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Nearly every Santa Cruz surfer has dreamt of being in a surf video. Now those dreaming locals might actually get the chance to hit the big screen.
By Gwen Mickelson Nearly every Santa Cruz surfer has dreamt of being in a surf video. Now those dreaming locals might actually get the chance to hit the big screen.
Santa Cruz filmmakers, surfers and twins Yamal and Arjuna Duryea, 35, are gearing up to start shooting a feature-length film called "Trip" on county beaches in June. They're looking for actors and crew members to help them make, as they say, "the biggest splash in Hollywood since 'The Lost Boys' was filmed here in 1987"
Trying to sell a script takes as much work as making a movie, said the brothers, who attended UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television but have lived and surfed in Santa Cruz for the past seven years. They have some short films under their belts and have written some pilots, but haven't yet had anything picked up.
They both have that laid-back, groovy, surfy thing going, with T-shirts and flip-flops and long necklaces hung with spiritual icons and other symbols. Yamal has short hair; Arjuna, or "AJ," favors his long. Their background is half Japanese, half European, though they say many have mistaken them as Hawaiian or Native American. Their last name is French.
Making their own movie is "a calling card," said the brothers, who set each other's jokes up so seamlessly that it seems their time in the womb together gave them the ability to share thoughts.
Their aim is to "get it into festivals, so people start thinking of us as writer-directors," said Yamal. Their homegrown production company is called "talking magpies films"
With a huge cast of supporting roles to fill, they've already held one audition in Santa Cruz, where 65 people showed up, and plan another May 24-26. They were looking for actors age 15-70, all ethnicities, male and female. But now, they say, they're in particular need of teenagers or young people, male and female, 18 and over, with the surf look. Getting actual surfers would be a bonus, since then they wouldn't have to use body doubles for the surfing scenes.
They summarize their plot by saying, "It's about two things that couldn't be more true to our local character: Peace and surfing — stirred up with a bit of teen angst, drama and politics"
Here's the story line: Julio DeGeronimo is a straight-A high school senior who inadvertently causes a worldwide pro-peace rally by ditching school to surf in Mexico. Sought-after by Ivy League universities, DeGeronimo doesn't know if he wants the whole American dream thing, despite urging from his parents, teachers, coaches and friends. Like a true surfer, he shuns all of these expectations in favor of a swell in Baja that's growing to epic proportions. DeGeronimo ditches school with his crew of surf rats to head south. Their innocent adventure goes awry, however, when the parents of the younger boys file kidnapping charges against DeGeronimo. Soon the cops, the FBI and Mexican Federales are after him. To make matters worse, the media broadcast erroneous rumors that the kids have ditched school to protest the war on terror. Around the world, students leave classrooms in solidarity with the so-called "surf-for-peace" teens.
The story is woven together from various true experiences. The twins' father, Bill, ditched school to drive to Florida and surf a really good hurricane swell back in 1965 when he was in high school on Long Island, N.Y. And the twins inadvertently sent a bunch of students to a Gulf War protest when they were late for a class once at De Anza College and their professor assumed they were off at a protest. The professor cancelled class, saying all the other students should be out there, doing what college students do.
They'd like to shoot about 80 percent of the film in town. They'll use high-definition video, unless they can muster up enough of a budget to use film.
As for that budget, the brothers decline to state figures, saying only that their project is "a low-budget independent film" They're looking for investors.
Cannes is the goal. The deadline to apply to that film festival is March next year, with the festival in June. But if they happen to be picked up by a distributor before applying to festivals, the movie would come out before then.
Their aim?
"We just want to make movies," said AJ.
Yamal added that fame and riches aren't really the objective. It's more about "telling stories and showing some insight into the human condition"
The next auditions will be 6-10 p.m. May 24-25 and from 2 p.m. on May 26 at No Limits dance studio, 2800 S. Rodeo Gulch Road, Ste. C, Soquel.
For information, or to send head shots and resumes, e-mail
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- MIKE WASCH PADDLE-OUT: The details are coming together for a paddle-out for the late glasser Mike Wasch, who died in February of a brain tumor. Friends have set the date of July 15, Wasch's birthday, for the celebration and remembrance. More information will be forthcoming in the next few months, but now you can mark your calendars.
- WOMEN: GO TO PARADISE: Our own Paradise Surf Shop is named in the "100 Places Every Woman Should Go" travel guide, compiled by award-winning author Stephanie Elizondo Griest. The book points to places of inspiration, enlightenment, adventure and history, where heroines battled for the right to speak, vote, rule and be free.
"What an honor to be featured in the first travel book of its kind," Paradise Surf Shop owner Sally Smith said.
You can find "100 Places Every Woman Should Go" at Paradise Surf Shop for $16.95.
- RIDE-A-WAVE KICKS OFF: The newest Ride-A-Wave movie, "For the Kids — Part ll," will be 6 p.m. Saturday at the Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. Admission is free; donations are accepted. The film is a surfer's-eye view of a day in the life of the Ride-A-Wave 2006 summer camp series, with a focus on the nonprofit's "dauntless" volunteers, according to activities director Tim Loomis.
The group also kicks off its camps next weekend, starting with the Alicia Ann Rusch Burn Foundation kids on Saturday followed by the Sycamore House of Santa Cruz on Sunday. People interested in becoming Ride-A-Wave volunteers should arrive at Cowell's Beach parking lot at the foot of the pier [look for the RAW set-up people and trailer] early for training, around 7:30 a.m. A day on the beach, playing with kids — what could be better? The group provides early-morning snacks and coffee plus a hearty lunch. Volunteers can expect to finish up by around 2:30 p.m. For information, call Tim Loomis 426-4683 or check out the Web site www.rideawave.org, where you can find a full listing of all the summer camps.
Send surf items to Gwen Mickelson at
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