Clearly, Taylor Steele doesn’t like sitting still. The Bali-based surf filmmaker’s travel opus Sipping Jetstreams has been out for a couple years, and in between super high-performance shred-flicks, he’s been going loony on google earth, plotting new, weirder destinations for his follow up, which is called Castles in the Sky.

Tuesday night saw a special sneak preview of Castles at the Montalbán Theater in Hollywood, where dozens of semi-famous to famous surfers, industry types and various other Beautiful People turn up to check out Steele’s newest work, as well as another chance to see Sipping on the big screen.

In typical Steele fashion, he’d just got off a plane from India with a head wound from a car accident — a less-than-glamorous byproduct of spending half the year crisscrossing the globe. “I do those other projects to keep this going,” he said of his shredflicks. “This is my passion.”

“We could go on for days about the meanings of the titles and everything,” explains Steele’s partner photog Dustin Humphries. “But really, it’s all about the wonder of travel and getting outside your comfort zone.”

The first peek at Castles was as impactful and lush as Sipping: Dane Reynolds + friends pulling into snow-capped slabs in Iceland, Rob Machado going local in Peru and more, all edited with Humphries and Steele’s trademark style.

Groovy as it all is, Steele’s quick to point out that we’re looking at a work in progress. “This is an ultrasound, not a baby picture,” he laughed onstage.

If that’s an ultrasound, we’re stoked to see the grown up.

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We are pleased to announce that the Lighthouse International Film Festival [Long Beach Island, NJ] is screening some of our 2008 picks this weekend: Musica Surfica, Pulp Poo & Perfection , The Rocks, Kooks and Surf Magazines Don’t Talk About Lapsed Catholics.  See below release and links for times and locations.

OVERVIEW: LIGHTHOUSE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Long Beach Island, NJ, June 4 – June 7

The inaugural Lighthouse International Film Festival will be held on Long Beach Island, NJ from June 4 -7. LBI is long considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches on the Jersey shore, so it’s worth a trip in any case if you haven’t already been!

The film schedule has just been announced, and it is a very exciting lineup, especially since this is the festival’s inaugural year. We have 3 films that have played at Sundance (“Big Fan”, “The Missing Person” and “The End of the Line”), 2 films that played at SXSW (“Pulling John” and “Made in China”), 2 films that played at Tribeca (MTV’s “Wild Wonderful Whites of West Virginia” and “Marina of the Zabbaleen”) and 1 from Cannes as well (“Los Bastardos”)!

For a complete listing check out the festival’s website: http://www. lighthousefilmfestival.org

Surfing Lineup- Free to the Public!

We are pleased to announce our partnership with the New York Surfing Film Festival.  We will be offering a selection of award-winning surfing films, and a private Q&A with “The Rocks” director Mark Temme.

Arm Wrestling Showcase and Showdown

Perhaps of biggest interest at the festival will be the Interactive Arm Wrestling Showcase and Showdown, starring the World Arm Wrestling Federation Champions on Saturday, June 6th, 5-6pm at Daddy-O’s (link to daddyohotel.com), starring world champions John Brzenk and Travis Bagent! John Brzenk is the subject of Saturday’s spotlight film, “Pulling John”. John is the undisputed, undefeated world arm-wrestling champion. Equally famous for his profanity and his strength, Travis Bagent is considered the best left-handed arm wrestler in the world and is currently ranked second overall in North America, as of Summer of 2008.

Celebrities and more

There will also be a “Breakfast with the Filmmakers” on both Saturday and Sunday mornings, a talk with the real “Gidget,” cocktail parties on Friday and Saturday nights (one will include a fun arm wrestling event with some of the stars from “Pulling John”), live bands and appearances by Giants’ legend Howard Cross and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Activities for Kids

Finally, there are other great activities, such as free family-friendly beach-side surfing movies at the Ship Bottom boat ramp on the island. There’s also the Kids First program an informative and fun program for the kids. There will be free children’s films and a “junior critics” workshop.

Tickets

If you’re interested, please purchase tickets at http://www. lighthousefilmfestival.org/ tickets.html. You can buy tickets for individual films/events or purchase an “all access” pass for $125 that will get you into every film and event.

Vieux Boucau Surf Club hosts a huge beach clean up

The first European Beach clean Up happened on Saturday May 23rd in Vieux Boucau with the help of Vieux Boucau Surf Club. As the sun rarely comes out theses last few weeks (Landes coast), it was a good surprise and a huge motivation for people actively involved.

And people who came for the event really needed motivation, because the day before, mother nature brought tons of wreck and all kind of trash!!!!

Kids are obviously as usual the more motivated and involved but as the time goes, parents and event people who mainly came to lay down on the beach started to help because it’s not really funny to lay down between fishing nets and plastic bottles!!!! A V.co-Logical pack (contains 2 pairs of gloves, trash bag, an awareness poster and many stickers) was given to each participant.

After 2 hours of collect, almost 80 trash bags were filled up and a lot of others big stuff couldn’t fit in bags. Snacks and all kind of goodies were given to thank people who helped during this beautiful day, and many gifts were, as usual, thrown away.

The day ended by a big BBQ offered by Volcom and Vieux Boucau Surf Club to people who came and stayed despite a big storm in afternoon (Landes Tradition!) Many thanks to VIEUX BOUCAU SURF CLUB and WISHBONE SURF SHOP

V.Co-Logical: V.Co-Logical represents Volcom’s socially responsible movement towards sustainability. Through eco-friendly products (V.Co-Logical series) or through the initiatives for a better environment, on both social and ecological sides, Volcom encourages change to improve the quality of our lives. The promotion of awareness inside and outside the company concerning recycling, carpooling, biking and/or skating instead of driving… is one the main goals.

V.Co-Logical in Europe also supports Surfrider Foundation Europe – a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to preserving the world’s surf spots and their surrounding environment, beaches and oceans – with the 1% for the Planet Donations (coming from our V.Co-Logical product line).

Lately V.Co-Logical in Europe did an educational part on the beach clean up, because we think that it is important for the future generations to be aware of the environmental issue.

www.volcomeurope.com

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