She’s Gotta Surf It

Director John Stockwell moves calmly through a crowd of surfers, groupies and other locals who have gathered, on a drizzly Saturday night in late January, for a big blowout at a notorious beach house on Oahu’s North Shore. With his sun-streaked hair, sea-salted face, T-shirt, board shorts and flip-flops, Stockwell blends right in: just another mainland water nut turned surf yogi. His mellow vibe belies the time pressures he and his crew are under as they set up a scene for Stockwell’s latest directorial outing, a genre-bending surf girl adventure titled “Blue Crush.”

“You might want to go get something to eat and come back,” Stockwell tells a bystander as he glances at the makeshift buffet table. “I doubt you’ll miss anything.”

It’s almost 8 p.m. and, because of the steadily falling rain, Stockwell has had to nix using a skateboard half pipe as part of this scene, in which the film’s star, Kate Bosworth, tries to pry her unruly 14-year-old sister away from the house’s leering surf studs.

The house they’re using (or “the G-spot of North Shore debauchery,” as a local called it) is one of several along the North Shore’s seven miles of intense waterline that are rented or owned by companies that sponsor professional board riders. Stockwell and others said the key to shooting here without incident (especially during prime big-wave season, October through April) is showing respect for surfing and the local culture.

Earlier in the day, Stockwell headed off a potential problem after an overzealous crew member decided to give Billabong--the film’s surf wear promotional partner--extensive exposure throughout the house owned by Volcom, a rival known for its rebellious philosophy and athletes. Stockwell was nervous that the Volcom surfers might bar them from shooting.

Because of the rain, everyone has taken cover in the house or on its deck, so the crew has to work around the 100 or so young and increasingly bored extras to set up the cameras, lights and other equipment. Stockwell knows that if he doesn’t get some footage before they break for lunch, he could lose a majority of these extras if they decide the Hollywood spotlight isn’t as much fun as it sounded and ditch the faux bash for real parties. He also has to film 14-year-old Mika Boorem, who plays the younger sister, before her regulated workday runs out.

Once the rain-mandated adjustments are made, the party scene proceeds smoothly, with a manageable number of defections and without breaking child labor laws. The night’s filming is a relief for Stockwell and his crew. The uncooperative weather was nothing compared to the capriciousness of the North Shore waves they’ve chased since production began in December 2001 on Oahu’s southwest coast and since moving north in January. Slaves to the whims of wind and waves, the filmmakers have had to adopt a Zen-like approach, incorporating unparalleled flexibility into their shooting schedule.

“Movie productions are not built to wait around,” Stockwell says. “The traditional way of solving a problem is to throw money at the problem, but that wouldn’t work here, with our budget. So we tried to stay small and flexible and keep a water crew on standby in case we needed to chase the surf.”

Stockwell, who often hits the waves during breaks in shooting, has had a decade-long affair with surfing. As a writer and director (HBO’s “Cheaters” and last year’s “crazy/beautiful”), he has an affinity for stories about subcultures and teens. But on “Blue Crush,” the actor-turned-filmmaker is showing signs of a masochistic bent.

Knowing that water-based features are the most ulcer-inducing to produce--think “Titanic” and “Waterworld”--Stockwell took on a film in which nearly half the action takes place in the water.

Moreover, he’s taking on a genre--the youth-oriented surf adventure-romance--that has been so lamely represented in the past that its archetypes are Sandra Dee as Gidget, Annette Funicello in “Beach Party” and Sean Penn’s pot-addled Jeff Spicoli in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” As if that wasn’t enough to alter his stomach chemistry, Stockwell is turning tradition on its ear by focusing on female surfers and thrusting the men to the sidelines.

Masochist? Possibly. But there’s demographic and economic evidence that the stars might be aligning for this feature.

One way Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures attempted to hedge against an out-of-control water film was to keep the budget lower than the studio average. “Blue Crush” cost around $30 million, before tax incentives from the Hawaiian government were subtracted. The filmmakers also cast relative unknowns, including actors who could surf and a few surfers who could act.

“We resisted hiring actresses that looked good but could never surf,” says producer Brian Grazer, another avid surfer. “They had to get in the water and try to surf, and you could tell right off whether they were going to be able to or not.”

Nineteen-year-old Bosworth, an accomplished equestrian who made her feature debut in Robert Redford’s “The Horse Whisperer,” won the lead role. She plays Hawaiian transplant Anne Marie, a young woman who gets up every morning at dawn to surf. Bosworth took surf lessons weeks before she tried out. “I was afraid that they might not want to cast me because I had never surfed before, so I just wanted to show them how serious I was.”

