It started as a dream or an idea—the idea to do something different, to break the mold set in stone by the likes of surf videos like Momentum and all those that have followed so closely in its footsteps. ~Click Read More for tons of photos from the film and the full interview.
Photos on this page by Patrick Eichcstaedt, Home Page Photo by Kieth ketchum
It started as a dream or an idea—the idea to do something different, to break the mold set in stone by the likes of surf videos like Momentum and all those that have followed so closely in its footsteps. That idea slowly and surely became a reality in the summer of 2006. Sitting on a boat in Indonesia killing time between epic blue barrels, professional surfer Alek Parker decided to share his dream with the likes of an aspiring filmmaker, Jerry Ricciotti.
Call it destiny or a fateful coincidence, but when these two minds collided a dream began to unfold as a reality, and over the months following, the duo would travel the world together gathering footage and capturing moments that epitomize the life of an East Coast surfer.
JS: Eventually during the trip, I pulled Jerry aside and talked to him about this concept I had for a video project and pretty much pitched it to him. We kept it to ourselves and kind of verbally agreed that “Yeah, that’d be sick.” Since he’d be in school in North Carolina, and I’d be in Florida, we could just meet up when the time came. I did all my legwork that I had to do in California with getting sponsors interested, setting up a little production company, and then it all came together during hurricane season. We did “In Pursuit” on Surfline.
“In Pursuit”
Down the line, the surfer/videographer combo toured the East Coast together capturing footage and editing them into online flicks for the California-based forecasting giant Surfline.com. But as East Coast surfers know all too well, opportunities for waves on the right coast can be fickle, and thus Parker’s idea began it’s metamorphosis into a movie. Soon after, the two were in pursuit of footage for a feature length film.
Alek: The original idea was to make a video about surfing on the East Coast and chasing hurricanes, but when hurricane season didn’t really amount, we were able to put these five minute webisodes on Surfline that got great reviews and a lot of traffic. I think around 50,000 views a piece. It kind of just gave us this “we could keep doing this,” type of attitude. Our weather patterns and climates are so drastically different from everywhere else in the United States. On the East Coast you can surf Jersey in trunks in the summer and then surf in the snow in the winter. You can go down to the Caribbean, and there is just a plethora of ideas about how to do things. So, “In Pursuit” was kind of like the birth of The Best Laid Plans, a title that Jerry actually came up with.T
JS: Parker, sporting big time sponsors like O’Neill and Freestyle, was able to gain the support needed for his role in the In Pursuit series, but like any normal company, there are financial analysts sitting at desks calling the shots, and they weren’t in any position to squeeze an unexpected film into their budget that late in the fiscal year. Thus, an independent project is born.
Jerry: In Indonesia Alek had some extra cash set aside and was really passionate. He knew he was going to do it with or without sponsors. He’s been with O’Neill for a long time and they had his back with the hurricane season. Freestyle also helped out a lot, but when it came down to making a year-long production, a full movie, it was just bad timing. Basically, Alek took out a small business loan and floated the whole ten out of fourteen months out of his own pocket.
The Secret
I’m a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. I never doubt. If I put my mind to something, I know it’s going to happen one way or another. --Alek
Alek: I had been freaking out for weeks, not knowing where this money is going to come from. All of the sudden I got four pictures in a magazine. I scored two double page spreads, and I was able to fund the movie that much more. It’s been crazy, I’d go on a trip in January and four months later the pictures would come out. Two weeks after that I’d get a photo incentive check and it would go straight into the movie. I’d freak out and call all these companies asking, “Hey, you want to sponsor our movie for pretty much nothing? Give us a thousand bucks and you can be a sponsor.” Luckily none of that happened, and I was able to pull it off myself.
Something Different
JS: Why risk it? Why not milk the professional surfing life for what it’s worth? You can get your trips paid for, epic uncrowded tubes and aerial antics that will end up frozen in time in a magazine. But for Parker, he wanted to see and do something different.
Alek: I wanted to make something that myself, as a surfer, wants to watch. I’m tired of surf porn. With this project I wanted to do a reality or documentary concept. My whole goal before I met Jerry was to get a surf editor or a reality TV show editor. That was a year and a half ago. Later, Jerry comes along. He’s involved in surfing and is an amazing editor. He shoots and edits everything. During Christmas time I met this girl in Melbourne; Nicole Orozco. I told her about Surfline and “In Pursuit.” She grew up in Melbourne in the surf industry, and she got into editing because she wanted to portray surfing one day. Two years later we are all huddled around computers editing a movie that has come together, so…geez, I don’t even know how to describe it.
Jerry: Better than we could have imagined it.
{gallery}BestLaidPlans3{/gallery}
A Full Plate
JS: For those of you wondering how just a few people can accomplish so much in such a small amount of time, meet Jerry Ricciotti; the filmer, editor, world traveler and yes, college student. He’s a machine. He works hard, studies and somehow even manages to get a drink in with the boys. Let’s just say Ricciotti is the guy you want on your team when you’re looking to produce a video, he handles the stress like a matador manages raging bulls.
