Roark, YETI, Surfline, Globe Brand Footwear, Anson Stoner (Advertising and Creative), and Atlantic Center for the Arts.

Major Sponsors: Firewire Surfboards, Florida Virtual School, Brian Layman Wealth Management, Red Dog Surf Shop, Kembali Board Shack, Café Verde, and Clancy’s Cantina

Sponsors: SurfEars, Scott Yurchison Real Estate, Dragon Alliance, LunDev Homes, New Smyrna Beach Brewing Company, Cigar City Brewing, Dex Imaging, Nixon, Mangrove Bay Design, Biological Consulting Services, Pura Vida Bracelets, La Ponderosa Beach and Jungle Resort, Total Vision, Funxion IT, Holistic Movements, NSB Spine and Injury Center, Beachside Tavern, Surfrider Foundation (Cocoa Beach and Flagler/Volusia Chapters), and Hampton Inn.

Media Partnerships include:  Surfline, The Surfer’s Journal, Surf Splendor Podcast Network, The SurfNetwork, and Encyclopedia of Surfing.

Encyclopedia of Surfing provides our historical and archival needs.

-Kevin Miller

Florida Surf Film Festival mission: 

Florida Surf Film Festival’s is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to invigorate surf culture and artistic appreciation by exhibiting contemporary documentary films with surfing as a focus from artists far and wide and operate featured-artist workshops in journalism, photography, and filmmaking.

Takuji Masuda couldn’t be a more perfect fit for our jury.  His enthusiasm and support of early to mid careers filmmakers is evidenced by his generous devotion to current and upcoming projects.  His former production assistant on BUNKER77, Justin Misch, just finished a film with Wyatt Daily about the history of board design coming out of Santa Barbara, California called Spoons, which is premiering on the east coast this November at our festival. Through his involvement with Pepperdine University, he has dedicated much of his adult life to the art of documentary filmmaking, both learning and sharing his extensive skill set with others.  We had a nice visit last week with him in Malibu, and at some point, he gave into the idea to serve on the short documentary jury, where many of our young artists come alive.  A big thank you to his efforts, and while he can’t make the festival in November, we eagerly await his next visit, hopefully with a new feature film in his pocket.

Takuji Masuda (47), winner of the Florida Surf Film Festival 2017 Best Documentary – Feature for BUNKER77, is a Japanese Longboard champion from Kamakura known for his committed nose riding at Pipeline.  He is also the former publisher of a beach culture, trilingual magazine Super X Media and has curated art shows around the world. Masuda has served on the boards of directors of World Surf League and Pepperdine University, his alma mater, from which he received a bachelor of the arts in 1993 and Master in Fine Arts in 2017. He is also the head coach of Pepperdine University’s esteemed surf team. Masuda’s critically-acclaimed, award-winning documentary film, BUNKER77, is streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime.

Photo:  Patrick Ruddy

I recorded all of the Surfer Magazine episodes on ESPN back in the late 80’s, and this last weekend over tacos, we heard how that whole production came together.  What an influence Ira has had on my life, and of course, Scott Deitrich with all of the footage shared with Ira that first season.  We are honored to have him serve on the 2019 Feature Documentary Jury and honored to have the support of The SurfNetwork, a labor of love and hard work by both Ira and Dustin Hood.  It pleases us greatly to hear of more and more upcoming titles landing with TSN soon, and even more so that they’ve launched the AppleTV app and more.  Any device you’re holding will likely play your favorite surf film for a small subscription fee…  Thank you, Ira.

–Kevin Miller

A surfer since 1964, Ira Opper grew up surfing Malibu and wasted much of his youth exploring the seven seas for perfect waves. His parents knew he would never get any work done if he went to school close to the ocean, so Opper found himself in the desert at Arizona State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism in 1971.

Fresh out of college, Opper started his first production company, Innovision, which produced police training videos for the California Council on Criminal Justice, and cable programming during the early years of that industry.   In 1975 Opper became Program Director for Cox Cable in Santa Barbara, responsible for all the programming and production for the 50,000-home system. Staying true to his roots, he produced Solo Sports, the first local originated surf television series.   In 1978 Opper produced a cable program lampooning Santa Barbara’s traditional annual “Fiesta” parade celebration. While the show stung local sensibilities that regarded the Fiesta Days as sacred, he won the first CableACE Award for entertainment programming.

Leaving Cox to pursue a career in national cable sports production. In 1982 he moved to San Diego to work at the acclaimed, A&G Productions. Producing sports programming for the company, such Pro Beach Volleyball and NCAA volleyball for ESPN.  He received his first Emmy in 1982 for producing the World Championship of Pro Beach Volleyball coverage.