Joining Bosworth in the film’s central surf girl triumvirate are “Girlfight” and “The Fast and the Furious” actress Michelle Rodriguez as Eden, a surfboard shaper and hellcat on a Jet Ski; and model and film novice Sanoe Lake as Lena, a swimwear designer hopeful. The three girls--along with Anne Marie’s little sister Penny (Boorem)--live in a ramshackle surf house and support themselves by working as maids at the nearby luxury resort, where some football players are staying.

Of the three actresses, Lake, a Hawaii native and lifelong surfer, was the most accomplished in the water. Stockwell had pushed to cast her because she added authenticity.

Rodriguez was a different story. Two months into the shoot, she still wasn’t entirely comfortable on a surfboard: “I don’t know about surfing, man; I’m from New Jersey. Just give me something with an engine and I’m cool.”

The actresses were sent to Hawaii a month before filming to train with noted waterman Brian Keaulana, who taught them how to surf and stay safe (and, in the case of Rodriguez, how to operate a Jet Ski to tow surfers into the largest waves). Rodriguez got proficient enough that she did the shot of her character towing Anne Marie (pro surfer Rochelle Ballard, who doubled for Bosworth) into a giant wave.

In addition to Ballard, Stockwell brought aboard several top-ranked women surfers, including Megan Abudo, who doubled for Rodriguez; and Keala Kennelly, Layne Beachley and Kate Skarratt, who appear as themselves.

To bolster the film’s authenticity and to ensure the production would not be disrupted by surfers ruffled by a film crew cutting into their water time, Stockwell hired locals as actors, including Chris Taloa (one of the world’s premier bodyboarders, who competes as Chris Won Ton) and Ruben Tejada.

The inspiration for the story came from an Outside magazine article, “The Surf Girls of Maui,” written by Susan Orlean. Grazer says he had wanted to make a surf-related film for 10 years but never found a premise he liked until he “stumbled across this little story that was not about an individual but about the tribe, or subculture, of surfing from the point of view of surf girls.... They were really poor girls, growing up in a kind of obscure place in Hawaii, who were searching for identity ... and ultimately achieving it without men.”

In addition to switching the location from Maui to Oahu (mainly for the more dramatic surf conditions), the filmmakers introduced a romance between Bosworth’s character and a quarterback (“Legally Blonde’s” Matthew Davis) with a heart of gold and an arm that has brought him to Hawaii to play in the NFL Pro Bowl.

The first two acts follow Anne Marie’s preparations to take on elite women surfers in the Pipeline Masters. All the while, she’s trying to overcome psychic baggage from nearly drowning at the dangerous Pipeline surf break, and her usually laser-focused determination is thrown off balance after she falls for Davis’ character.

That’s the basic story, but the filmmakers and studio are pushing the action, and Grazer boasts, “What the tornado was in ‘Twister,’ the waves will be in this film.”

No artistic license was needed to portray Pipeline as one of the most dangerous surf spots in the world. Huge, powerful waves break in water as shallow as 2 feet, on a reef that can feel like concrete when a body slams into it.

On the first day of filming on the North Shore, the cast and crew witnessed some drama unrelated to their film when Tom Carroll, one of the top professional surfers in the world, went head-first into the reef. Luckily, Carroll--who was wearing a helmet, an increasingly common accessory--suffered only a cut around an eye.

“Of course, the girls are watching it and saying, ‘OK, here’s the world champion and he comes out with his face cut open,’” Stockwell says. “The next day we’re shooting there, and a body-boarder is paralyzed, and we’re still taking her [Bosworth] out. It’s not like staging a fight on land or putting air bags in. There’s no padding; there’s no seat belts; it’s very dangerous.”

In training the actresses, Keaulana didn’t have time to work them up gradually from the small waves at Waikiki to the monsters of the North Shore. “If we had done that, their learning curve would be so great, and they would risk themselves more when they got in the water here. So we took them to Waimea, where some of the waves had, like, 20-foot faces.”

Although the actresses didn’t suffer any injuries, professional surfer Ballard gave everybody a scare when she collided with a male surfer while filming a scene. Ballard, who had gone limp in the water, was rushed to a hospital. “We thought it was a major spinal injury,” Keaulana says. “She’s OK; she’s moving, but it was pretty emotional for her at the time, especially when she went numb.”

While Stockwell had access to the latest technology, particularly a gyroscopic camera that could shoot up and around the waves, he found that the best way to film realistically and safely was to go low-tech. Assisting in this was a crew of experienced water cameramen, including Don King (second unit camera for “Cast Away”) and world champion bodyboarder Mike Stewart, who used a camera mounted on a boogie board.

