THE GREAT SURFBOARD REVOLUTION.
AUSTRALIA v AMERICA.
Who
REALLY is responsible for the shortboard revolution?
It's
an intriguing 'David vs Goliath' tale that, after 42 years, still rages across
the Pacific, set to once again re-ignite when Australian feature film GOING VERTICAL
hits the big screen nationally from March 25. Will one of the surfing world's
biggest questions finally be answered? Which country is really responsible for
the shortboard revolution?
The shortboard is the surfboard
that is commonly used today. Why is there such an incredible fuss over what is
simply used for one of Australia's most popular and loved sports? At the centre
of this debate are two men, now in their '60s: Australian Bob McTavish and American
Dick Brewer. Which of these men was truly responsible for kicking off this surfing
revolution during the tumultuous 1967 'summer of love' that turned the sport around
the world, literally, upside down? Was the pioneer, as legend has it, Dick, who
lead the way to shortboard commercialism in the United States, or was it the brainchild
of Australian surfing legend and surfboard designer Bob and a few of his mates
such as Nat Young and George Greenough?
Over the last four
decades, dozens of books, movies and magazine articles have presented differing
views of this most important moment in surfing history. Did Australia lead the
way? Is the claim true? Not according to a groundswell of opinion that's erupted
recently in the United States, reigniting the debate. Filmed in Australia, Hawaii
and California, and featuring extraordinary archival footage of surf legends of
the past four decades as well as the hottest surfers of today, GOING VERTICAL,
for the first time, tells both sides of this compelling and fascinating story.
Today,
Bob McTavish is the youngest 65-year-old big-wave barrel-rider on the planet.
But back in 1967 when he was a wild larrikin and leading Australian surfboard
shaper, discovering breaks even before the sport's big names surfed them, it has
been widely claimed that he led the shortboard revolution after he cut three feet
off the average length of a surfboard. He took the new designs to Hawaii and California,
and claims to have ignited the fuse that led to the surfboards of today.
Thousands
of miles across the pacific, American Dick Brewer quickly established himself
in Hawaii as a big wave rider by charging big Waimea Bay and Sunset Beach. A master
toolmaker, aircraft designer and model aircraft champion, he found his calling
making boards in 1961, establishing Surfboards Hawaii and creating the 'Dick Brewer
Gun'. During his famous Bing Pipeliner era, he continued to shape shorter boards.
He met Bob McTavish in Hawaii in 1963, where a life-long rivalry between not only
between both men, but both
countries, erupted.
GOING VERTICAL
is narrated by one of Australia's finest exports, Simon Baker, produced by Robert
Raymond ( Schindler's List, Somebody's Sweetheart, Lust in the Dust) and directed
by one of Australia's best-known and highly regarded film-makers, two-time Academy-Award
nominee David Bradbury ( Frontline, The Battle for Byron, Public Enemy Number
One, Chile: Hasta Cuando).
Set to a powerful 5.1 surround
soundtrack including new surf music sensation The Break (featuring members of
Midnight Oil and Violent Femmes), plus tracks by Pearl Jam, Powderfinger, Spoon
and Boards of Canada and iconic artists from the summer of love including Manfred
Man, Russell Morris and Thunderclap Newman, GOING VERTICAL is the story of a pivotal
era of our time, of a revolution and the outrageous characters who made it happen.
