Almost all the films I made were shot by me alone.
I categorize films and videos as two different things.
I didn’t go to film school, but just figured out how to get the job done by doing it.
I have a hard time watching ‘The Endless Summer’ now. I think to myself, God that was a dumb thing to say. I can’t believe I said that. Many people liked my narration, but some critics didn’t.
I switch interests about every two years.
In the 1950’s, I started bodysurfing and then bought mats. Being a surfer was a dream.
In the early 1960’s there was no money to be made from it. If you posed for an O’Neill wetsuit advertisement, you’d get a free wetsuit… maybe. Had there been an opportunity to make a living surfing, I probably would have never made movies.
It’s always important to gauge responses to a film by the audience and not by executives in the industry.
Mainly what got me started filming was surfing.
Robert August sent me a new board – for a fat man. He called and said, ‘What are you doing, letting the resin cure?’ I’ve been quite the hodad lately, but I’ll be back at it soon.
Sitting up in front of a thousand people showing your movies you can kind of feel it if it isn’t working. I mean if it isn’t, you go home and change it.
Some guys want to film, but go surfing and miss it. You used to be able to drive by a surf spot and know who it was. Now there are tons of guys.
We need the best education system in the United States. The best system, not the most expensive.
When we were growing up, the thinking was that if you surfed, you’d smarten up at some point. After Endless Summer, people of all types started to take it up… it helped make it into something legitimate. It gave it some respect.
You can’t tell how good a wave is until you ride it.
