Monday, November 29, 2010

Help Us Save The Waves in Peru!

We're working on a campaign to promote the new Wave Protection Law in Peru. View the video and sign our petition below:



> Sign the petition here --- "Saving Peruvian Waves" - on ThePetitionSite.com

> Learn more about Peru's official federal Wave Protection Law by downloading the proposal here in our Save The Waves Library. (clicking on the link will automatically begin PDF download)

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Save The Waves Bids Fond Farewell to Josh Berry

Environmental Director moving on after five years with organization:

San Francisco, CA – November 23, 2010 – Save The Waves announced that current environmental director Josh Berry will be leaving the organization’s staff in December. Berry, who served as STW’s Chile program director for three years before serving as environmental director for the past two, will be leaving the organization to pursue other interests, including a months-long break from environmental work to refresh and recharge.

“I’m honored to have served as an advocate for the coastal environment on behalf of Save The Waves and the greater community,” says Berry. “I’m so proud of everything we’ve accomplished, from igniting a coastal environmental movement in Chile, to launching the World Surfing Reserves movement, to leading a major emergency relief operation in Chile. Save The Waves has proven repeatedly that with the right focus and passion, you can accomplish a great deal with humble resources.”

Berry leaves Save The Waves as the organization continues to grow in both size and awareness, leading a growing movement around the world to protect the coastal zone with particular emphasis on protecting surfing coastline. Berry, who also led Save The Waves’ Documentary Film program, also hasn’t ruled out collaborating with Save The Waves in the future, and will remain an active member on the organization’s Advisory Board.

“Josh has done amazing work for Save The Waves and has always had a no-nonsense attitude of getting things done,” says STW executive director Dean LaTourrrette. “He’ll definitely be missed, but at the same time he’s also laid solid groundwork for others to come in and continue this significant work. We’re looking forward to expanding on his work in Chile and beyond.”


Above: Josh and the STW Chile Relief ground team, Fall 2010. Photo by Geoffrey Ragatz.

Save The Waves is actively interviewing for a new environmental director, to continue to lead its environmental programs. Interested parties should contact the organization through email via "info at savethewaves dot org" or 831-426-6169.

Film Festival Awards

Thanks to filmmakers Sachi Cunningham (Awesomest Filmmaker Award), Kyle Thiermann (Epic Grommet Activist Award) and Angel Marin (Fuerza Chile Award) for creating great work! Below are the awards that each won at Save The Waves Film Festival on November 12, 2010.





> View Sachi's new 3-part film: Chasing the Swell.

> Watch Kyle's rad new film: Buy Local, Surf Global.

> Enjoy Angel's film that screened at our film festival: Standing.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

WAVES

Last night in Malibu:



Ron Herman presents WAVES by Steven Lippman. Proceeds benefit Save The Waves. Info here.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Ben Marcus Chats With Save The Waves Film Festival

Turns out that Save The Waves Film Festival is this Friday at the Victoria Theatre, somewhere in San Francisco. Josh Berry (the event producer for STW) offered a free ticket and no margaritas or poki, but he did add: “Hell, the bar sponsors are Ocean Vodka, Jim Beam, some rum, 21st Amendment Brewery, Peligroso Tequila, Zola Acai.”

That all sounded good but I still had reservations. First of all I worked at Surfer Magazine for 10 years and one of my claims to fame was starting the Surfer Magazine Surf Video Awards. This is a really big show now but when I did it the first four years, it was me and a guy named Fran Battaglia suffering the “one yard stare” sitting in an editing booth looking at hour after hour after hour after hour after hour after hour after hour of endless surf videos. Most of them numbingly the same. The Surfer Video Awards shows were great but I swore I would never watch another surf video again.

I come from a time a long time ago in a decade far far away, a time called the 1970s, when surf movies were actually movies, and shot on film. They were expensive to make and so they were rare, and it was a very big deal when a traveling surf movie would roll into town. Surf movies like Five Summer Stories and Free Ride were a big deal then - they were hard to make and special, in the times before the instant gratification of the Internet.

So I avoid surf videos but could be missing out, because sometimes I’ll see an impressive, interesting effort like the Kelly Slater documentary, and wonder what else I am missing.

I expressed that to Josh and he fouled it off: “We've got a short film called THE SURF MAGAZINES DON'T TALK ABOUT LAPSED CATHOLICS that you absolutely must see. Then we screen a short film collection that's 20 mins long, followed by a quick intro chat to the Mavericks short film CHASING THE SWELL (15 mins short), followed by a solid intermission with live music, and ended with 87 minutes of 180 SOUTH to finish the night. So you can sneak out at various opportunities but I recommend you see CHASING THE SWELL. And the short films that start the night are fricken good, no surf porn waste of space. I also passionately hate surf films, and this will be different if I've done my job.”

So that sounded promising. My other claim to fame at Surfer was writing the first story about Mavericks. My dad lived on Airport Road about a mile from the place and so I had been riding motorcycles up to the north of the spot since the 1970s, and used to see it break all the time. That led to me contacting Jeff Clark when I worked at Surfer and opening Pandora’s Bowl.

So the movies sounded good but I also told Josh I was allergic to hipsters. I said that one of the disadvantages of age is seeing endless generations of 20-somethings reinvent the wheel. When I was a kid, tattoos were low class and bad taste. Now that tattoos are hip, they’re truly vulgar. I said hipsters made me start sneezing and I didn’t want to disrupt the show.

I attended the premiere showing of 180 South in Santa Barbara last winter, and there were so many bearded 20-somethings in puffy Patagonia jackets, they had to haul me out of there on a crash cart. Josh Berry commiserated. He said that he, too, was allergic to hipsters, and he said that he, too, didn’t like surf movies. He apologized again for the lack of margaritas and/or poki, but hoped I would attend anyway.

Maybe I will and maybe I won’t but I am old and jaded. If you are young and fresh, it sounds pretty good: Save The Waves Film Festival is on Friday, Nov 12 at 7pm at the Victoria Theatre. Located at 2961 16th Street, San Francisco. Advance tickets sold here: www.savethewaves.org/filmfestival

- by Ben Marcus

Monday, November 8, 2010

Grommet Activist at Save The Waves Film Festival


A new short film by our young surfer-activist friend and Save The Waves ambassador Kyle Thiermann will premiere at Save The Waves Film Festival:SHOP LOCAL, SURF GLOBAL documents Kyle as he physically follows his purchase of a piece of clothing from a local surf shop in Santa Cruz to its factory origins in Sri Lanka.

In this new film, exotic adventures ensue as he uncovers the mysterious origins of the manufacturing of all the hard goods we take for granted. See it first at Save The Waves Film Festival!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

LAUNCH IT - this Thursday 11/11


Join us on Thursday at the Park Chalet at SF's Ocean Beach for a Launch Party Happy Hour for Save The Waves Film Festival. We'll screen BALI HIGH - that 1981 surf travel classic with the awesome rock soundtrack - and CAPTURE, a documentary by Waves for Development.

We're at the Victoria Theatre on Friday - Save The Waves Film Festival: