Within this journey through the mind of the surf community, we took an honest, uncompromised look at what surf really was in 2015. It was the opportunity for us to touch on subjects such as mentorship, friendship, family, but also rivalry, haters, localism, sexism, racism, etc.
While vividly depicting such negative stigmas and even violent encounters with people who oppose their chosen lifestyle or culture, we also wanted to show how working through these challenges only made the surfing community stronger and more driven.
To remain as authentic as possible and reach out directly to the core surf community, we involved some of the world’s most popular surfers in the story, but instead of focusing on their strengths and skills, we decided to shine a light on their fragility and weakness. A very intimate moment between Gabriel Medina and his step-father portrays how the feeling of family is such an integral part to his success. An acknowledgement of surf legend Kelly Slater shows how having surf heroes continues to inspire surfers of all levels. A hug between Mick Fanning, three time WSL Champion, and Gabriel Medina, 2014 WSL Champion, represents the admiration and respect surfers have for each other, even in the face of competition.