Listen: “The joys and tribulations of making surf film and probably film of any sort!”

Plus why Collingwood is best footy team on earth.

Did you ever dream of being a filmmaker? Telling visual stories that filled giant screens and turned squirrelly crowds into rapt audiences? I never did. I loved movies with all my heart, Indiana Jones, Lawrence of Arabia, Pulp Fiction but could never really picture directing one. There are too many moving parts, too many things to consider. Too many people and processes involved. Writing is easy, in this way. It is only one person pushing one idea out that is shaped and crafted by one editor. Understandable for my feeble brain but filmmaking?

No.

Cinematographers, lighting folk, sound, set, costume, editing, producing, budgets, scriptwriters, script doctors, on and on it goes.

Making surf films is really no different than making real films and the ones who have done it well, Joe G, Taylor Steele, Kai Neville, Jesse Schluntz should all be applauded for their magnificent work. It is herculean and I only know because I’ve accidentally directed two. The Red Bull classic that brought dubstep music to action sports (Who is J.O.B.) and Trouble: The Lisa Andersen Story.

I spoke about the latter with Jimmy from the Lipped podcast. He is wonderful at his craft, soothing voice, studied questions and it was a pleasure to sip vodka soda across the Pacific while chatting.

You can listen here if you’d like.