Billionaire Rupert Murdoch (Fox) shows billionaire Dirk Ziff (WSL) how to make a captivating surf promo!
It takes serious effort, a flair, to create a surf promo that doesn’t smack of sentimentality or self-conscious vanity. Today, if you’re watching Fox Sports, you’ll be socked in the face with the best surf short this year (which ain’t hard, it’s only after all). But it’s good! As good as a sex adventure! As good as the eccentric uniforms on WSL commentators!
The short was made by the twenty-something surfer Luke Farquhar (and Jack Shanahan, Dan Marlin and Campbell Brown), the same creative who made Fox’s world title promo for Gabriel Medina. (Click here!)
“The initial idea was to make a bit of a WSL and use people like Noa Deane to create an irony,” says Luke. “But as we kept shooting, the angle changed, and we went with a general surf theme that included everyone from ragbags to grommets to Kelly Slater.”
Shoots took place at the Australian Open in Manly (Noa and Kolohe) and on the Gold Coast with Gabriel Medina, Matt Wilkinson and so on. Luke hired a tattoo parlour in Coolangatta and planned on shooting Gabriel receiving a (pretend) tattoo. Gabriel didn’t turn up so Luke found Gabs at a Quiksilver promo, set up a barber’s chair, threw on some white gloves and attempted to cheat the tattoo shot.
“I spilt ink all over his arm and it seeped into his elbow. Gabriel was flustered and ran to the tap to wash it off,” says Luke. “It was an awkward moment with the champ.”
Tyler Wright was required to snap a board but refused saying it was “too violent.”
Matt Wilkinson was shot in his white cowboy hat but the shot was pulled after Rip Curl objected.
“The best surfer was Noa Deane,” says Luke. “I thought he’d be the hardest. But he arrived, asked what we wanted and did it.”
The short took a month to make and inhaled an almost thousand-dollar-a-minute budget.
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Noa looks like one of the chicks out of the Puberty Blues TV series, it only makes me love him more though.
By ‘an almost thousand dollar a minute budget’, do you mean this 30 sec vignette cost 500 bucks?
…very embarrassing… per second…
I find the censorship by Rip Curl to be the most entertaining thing here. That pillow fighting shot is cringe but at least they’re attempting to drag surfing out of 1995.
Wow gonna show this to my kids… they might be impressed now that’s surfing gone all rock n roll. Minus saying fuck and smoking ciggies on air.
Where is Creed when you need him most?
“The next time Luke spills ink on my arm I’ll… Ah fuck it, I’ll just wash it off”.
Hey Charlie! You sick of the new era of pretenders ruining the STAB comments also?
We’ve found a little haven for ourselves here haven’t we Negs. I’ll still poke around over there but the level of play has dropped significantly.
Yes! the play seems to consist of blatant plagiarism of our best moments and commentators chasing hollow self gratifying up-votes. yuck!
#commentsoftheweek?
The beginning of the end.
As a multiple comment of the week winner I can only say chasing the glory resulted in dull petty comments and a proliferation of desperate wanna-be contenders
im only here to read Negs comments.. too many stab trolls and james B.
Build it and they will come….
I <3 NEGATRON