Now in its third incarnation, A Great Day in the Stoke, the largest gathering of Black surfers on the planet, returned to the Huntington Beach Pier on Saturday, September 14. The brainchild of Nathan Fluellen, the event first got underway in 2022 as a way to bring Black and African American surfing communities together. Today, it’s turned into a full movement that attracts hundreds of surfers and offers so much more than just a another surf contest.
Created in the aftermath of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, along with other race-based issues, A Great Day in the Stoke was intended to get people together and bring something positive to the beach. Inspired by A Great Day in Harlem in 1958 and a Great Day in Hip Hop in 1998, the initial running of A Great Day in Stoke saw over 500 people show up.

​A little bit surf contest, a little bit beach party, as well as part health and wellness festival and community gathering, there really was something for everybody going down at A Great Day in the Stoke. On the surf side, there were events for shortboard, longboard and groms.
​Hawaii’s Julian Williams was on hand to successfully defend his shortboard title, and won the longboard title. Sahara Faye won the women's longboard, edging out last year's winner, Farmata Dia and Monik Santos won the shortboard. Logan Moss won the boys grom.
There were free surf lessons for anyone looking to dip a toe in the water for the first time, beach yoga and a double dutch competition.

For more information: click here

​In 1966, footage of Mike Hynson walking atop his longboard debuted in theaters across the world. Alongside Robert August and filmmaker Bruce Brown, Hynson’s globe-trotting in 'The Endless Summer' helped establish a precedent of surf exploration that has lasted nearly 60 years later.

The San Diego surfer and shaper enjoyed a different kind of trek when he became inducted into Huntington Beach’s Surfing Walk of Fame, along with Surf Pioneer Bing Copeland, Surfing Champion Felipe Pomar, Local Hero Jeff Deffenbaugh, Surf Culture Doug Warbrick & Brian Singer (Rip Curl Founders), and Woman of the Year Sally Fitzgibbons.
To commemorate the induction, John van Hamersveld, who designed 'The Endless Summer' poster, was commissioned to produce a work of art.

From Carlsbad-based documentary filmmaker Brooks Venters comes the film "Finding a Way". It's a biographical documentary exploring the life of Pete Gustin, a world-renowned blind voiceover artist, surfer, and Youtuber. The 26 minute documentary follows Gustin's life from childhood to present, and documents the major challenges he's faced due to his blindness.
"Finding a Way" premiered on January 26 on Pete Gustin's self-run "Blind Surfer" Youtube channel. It's the only channel produced, shot, and edited by a blind person. 
The documentary release comes on the heels of an exceptional year for Gustin. He won two Voice Arts Awards from The Society of Voice Arts and Sciences: Outstanding Movie Trailer of the Year for the film "Unhinged", and Outstanding TV Promo of the year for the TV show "Archer". His new Youtube channel has reached over 10,000 subscribers. He also got engaged to his longtime girlfriend Maggie Carpenter. Gustin boasts a storied voiceover career and has been heard on ESPN, Fox, Fox News, CBS, ABC, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, FXX and many major movie trailers. The documentary is both a documentation and a celebration of Pete's journey and accomplishments.
"Blind Surfer" Pete Gustin said: "I'm super excited about this documentary. It captures the full extent of the challenges I've faced due to my blindness. I've had other media outlets cover my voiceover career and my surfing separately, but this is the first piece that covers it all. It captures the true message that I'm trying to get across, that I've been able to find a way to do what I want through hard work and never giving up."
Brooks Venters produced, directed, shot and edited the documentary. Venters is a North Carolina native and Digital Marketing professional. He moved to Southern California 7 years ago. Venters met Gustin through Instagram in August of 2020. He's been shooting drone footage of Gustin for the "Blind Surfer" Youtube channel since. After learning Gustin's story, Venters saw the potential for a great piece. He has produced several other documentaries covering subjects like homelessness, the life of Bill Walton, and solar-powered homes.

Finding a Way" is now available to watch in full 4k on the "Blind Surfer" Youtube channel here: https://youtu.be/8pD_9Ym6k70. Brooks Venters is a Documentary Filmmaker and Digital Marketing Professional. Contact him at 289979@email4pr.com, on his website at www.dronesesh.com, or @dronesesh on Instagram. ​Pete Gustin is a world-renowned voiceover artist and runs the "Blind Surfer" Youtube channel. He can be found at www.petegustin.com, @realpetegustin on Instagram, and in weekly Vlog episodes on the "Blind Surfer" Youtube channel.

​Surfer magazine, which helped legitimize wave-riding as a global sport through its lush photography and California-cool stories, printed its final edition and suspended operations this month, to the dismay of the legions of baby boomers who once lingered at newsstands waiting for the latest issue.
Founded in 1960 and beloved by pre-internet-age surfers from Mission Beach to Biarritz, the magazine furloughed staff Friday and ceased further print and online content offerings. Though founded in Orange County, the magazine was based in recent years in Carlsbad.
“The whole staff got let go yesterday (no, nothing to do with the heat from the Biden endorsement, just the COVID economy), but I feel like we’re ending on a high note with this one,” Editor in Chief Todd Prodanovich said in an Instagram post about the final issue.
“Funny how you can work a job like this for 10 years and each issue is a completely new and different journey. I’ll really miss that part, and the mag in general, which ends on this issue after 60 years of publication.”
Though many in the surfing community say they saw the end coming, the demise of Surfer still stings for aging surfers who couldn’t wait for the monthly magazine to arrive.
“I have watched many great publications go out of business over the past few years, but this one hit me really hard,” said Steve Hawk, who edited the magazine for eight years in the 1990s. “It was so much more than just a magazine for a lot of surfers of a certain generation. It was a cultural touchstone and groundbreaking in a lot of ways.”
Surfer was among the first niche sports magazines of any kind to be successful, with a pedigree akin to Hot Rod and Field & Stream, Hawk said.