“What we have on this movie is an attempt to get inside the experience of the surfer,” Stockwell says. “Technology is good and bad. But if you get the right guys who know how to work on the water, and keep the equipment as simple as possible, that’s the best way.”

A woman surfing Pipeline is almost unknown. This is partly because of sexism in the sport and this area in particular, and partly because the waves are challenging for even the strongest male surfers.

Asked about the attitude toward women surfers at Pipeline, Kala Alexander, a local surfer hired as an actor in the film, says, “It’s just not known at the Pipe.... It’s like 60 guys in this takeoff zone that ain’t very big, and they’re all fighting each other. It’s hard enough for a guy.”

But during production of “Blue Crush,” some of the professionals did their parts to break through the liquid ceiling. One day, when the waves were particularly fierce, some of the Pipeline regulars who had never seen a woman surf the break before watched in awe as Skarratt charged the waves.

“When they saw Kate Skarratt out there and drop in [on a wave], the whole beach’s mouths dropped,” Stockwell says. “I think even Brian’s guys were a little skeptical at first ... but I think they’re digging the fact that we’re incorporating so much of the real world into the movie.”

Whether “Blue Crush” can similarly alter perceptions of Hollywood’s portrayal of surfing will be judged after its July 12 opening.

In earlier surfing movies, the action on the water rarely resembled the real thing, but the films did accurately reflect the chauvinism of the sport. Women were relegated to little more than beach-bound cheerleaders for their surfer boyfriends. This was a far cry from the time surfing was first witnessed in the Pacific by white explorers, who noted, in the words of one cultural anthropologist, an “equality and sexual freedom [that] added zest to the sport and were important to its widespread popularity.” The sport’s later chauvinism was mainly born out of the settling of Hawaii by white missionaries in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Though the sport may have taken longer to welcome women into its lineup than newer extreme sports like snowboarding, women are no longer willing to be exiled to the beach.

Surfing is reported to be the second-fastest-growing sport for women (behind golf), and magazines like Surfing Girl are devoted solely to female surfers. However, the number of women in the top tier of the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ World Championship Tour pales in comparison to the number of men (17 women and 46 men), as do sponsorship opportunities and prize money (purses at the major men’s events average around $250,000, while the women’s average $60,000).

Even having fewer opportunities to travel and make big money hasn’t stopped a surge of women from taking to the waves in recent years. One reason is that it offers women a lifestyle as well as a chance to use their gym-hardened muscles.

“Women like to take care of themselves, body and soul,” says Isabelle “Izzy” Tihanyi, founder and co-owner of Surf Diva, a La Jolla surfing school that was started in 1996 to teach women to surf. “Just going to the gym every day is good for your body, but what does it do for your soul? Surfing is an amazing workout, and there’s definitely an adrenaline rush that you can’t get in the gym.”

Tihanyi says the number of lessons taught at Surf Diva has doubled every year since the school was started, and she estimates that her instructors will teach about 4,000 women--ages 6 to 68--this year.

Another way to gauge women’s interest in surfing is the popularity of surfing-related apparel and gear. According to Board-Trac Inc., an Orange County company that tracks lifestyle and purchasing habits of people 12 to 24 who participate in board sports, the percentage of girls who surf every day has risen from 5% in 1999 to 11% in 2001; girls also make up at least 25% of the total market for surf-oriented “soft goods” like T-shirts and sandals.

Quicksilver, one of the giants of surf apparel, saw a 34.4% increase in net sales in the U.S. last year from its women’s lines (including Roxy), while sales in the men’s categories gained 8.3%.

So there’s an expectation that surfing’s popularity with women will have some bearing on the success of “Blue Crush,” and vice versa.

Universal has proved a sure-footed marketer of youth-targeted fare in recent years, raising the bar for contemporary teen comedies with “American Pie,” and surprising most observers with the success of last year’s drag-racing adventure, “The Fast and the Furious.”

Less optimistic projections might label “Blue Crush” a nice little summer “counter-programmer.” On the other hand, “Blue Crush” could also be one of those rare cultural totems that captures the current zeitgeist, in this case catching the attention of a huge population of Gen-Y kids who are more ethnically diverse, less concerned about gender politics and fascinated by hip-hop and extreme sports.

For his part, Stockwell, back in L.A., says that after watching the completed footage, he is most surprised by “the totality of the potential danger and risks that we exposed our actors to. And I’m just so happy that this is unlike the other surf films, where the dialogue is hokey and the beach looks like Lake Michigan and they use stock footage for the surfing.”

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Chris Petrikin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.