In 1983, Opper founded Frontline Video & Film and began producing national television advertisements for Comet, Gillette, Tide, and Tylenol and worked on sport productions such as the 1984 Olympics for ABC.  In 1986 Opper won another Emmy for Outstanding Director for his production Legends of Malibu, a documentary on the surfing lifestyle of the sixties at Malibu.

His success with Legends of Malibu lead to a contract with SURFER Magazine to produce the first national prime time weekly series on surfing.  From 1987 to 1991, Opper produced over fifty episodes of the SURFER Magazine TV series for ESPN.

Once again, he was traveling the globe in search of the elusive perfect wave—Australia, Hawaii, Java, Bali, Central America, the Caribbean, Tahiti and Mexico. “Its always a great adventure,” Opper said. “We were lost at sea for four days in the Java Strait, in Costa Rica we christened a new surf spot Ollie’s Point, a name that still stands and in Hawaii we surfed the legendary waves with legendary surfers,” Opper received another Emmy in 1987 for the series.

In 1991 Opper began producing for Prime Network, where he created Frontline Sports, a weekly prime time series highlighting extreme sports. At Prime, Opper received another Emmy for the “Hotwater Tour,” a Jet Ski series.

In 1995 he started Opper Sports Productions. Opper produced coverage for Tag Hauer on the America’s Cup and produced the documentary Powerglide for Longboard Magazine. In 1995 Opper teamed up with The Surfer’s Journal magazine to produce The Surfer’s Journal TV series for The Outdoor Life Network. The series, titled 50 Years of Surfing on Film, is a twelve-part documentary series profiling the world’s best surf cinematographers from Bud Browne to Taylor Steele. In a review in SURFER Magazine, “This series oozes with surf stoke, history and love for the sport of surfing. It shouldn’t just be required viewing for surf video makers, it should be required viewing for anyone who sets foot on fiberglass.”

The second season of The Surfer’s Journal “Great Waves,” documents the history of the great surf spots.  From Malibu to Tavarua Island, from Mavericks to Pipe, twelve of the world’s great breaks are profiled. The review in SURFER Magazine stated, “Great Waves is surf history done right.”  The third season profiles the “Greatest Surfers of the 20th Century.”  The fourth season titled “Biographies.” includes the comprehensive biographies of the legends of surfing.  Opper produced over fifty shows for the Outdoor Life Network

In 2003 Ira began producing for FUEL TV, a Fox Sport’s network.  His first series was Long Board TV creating twenty-six episodes in the classic surf movie style with profiles of world-class surfers, shapers, and legends of the sport. Next he produced his two-time Emmy award winning, FiNS.  The sixteen-part series focused on the leading personalities, places and movements in the current surfscape that are driving the latest trends in the water. Shot on location around the globe, the show is comprehensive in its scope and highlights the diversity in today’s surf world. With high-action segments punctuated by insightful interviews, the series is a thorough examination of modern surfing.

Ira received his seventh Emmy for his documentary, Kokua an environmental themed collaboration with singer – surfer Jack Johnson.  His most recent production, Secrets of Desert Point documents one of the last great dirtbag adventures of the 20th Century… “with untold stories, never-seen exotic film imagery, and a perfect wave,” Variety Magazine. In 2018, Opper’s documentary received the Peter Troy “Spirit of Surfing” award from the Bells Beach Surf Film Festival.

Ira continues to share the sport of surfing. In 2008 he launched www.theSURFnetwork.com the first video-on-demand website with over one thousand professionally produced surf movies and television series. Today his goal is to continue to produce programming for the emerging streaming technology. “I have traveled the world to document perfect waves,” Opper said, “and now I am stoked to have the platform to bring those images to a global audience.”

Photo:  Patrick Ruddy

Announcing Programming for November 8th and 9th

BUY TICKETS HERE

New Smyrna Beach, FL – Florida Surf Film Festival (FSFF), presented by Monster Energy, is proud to announce official selections for the feature and short documentary categories for its final installment of the 2019 festival on November 8^th and 9^th at Atlantic Center for the Arts, in New Smyrna Beach, with doors opening at 4:30PM, and films beginning at 5:30PM, each night.

Passes are now available.  One-night passes run $25 and a two-night pass runs $35 for adults.  Passes for kids 10 and under are also available for $15/night and $25/two-nights.  A patron pass for $125/person includes a festival poster, 2019 FSFF t-shirt, FSFF 20-ounce YETI Tumbler, dinner both nights from Clancy’s Cantina on-site, two-night festival pass, and four drink tickets per night. The Green Room Membership includes an annual pass to all events for the next twelve months, including all the patron pass benefits. Please email Kevin@floridasurffilmfestival.com with any questions.

