“Sunny was one of the loveliest people I ever met. And when he wasn’t, I steered clear of him…”
Today’s guest on Dirty Water, episode thirty-one, is the South African-born movie director Michael Oblowitz.
He is the king of straight-to-DVD films including two thrillers with Steven Seagal, both shot in Eastern Europe, and the vampire schlock film The Traveler, made in Canada, with the once very famous Val Kilmer.
More to our purposes, Oblowitz, who now lives in Sherman Oaks, California, created the two greatest surf documentaries the world has never seen, Sea of Darkness, about the birth of the surf industry via drug trafficking, and the ten-years-in-the-making Sunny Garcia: Death and Taxes.
Over the course of seventy-one minutes, Oblowitz talks about surf fights, being a celibate bisexual and about life for Sunny after his failed suicide attempt.
Chris Dixon and Frank: please email [email protected] from the address you'd like your BeachGrit login on.
Commented on Disqus? Log out, tap the Disqus button, and your old name and comments come back. The box is ours.
Your comments are still here. Every one of them.
Twelve years of BeachGrit comments came across from Disqus. Connect and we will show you how many are yours. We get your username, nothing else.
Connect Disqus to reveal.
Another decent one Derek, but how could you question is bisexuality after he so playfully and artfully spanked your bottom, following your variation of “there are good people on both sides” comment.
He is talented but probably bipolar or something. Or Jewish. Or South African. In person he talks non-stop about himself. Almost pressured speech.
Whatever. Sea of Darkness is a quality project.
Honest.
Too honest.
It got shown around Malibu for a while and then it disappeared.
I think Martin Daly is worried the Indo government will confiscate his boats when they see the bit about poaching Chinese junks and selling the ceramics on the black market.
And other liabilities.
Can’t believe he is still working on the Sunny doco but the ending is yet to happen.
Could be good if it’s ever released.
i identify as a lesbian these days
Derek and Chas are out of their depth here.
Derek is no bogan. he has the soft Perth, golden triangle accent.
Release Sea of Darkness already. For fucks sake we all know that surfers back in the day were some of the biggest scammers on the planet. Why such a big deal? Own it…
I’ll listen to it later.
The funniest surf fight , obviously I was not involved , which is always enjoyable,happened a few years back . …. anyway a local enforcer was crossing the road , board in hand , walking towards the surf , not looking where he is going and nearly gets knocked over by a car…. the car then stops …. abuse is yelled at the driver who is in his late sixties (a friend of my mate’s dad ) …. and then the old bloke , salt of the earth type , had done some time , jumps out the car and gives the local enforcer the licking of his life ….and he wasn’t seen in the water for 6 months .
I’m no fan of violence but I can’t resist some poetic justice.
Double up!! And this interview is a kookballs! Fuck and shut up about where u scored waves assbag!
Hi mmm is everything ok ?
LOL yeah all good. I was referring to OBLI* there the director. he seems to want to share that there are good waves in California and where and how.. STFU I say. Fuck isn’t that the old code of surfing, that he was also speaking about how he loves the old ways. The dude is a walking/eating contradiction.
Great listen lads. The Sunny talk answered a whole lot about what’s going on with Sunny and why SOD is under lockdown.
Hopefully Sunny is at peace but his google exec gf sounds horrid. Oblowitz seems pretty qualified to talk in the issue.
His saff meets yank accent is one of the better combos I’ve heard. Almost as good as Scott’s meet Aussie.
Bon Scott Lives !
I shall follow St. Peter’s model.
Can he really claim to be bisexual without going down on a throbbing, delicious penis? Seems people just drop that shit these days to suggest they are open minded, artistic etc.
It’s pathetic
I hear ya. But he explained his proclivities, open to wang.
Oblowitz ain’t no Lebowski ?
Thanks Bunny
https://youtu.be/HAjFOAydSKw
all time great movie scene.
I got about halfway through while doing shit.
Cmon – he’s not interesting. Yea, a storyteller, I’ll give him that from a production pov. Technically able.
But as a person – meh. A blob, like most producer/directors.
You guys could’ve edited the whole thing down to 20-30 mins and it would’ve been entertaining.
No bueno
Guys a tool
Ha – you’re a tool !
I’m nothing like this idiot
That’s true. Good point.
Up^
He loves to name-drop. Gets boring.
I learned he surfs Topanga and owns a Porsche. Couldn’t make it to the part about Sea Of Darkness.
First half terrible. Second half fantastic.
Chas, wondering if a Hitler mo might look good.
Can I listen to it later?
If you hang with party P!
Must be great to be in your mid-late 60’s, on drugs, sexually confused and dying for any kind of attention.
Oh it is!
Do you get a 1pm shadow?
Hairy af !
Yes will be the correct answer.
Prolly shaves his arse too. A bit like GMed on steroids.
Genes are funny, ay ?
Glad I’m not kissin him.
This Ke11y’s future?
Did he eat, Sunny?
Only in a very metaphorical sense.
A life of cocaine abuse… Ask one question and the dribble flows…
Riley in top form.
Agree, Oblowitz is all over the shop. Derrik could have dug in harder