In the news: The Future of DIY Surf Filmmaking

In Issue 31 HUCK Magazine, Event Director Chris Nelson talks to movie makers Pierce Michael Kavanagh and Cyrus Sutton plus Tyler Breuer of SMASH Surf as he explores whether, with branded surf footage amassing online, the independent filmmaker can still make things DIY. Extract below.

AGAINST THE CODE / CHRIS NELSON

The ground is shifting under our feet. The fault creep rumbles on, inexorably. The Digital Revolution, that all encompassing subterranean shift, is changing the landscape around us. It is pushing before it a ridge of binary code, an upwelling of online information as moving images spill from the screen of laptops, iPhones, tablets, demanding our attention. Every session is captured instantly and fired around the globe, brand backed expeditions distribute glossy travelogues for free to the masses which are proliferated via social networks. The big question is with such a plethora of surfing competing for our limited attention, just how is the modern independent surf filmmaker going to survive?

Shoot the film, screen it in front of amped crowds. Moviemaking used to follow such simple lines. Then came Betamax, VHS, DVD. Stack ‘em high in the surf shop, cross your fingers and pray you recoup enough to fund the next project. But what now? The indie producer is faced with a new dilemma – outside the traditional distribution model, how do you monetise your output, how do stay afloat while shooting in the line-up? “We’re at a crossroads regarding the future of the surf media,” explains Cyrus Sutton, whose prolific output centres around Korduroy.tv and includes award-winning movie Stoked and Broke. “It’s really the corporately-backed vs. the independent “passion projects.” ...Cont. Click HERE to continue reading on line at HUCK Magazine.