Jurors in attendance for the 2019 festival include Matt Warshaw, Encyclopedia of Surfing, Nathan Myers and Scott Hulet of The Surfer’s Journal, Chas Smith, Beach Grit, David Scales, Surf Splendor Podcast Network, Ashton Goggans, Stab Magazine, Marcus Sanders, Surfline, Mimi Munro, Dayla Soul, and Matthew Shaw, Surfer Magazine.

FSFF presents works throughout the year, all of which are included for competition for the 2019 festival.  Feature documentaries (longer than 30 minutes) have been curated with variety in mind. Zone Frequency by Jack Coleman (in attendance) and Spoons by Wyatt Daily and Justin Misch (in attendance) contrast in form with Jack’s work following a more surf-centric modern board revolution, and Wyatt and Justin’s work documenting a history of surfing in Santa Barbara as told through Renny Yater and George Greenough’s influence on board design.  From Ryan Birch, Derek Disney, and Bryce Young in Zone Frequency to Tom Curren and Parker and Conner Coffin in Spoons, the talent is top class.  Other notable selections include a foray into the snow and surf, some of which occurs during the night, with Fire on the Mountain, a new film by Chris Benchetler.  It’s entirely scored by The Grateful Dead, with narration by Bill Walton and starring Rob Machado.  Seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore stars in The Electric Acid Surfboard Test by Ashton Goggans (in attendance) and Dylan Roberts, which documents the latest in modern alternative design by several shapers, tested in crystal, clear water of East Africa.  Lost in Thought, a debut feature-length surf movie by Hunter Martinez finds its way to the big screen, full of young talent and incredible surf from Panama to points undisclosed.

A variety of short films including the latest installment of Cult of Freedom: Creed McTaggert by Joe G. will no doubt include the outermost edge of modern surfing action.  Boogie Man by festival veteran and award-winning director, Ben Gulliver, is a parody of the well-known surf-horror genre, and our 2^nd ever non-documentary selection.  It’s a can’t miss…  Beth O’Rourke debuts a short documentary about Floridian skater/surfer Elissa Steamer, and Shin Aoki shares a long-practiced Japanese tradition called urushi, which is a lacquering process formerly used for chop-sticks, et al, but of course, they take their craft to wave riding tools in Beyond Tradition.  More action comes from the river this time; Zambia to be accurate.  Go Easy on the Zambezi explores the difficulties of riding waves in the heart of the African jungle in a new film by Ashton Goggans, among many other shorts.

Festival selections screened during February, June, and August are also included for competition.  They are listed below.

It’s been an incredible year, and there’s no way to thank all of the producers, directors, cinematographers, and editors that put their hearts and souls into these projects. Their stories are the ones we want to hear.

We recognize the difference between Best Documentary and Best Surf Movie.  Those who approach the art form by documenting, a character, locale, etc. with personal interviews, historical footage, and anecdotal clips will be in competition for Best Documentary, and those movies focusing on the high performance, action-driven sequences will compete for Best Surf Movie. This award will be extended to short films as well. In addition, Best Cinematography and Best Soundtrack will be awarded for both feature and short films, along with a Viewers’ Choice award.

Both evenings will be accompanied by tacos and poke bowls from our loyal sponsor Clancy’s Cantina, and suds by Cigar City Brewing. We’ll have some giveaways from Roark, YETI, Florida Virtual School, Total Vision, Red Dog Surf Shop, and more! Thanks so much for supporting our mission.

Check our website for an updated schedule, but here’re our estimated screen times:

BUY TICKETS HERE

November 8, 2019

• 4:30PM – Doors open
• 5:30PM – Commencement with John Brooks, Festival Director
• 5:35PM –
  • Norduland by Ishka Folkwell, 32 min.
  • Within Reach starring Josh Mulcoy by Mike Cochran, 22 min.
• 7:00PM –
  • Sundaze by Nicole Tobin, 2 min.
  • Michael Dunphy by Jordan Montgomery, 13 min.
  • Fire on the Mountain starring Rob Machado and Jeremy Jones by Chris Benchetler, 27 min.
  • The Electric Acid Surfboard Test starring Stephanie Gilmore by Ashton Goggans and Dylan Roberts, 32 min.
  • Q & A with Ashton Goggans, 10 min.
  • Raffle – Dragon, The SurfNetwork, Roark, and more
• 9:30PM –
  • The Scenic Route by Kyle Buthman, 17 min.
  • Zone Frequency starring Ryan Lovelace, Derek Disney, and Bryce Young by Jack Coleman, 42 min.
  • Q&A with Jack Coleman, 10 min.
  • Raffle – Firewire, YETI

