Great Directors - Bruce Brown (Part I)

 Bruce Brown was inducted to the Surfers´ Hall of Fame

    He is the pioneer and the first filmmaker to put surf movies definetely on the map of great cinema. When, in 1964,"The Endless Summer" went mainstream with a nationwide theatrical release, Bruce Brown had already made five other respectable surf flicks. However the path to success was not an easy one for Brown. The raise from the underground scene to international recognition was done with many obstacles, setbacks and advances, but above all with great determination.

   Bruce was born in San Francisco and raised in Southern California. At that time (50´s) Surf culture was growing and Bruce was one of the many children that started to adopt the local beach as a second home. Later, when reflecting about that period of his life he had only the following words to describe it: "I majored in not going to school". Instead, he spent his days on the beach taking photographs of the best surfing moments.

    As a proof that his life was always connected to the sea, Brown graduated from High School and enlisted in the navy. While in duty, he was assigned to Hawaii, already a world mecca of surf. It was in the exotic pacific islands that he started to take the first 8mm movies. After his discharge, Brown returned to California and worked some time as a lifeguard. What Brown did not know was that his films had already beginning to gain notoriety between the community of surfers and as a result of that, Dave Velzy, a pioneering surf enterpreneur offered him 5000 dollars to make a film that would promote the Velzy Surf Team. Brown had just been offered the opportunity that would change his life.

(End of part I)

More on Dave Velzy ( Surfing Magazine courtesy) - http://www.surfingmagazine.com/news/velzy_052705/

Bruce Brown Film (the filming company) - http://www.brucebrownfilms.com/

Great insight on Bruce Brown´s career (by surfline) - http://www.surfline.com/surfing-a-to-z/bruce-brown-biography-and-photos_768/