SAN CLEMENTE, California/USA (Thursday, November 8, 2012) – Jordy Smith (ZAF), 24, is considered by many to be one of the most unpredictable, dynamic surfers of all time and his ability to combine power and finesse in an array of conditions have put his name alongside some of the most elite surfers of all time. Recently the South African combined forces with filmmaker Kai Neville to produce his first feature movie, Bending Colours. SURFER Magazine caught up with Smith at the movie premier in Santa Cruz to get his thoughts on the finished product. This… is their story…
Kai and Jordy have a history of making music in moving pictures. The brutish South African had some of the most dominant performances in Modern Collective and Lost Atlas, so it seemed a little strange that the credits would roll in Dear Suburbia without so much as a tail-throw from Jordy. As it turns out, Smith wasn’t hiding from the lens while his peers nailed clips for DS—he and Kai were busy making something else entirely. After roughly a year of filming, Jordy and Kai debuted Bending Colours at the Del Mar Theater in Santa Cruz, and it was pretty messed up (see: massive airs and violent man-hacks). I met up with Jordy in a cluttered hotel room on the East Side to discuss the making of his first signature film.
After seeing the finished product on the big screen the other night, what did you think about how it came out in the end?
I was pretty pumped. I think there are probably going to be a few more movies that I’d like to make throughout the rest of my career, but for the first one, I really enjoyed it. I loved filming at home in South Africa. I think those sections probably spoke to everyone more than the rest, just because there is a lot more of a feeling behind it with the waves and the people and the places that I grew up around. Maybe I just connect to it a lot more because of that, but I had a lot of fun with the whole movie. Kai did an awesome job with it, the boys were ripping, and I fulfilled my lifelong dream of surfing with my hero, Tom Curren.
Kai said at the premiere that making this movie was more of a collaboration than he’s used to. How much of a role did you play in the direction?
I had a little bit of a role in the direction of the whole thing, but for the most part Kai is pretty stubborn in that sense. He has his style and the way he does everything, so I just kind of gave him my ideas and then left it up to him. He definitely came through. I thought he portrayed me the best he could, but I think the next movie I do will show a little more of my character. I felt like that was the only thing that may have lacked in the movie
For the Full Interview log on to SURFER Mag.
