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SURFERMAG ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

BM
When I saw the doco I snidely was calling it Lords of Riding Pipe in my head, because some of the usual suspects where there: Greg Noll, Sam George. Does that comparison to Riding Giants bother you?

SP
It’s inevitable as there are not that many great interview subjects in the world of surfing. Some may debate me on that. There are just too few people in the sport that can speak in powerful audible sound bites which these films rely on.

BM
Off the top of your head can you name some or all of the Talking Heads in the doco: Say where and when you interviewed them, if it was hard to get any of them and any stories behind the stories they told.

SP
Rabbit, Tom Carroll and Simon Anderson were interviewed in Australia. Shaun was interviewed in Santa Barbara. Greg Noll up north at his house, Gerry was done up north in Oregon. The Irons Bros in Hawaii etc. All were relatively easy to access, just scheduling was a problem from time to time.

BM
How many hours of interviews did you have and how many hours of footage?

SP
Too many to count. Footage and photographs from all over the planet and spanning many decades.

BM
Were there any interviews you didn't get, and was there any action you couldn't get?

SP
The only thing that we were held back by was budget. For the most part we got what we needed but with more money we could have re-done Michael and Derek Ho’s interviews – could have done another Lopez interview for follow up and could have given my music guys at Matter Music more money as they did so many songs for us for so low a price.

BM
Can you say what the time and money investment was on the documentary?

SP
I think we had four months to re-do it. I believe the budget was $140 million. Just a little under what they did Spiderman for.

BM
Well it’s all on the screen, baby. Did you learn anything new from all the interviews you recorded?

SP
Yeah, that every film is different and that you can learn something new from each one. What I learned and what I learn from each and every one is to suss out the story. What is the story? And how to tell it in the most economical and compelling way. It’s such a simple concept but so hard to pull off that you need to learn it over and over again.

BM
So what is the story? Riding Giants is structured around three acts/eras, with each era focusing on one guy: Greg Noll, Jeff Clark, Laird Hammilton. How is this Pipe documentary laid out?

SP
We structured the documentary into four parts: The very beginning including the Lopez Era. The Backside Attack featuring Shaun and Rabbit (South Africa and Australia) including Simon Anderson and the thruster. The New Wave featuring Michael Ho, Derek Ho, Tom Carroll and Sonny Garcia. The Next Wave featuring Kelly Slater and the Kelly Slater era, the Irons Brothers and Jamie O’Brien.

BM
Which all makes sense, but I would say this Pipe doco is not nearly as polished and crafted as Riding Giants, and in some ways it doesn't seem like a Peralta project. Was that because of the different editor? Time? Money?

SP
It’s not a “Peralta Project” as I was only a creative producer on this film. I was not the director and I did not conceive the project. We inherited the film, tore it down to its studs, re-conceived it and put it together with old and new parts. Many new interviews were required and we had a very small budget and little time.

BM
Can you give a timeframe of the project from BS (Before Stacy) to VLN (viewing last night)

SP
Probably six or seven years.

BM
Did you meet any heroes you didn't know when doing the interviews?

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