November 9, 2019:

• 4:30PM – Doors
• 5:30PM –
  • Lost in Thought by Hunter Martinez, 37 min.
  • Go Easy on the Zambezi starring Dylan Graves, Michael February, and Harry Bryant by Ashton Goggans, 26 min.
  • Q & A with Ashton Goggans, 10 min.
  • Raffle – Various
• 7:30PM –
  • Board Shop by Patrick Smith, 37 min.
  • Timeless Areas starring Elissa Steamer by Beth O’Rourke and Jeff den Broeder, 14 min.
  • Cult of Freedom: Creed McTaggert by Joe G., 12 min.
  • Boogie Man starring Pete Devries by Ben Gulliver, 27 min.
  • Beyond Tradition by Shin Aoki, 14 min.
  • Q & A with Beth O’Rourke and Shin Aoki – 10 min.
  • Raffle – Dragon, The SurfNetwork, Roark, and more
• 9:30PM –
  • Spoons starring Renny Yater and George Greenough by Wyatt Daily and Justin Misch, 60 min.
  • Q & A with Wyatt Daily and Justin Misch, 10 min.
  • Raffle – Firewire and YETI

Previously screened films during 2019:

Features:

• Beyond the Noise by Andrew Kaineder
• Thank You, Mother by Ishka Folkwell
• In the Dancing Days of Dawn by Chris Miyashiro
• And Two If By Sea by Justin Purser
• How to Learn to How to Surf by Pat Towersey and Tom Sachs
• Self Discovery for Social Survival by Chris Gentile and Jodi Burian

Shorts:

• Aloha, Brother by Sam Sykes
• The Forgotten Archipelago by Ben Weiland
• Isla De Los Bufalos by Gabriel Novis
• Relatable Form by James Clower
• Through the Storm by Greg McKillop
• Le Cheile by Kev L. Smith
• Camel Finds Water by Ian Durkin
• Aquamantra by Cole Yamane
• Railroad by Gustavo Imigrante

Juries include: Feature Films – Taylor Steele, Matt Warshaw, Keith Malloy, David Scales, Charlie “Chas” Smith, Lauren Hill, Matt Pruett, and Nathan Myers.  Short Films –Marcus Sanders, Scott Hulet, Ashton Goggans, Joe Turpel, Dayla Soul, Matthew Shaw, Mimi Munro, and Scotty Sherin.

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

Principal Sponsors:  Roark Revival, YETI, Surfline, Globe Brand Footwear, Anson Stoner (Advertising and Creative), and Atlantic Center for the Arts.

Major Sponsors: Firewire Surfboards, Creatures of Leisure, Florida Virtual School, Brian Layman Wealth Management, Red Dog Surf Shop, Kembali Board Shack, Café Verde, and Clancy’s Cantina

Sponsors: SurfEars, Scott Yurchison Real Estate, Dragon Alliance, LunDev Homes, New Smyrna Beach Brewing Company, Cigar City Brewing, Dex Imaging, Nixon, Mangrove Bay Design, Biological Consulting Services, New Smyrna Spine and Injury Center, Pura Vida Bracelets, La Ponderosa Beach and Jungle Resort, Total Vision, Funxion IT, Holistic Movements, Surfrider Foundation (Cocoa Beach and Flagler/Volusia Chapters), and Hampton Inn.

Media Partnerships include:  Surfline, The Surfer’s Journal, Surf Splendor Podcast Network, The SurfNetwork, and Encyclopedia of Surfing.

Encyclopedia of Surfing provides our historical and archival needs.

Florida Surf Film Festival mission: 

Florida Surf Film Festival’s is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to invigorate surf culture and artistic appreciation by exhibiting contemporary documentary films with surfing as a focus from artists far and wide and operate featured-artist workshops in journalism, photography, and filmmaking.

-Kevin Miller& John Brooks

BUY TICKETS HERE

Future Dates:

2020 – March 7, June 20, August 22, and November 13th and 14th

New Smyrna Beach, FL – We been exposed to Nathan’s lens now for almost seven years.  We’ve screened his work on at least four different occasions, but we’ve never had him to the festival, unfortunately.  Things are about to change.  We’re extremely honored to have his votes on the feature documentary jury, and even more so, his future work coming to a screen near you in years to come.

Nathan Myers is Editor of The Surfers Journal. He was formerly editor of Surfing Magazine and lead content creator at Surfline, as well as an independent filmmaker (Innersection, Here & Now, Se7en Signs, The More Things Change) and writer/producer for director Taylor Steele on projects including The Drifter, Castles in the Sky, the award winning Proximity.