Jerry: Well, I’m definitely handling it. This will be the third semester I’ve been in school that we’ve been making this movie, and my grades have been okay. I missed 28 days in the fall and still made high marks. I missed another 30 days in the spring, when we went to Israel for two weeks, then Panama for two weeks. That is the one thing I’ve gotten out of college more than anything else—time management and finding some value in being a type A.When Alek and I are together we are getting shit done. Being stressed out all the time is a little bit of a rush. I kind of get an adrenaline boost, knowing there are a million things I’ve got to get done, and there are people relying on you. I’m willing to sacrifice school to a point, but Alek has been insane. He has even had to talk me out of trips.
It was a special memory for me because at that point I realized that Alek probably cared more about me finishing college than even I did. I can remember him saying “you can’t miss 10 more days of school just to save a 100 bucks on this plane ticket.”
Alek: Yeah, and I’m learning everything he learns from school through him.
Jerry: (Laughs) Yeah, he owes me tuition. I’m letting him borrow text books.
Lessons Learned
After taking a bit of time off of school to pursue the life of a surf industry videographer, Ricciotti managed to land a spot working under Josh Williams at Metalstorm Entertainment. This is where he experimented with editing, filming, traveling with the pros and the all important method of story telling.
Jerry: One thing that Josh did that I looked up to with Metalstorm was that his mission statement was “We are the premiere story teller of surfing to the world.” That was something that Josh, who came from a film school background, has made a point to focus on. There is a story behind everything, there is a story behind what Alek and others, as surfers, are doing. I remember trying to pitch an idea to Josh about taking left over footage from 2005 and put it to a soundtrack. He just shot it down, almost in an insulting way. He said there has to be a story, everything has a story. I’ve always kept that in the back of my mind. I feel that we as filmmakers are responsible for showing that story, rather than just the payoff. There’s a story all around these surf trips and these guys being pro surfers.
{gallery}BestLaidPlans4{/gallery}
Creative Cohesion
JS: Cohesion at this point wasn’t even a question, but when Parker met Nicole Orozco, things just kept getting better for the movie. Orozco entered the scene with a background from MTV and was able to offer an outsider’s perspective to the dynamic duo.
Alek: We had someone that has been a long time surfer screen the movie, and he said that the surf action was just incredible. He loved the in-depth look into the lives of pro surfers and thought surfers were going to love this movie. Then on the other hand, he said that it’s such an in-depth look to surfing, in general, that someone in middle America that doesn’t know anything about surfing could watch this and be entertained throughout. That hit home to me because it accomplished what we set out to do—to appeal not only to surfers but to somebody who knows very little about surfing. A lot of that has come through having an editor like Nicole that literally doesn’t know a floater from a cutback; but she can tell a story about these people.
Stomping Stereotypes
Point Break, The North Shore, Fast Times At Ridgemount High, Hollywood has been killing us for years and with films like these, the stereotype of the surfer/stoner/goof off has been all but set in stone by the pop culture. It’s safe to say, the demolition of that stone is well overdue.
Jerry: People from California or Australia might not realize that every surfer has to work to get a good wave. Over here it’s especially true, and hopefully that comes out in the movie to people in say Ohio. It’s not just like a skate park where you pull up and there are these waves. Surfers are having intelligent conversations with meteorologists that specialize in waves, and they need to know whether the payoff in going to be worth it. When the waves happen they are willing to do whatever it takes and hopefully someone that is landlocked will get that and hopefully change their minds about surfing.
Alek: We know that it is going to take a lot to take away from the surfer stereotype, but hopefully we can chip away at the boulder that is the whole image.
Final Thoughts
JS: Plans don’t always go accordingly. Everyone knows this and this is especially true in traveling. That said, a film that follows the frustrations dealt to groups of travelers, in this case surfers, is bound to give credit where credit is due.
Alek: This whole thing has been so grass roots in the sense that every trip has come together out of what I do as regularly with my friends. I know they are going to get the job done surfing, and everyone has made this movie what it is, and we are going to take that into the tour as well. We are doing a premiere in Lake Worth, Florida. You ask where that is? That is where Peter Mendia and Baron Knowelton are from, and I want to be able to show their families and friends how we’ve portrayed them as surfers. We are going all the way up the East Coast with this thing.
JS: After weeks of planning, months of traveling and hours upon hours of editing, The Best Laid Plans is on the verge of hitting the shelves for a meager fee. Packed with a story, and a bonus feature providing amp sections of riders like WCT bound Ben Bourgeois, it’s safe to say this movie will be more than enough to feed your stoke and possibly stoke those who have yet to taste the surf culture. Save your allowance groms and keep your eyes peeled for premieres, the movie is set to come out this fall.
{gallery}BestLaidPlans5{/gallery}
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
