Continuing to film her upcoming movie Soul Surfer, AnnaSophia Robb bundles up in a dark blue robe with a cup of Joe on the beaches of Hawaii on Sunday morning (February 7).
The 16-year-old actress will portray the real-life Bethany Hamilton, who was 13-years-old when she was attacked by a tiger shark while surfing along the shoes of Kaua’i.

Later in the day, AnnaSophia was seen filming scenes with an unidentified actor with her green-screened arm. Carrie Underwood, who is set to star as church youth leader Sarah, will join the actress on set on Monday.

10+ pics inside of AnnaSophia Robb keeping the cool winds out…

original story and more photos at justjaredjr.buzznet.com

While MTV’s new reality show, “Jersey Shore,” has drawn much media attention (and criticism), another series chronicling East Coast beach life quietly premiered this week. “School of Surf” follows a group of high school surfers from Ocean City, N.J. as they hunt for elusive waves and advance through a surfing contest that takes them to California. There, a golden-haired team of Malibu surf kids awaits.  Produced by VBS.TV and airing on MTV2, the series runs six episodes, and the narrative is split between the East and West coast teams.

The show’s creator, Jake Burghart, a documentary filmmaker, grew up surfing in Florida and said he was originally drawn to the Jersey kids because they’re underdogs. “The surfing industry is out West, they get better waves. In the northeast, surfing is still a subculture,” Burghart said. “The kids in Jersey have to make a choice to be a surfer; they have adverse conditions.”

In the first episode, after a snowstorm blankets Ocean City, the kids brave frigid temperatures to surf the big waves created by the squall. It’s a moment that defines both the two coasts, and the edgier character of the Jersey team. “In Malibu, you’ll get a swell and you’ll have waves for two weeks,” Burghart said. “On the East Coast, those moments are rarer. The waves are here and gone. You have to be an amateur meteorologist to figure it out.” As a result, Burghart said, the Jersey surf community is a “tight-knit” group with fierce Jersey pride. ”They’re freaking out over this other show on MTV,” Burghart said, referring to “Jersey Shore.”

Burghart sees “School of Surf” as a documentary, rather than reality TV, a term he finds “a bit of a jab.” “We never coached the kids to do anything,” he said. ”We shot, at the most, with two cameras, vérité style.” The camera follows both groups of kids home, but much of the action is centered on the waves. Burghart does admit to visually heightening the contrast between the coasts. “We wanted Malibu to look sunny and oversaturated and Jersey to look cold,” he said, adding, “We didn’t have to do much to pull that off.”

photo by Jake Burghart

original story by wall street

Paul Wendkos, a movie and television director best known for the frothy surfer film “Gidget,” but whose other productions ranged from thrillers to historical dramas, died Nov. 12 at his home in Malibu, Calif. He was 84.

The cause was complications of a stroke, said his wife, Lin Bolen Wendkos.

Mr. Wendkos was assigned to direct “Gidget” in 1958, a year after Harry Cohn, the president of Columbia Pictures, signed him to a contract. The film starred Sandra Dee, then 17, as the tomboyish Francie Lawrence, who doesn’t understand why her girlfriends are so boy-crazy. Francie’s only interest in the guys at the beach is having them teach her how to surf. But love eventually snares her, and she’s soon drinking beer with the Big Kahuna (Cliff Robertson) just to make Moondoggie (James Darren) jealous.

Released in 1959, the movie and its sequel, “Gidget Goes Hawaiian,” also directed by Mr. Wendkos, were hits and helped popularize a surfing culture that began spreading to the mainland.

read more at NYT