Surf fans, get ready, CLOUD 9 the long awaited documentary is screening Sun 14th at the San Sebastian Film Festibal at 17h00.  Daz, the man behind the Euroforce Series has been working flat out, and the project is nearing completion!  He has caught moments of pure gold through his lens and CLOUD 9 is where it all comes together.  Written by Lauren Davies, narrated by Mark Richards and a soundtrack featuring the Quiksilver musical grom Ben Howard.  The film, includes never before seen footage and interviews with Kelly, Tony Hawk and the Worlds best surfers.  CLOUD 9 gives us an insight into the man behind the 9 World Titles.  I reckon you’ll start seeing images shortly.  I’m so excited by the clips I’ve seen I just gotta tell someone!

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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.