In an emailed response to questions, a spokesman for A360 Media said that “due to pandemic’s economic impact on the industry and the cancellation of live events, staff furloughs and the suspension of operations for some brands are necessary for the time being.” 
Bass, executive director of the Boardroom surfboard show in Del Mar and a longtime industry executive, recalled that the first issue of the magazine contained a photo of a surfer paddling out toward a glassy pristine wave. It became a signature of what the magazine was about. 
“That kind of set the bar for this ideal of going out and finding your own little slice of heaven,” Bass said. “Searching for that, this idea of adventure, of freedom, of individuality, of being different, a little bit of counterculture, all of those things. That is what Surfer magazine was draped in. It was very important.” 
John Severson, an art teacher, photographer, writer and cartoonist, founded Surfer magazine to promote a new surf film, said Steve Pezman, who worked at the magazine for 20 years before founding the Surfer’s Journal. The artistry of the magazine captured readers’ imaginations, he said.

Taking the Drive in Movie Theater experience to the next level, the Newport Beach Film Festival is screening the world premiere of 'A Life of Endless Summers: The Bruce Brown Story'. The film features a look back at the famous filmmaker, his career, his friends, family, and the art of surf film-making.
The event is scheduled for Thursday, August 13, 2020, 8:00 PM PDT. Doors open at 6:00 PM, showtime is approximately 8.00PM (sunset). The event will be held at  Fashion Island, 401 Newport Center Dr., Newport Beach, CA - on top of the parking structure at THE LOT Fashion Island.
The audio for the movie is broadcast through a Professional Grade FM transmitter (radio), so make sure you have a good sound system in your vehicle. If you don't have an FM transmitter in your car you can bring a battery-operated stereo with speakers to hear the movie. Tickets must be purchased online, in advance. Tickets will be scanned through car window when entering.
For ticket information, click here.

​Bruce Brown is widely known to have been the innovator of modern-day surf films.
The California filmmaker who directed "The Endless Summer" continues to fill seats around the world. "A Life of Endless Summers: The Bruce Brown Story" is a feature-length movie about the legendary director. Written, directed, and produced by Dana Brown, this film features a look back at the famous filmmaker, his career, his friends, family, and the nexus of surf filmmaking.

The documentary about Bruce Brown reveals details about the man, the husband, the father, and the pioneer filmmaker he was for five decades and features the likes of Hobie Alter, Gerry Lopez, Jack O'Neill, Kenny Roberts, Chad McQueen, Mert Lawwill, and a slew of other notable surf and motto dignitaries. 
"We are excited to be able to offer this fantastic film to our audiences at this unique time of transition," notes Henry C. Lystad, director of operations at Adventure Entertainment. "As we are all starting to carefully and conscientiously re-open for business, 'A Life of Endless Summers' is just the type of uplifting story film that we need now."
"A Life of Endless Summers: The Bruce Brown Story" will be released on digital platforms and select theaters on August 18th. Click here for a preview.

It's the year 1962. Bruce Brown, an ambitious young filmmaker has an idea for a new project - The Endless Summer. 
The concept: Follow the summer season around the world with two surfers on a quest for the perfect wave. As it turned out, Bruce was on to something. Not only did the film become a hit, it earned a cult following, became the most successful surf film of all time and arguably made him the founding father of action sports films. 
Directed by second generation, award winning and documentarian filmmaker Dana Brown his projects have included such titles as Endless Summer 2, Step Into Liquid, Dust to Glory, Highwater, On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter and Dust 2 Glory.
A Life of Endless Summers is the story of a man, a father, a husband, a filmmaker, a pioneer, a legend.

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Six weeks after first announcing the tour’s postponement, World Surf League CEO Erik Logan provided another detailed message, letting fans know that competitive surfing has been put on hold until at least June 1 while officially postponing the Oi Rio Pro in hopes of running it later in that month. “Where and when we will run this year is still very much an open question,” he said. “But we will continue to work with governments, world health authorities, and our local communities on returning to the lineup.”

Logan also announced that 2021 will see big changes to the tour format, ones the WSL was planning to unveil in 2022. “Our pause due to COVID really allowed us to see that now is the time to accelerate these changes,” he said.

​Last year’s final at Pipeline, which saw Italo Ferreira and Gabriel Medina face off in the last heat of the year to decide the world title, was a shot of reality for the WSL – a scenario they’d like to see much more of as the engagement in that event was extremely high thanks to the ramifications. So the League won’t leave that scenario to chance anymore and will use a “regular season” of sorts to decide seedings for the final event of the year, a “surf-off” as they’re calling it, to decide the world title. They’re essentially creating a playoff format similar to other sports leagues to ensure titles are won in the water and at year’s end.