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Tracks spoke to talented Indy surf filmmaker, Simon “Shagga” Saffigna, about the challenges of his profession. |
The good old days of surf films, Avalon Beach cinema screening of ‘Highway One’, 1977. Pic: Glenn Evans
Never before has there been so much surf footage recorded and viewed. Everything from amateur GoPro footage to big budget, surf company releases are coming at you from more screens than you have fingers. We are drowning in surf footage out here and we are thrilled to bits. But spare a thought for the professional independent surf filmmaker who has to swim against the torrent of free clips, blogs, and cover mounts. Indy surf films are the bomb but they are getting tougher to finance and produce. Tracks spoke to talented Indy surf filmmaker, Simon “Shagga” Saffigna, about the challenges of a profession which – like the Great White Shark – is both tremendously exciting and arguably vulnerable to extinction. Shagga recently scooped three Surfer Poll awards for his latest effort (Teahupoo Raw and Uncut) so he knows his stuff.
What’s it cost to put together a proper Indy surf film these days?
Depends on how much you get skunked and how the talent is performing. To make a film that stands out from the others you need to go to places that haven’t been documented and that are new to the viewer. I think if you were to work with 10 people and do 10 trips you would be on your way to an amazing film. $250k would give you the freedom to make an EPIC film and something better than what has been done before.
How hard is it to raise that sort of green in today’s twitchy market?
If you know someone whose rich it’s easy, but generally speaking it’s pretty tight out there. Companies like Redbull get it and they back good concepts. I guess it’s a matter of having a great idea and pitching it to the right people at the right time.
Shagga working in natures magical movie studio. Pic: sparkesphoto.com
What sort of profit would you personally expect from a big budget Indy project?
I guess a lot of it depends on the end result. If you are doing your own distribution and the marketing campaign you have behind the film, personally from my past experiences it is best to work off a wage otherwise you can find yourself being left in a bad situation if shit goes pair shaped
How have surf film DVD’s sales been tracking over the last five years?
DVD sales are definitely going down, while online is becoming more popular every year
Has the abundance of free footage on the internet (blogs, YouTube, surf mag sites, Vimeo etc, etc) made life harder for guys like yourself?
Yep, for sure. If you had a product to sell the technology is unreal to help promote through these outlets but when you’re just producing and selling your own media then those same platforms are crushing the independent
Is the big budget independent surf film an endangered species?
I hope not that would be fucked! It would be cool to see the brands stick together and pitch in budgets we’ll see it would definitely be a shame if they can’t work together with the independents. There are so many good surfers that ride for different companies I don’t think the best films will be made if it dies.
