Xtreme Degreez Sports Magazine

BoardRoom featuring the legends of early surfboard shaping starts filming in Hawaii.

BoardRoom – Legends of Surfboard Shaping is currently filming in the Hawaiian Islands and is expected for a summer 2010 release. BoardRoom is a feature length documentary by German director Markus Davids, SOC, featuring the legends of early surfboard shaping.

A special group of innovative and progressive surfboard manufacturers were looking for a better way to build lighter surfboards, when the common surfboard weighed in at more than 50 pounds. With the invention of polyurethane during the 2nd World War, it became a popular and accessible material for this generation of surfboard shapers who had been using redwood and balsa wood.

The evolution of the surfboard and materials was at hand and surfing was never the same. This pivotal era was hallmarked by surf movies like “Gidget” and “The Endless Summer” which took surfing to mainstream America.  In combination of changing attitudes towards surfing and the evolution of the surfboard, a group of a few thousand surfers erupted in to millions over night.

Director Davids takes us back in time to the early pioneers of modern day surfboard shaping; craftsman and visionary Hobie Alter teamed up with Gordon Clark, and revolutionized the foam materials used for the next half century. His movie features legends in their own right such as Greg Noll (Riding Giants), Hap Jacobs, Donald Takayama, Larry Gordon (Gordon & Smith), Robert August (The Endless Summer), Dick Brewer, Terry Martin (Hobie), and the list goes on and on.

Filming commenced on O’ahu with Harold Iggy, who has had a tremendous influence on surfboard designs, windsurfing boards and Stand Up Paddle boards. “During our interviews we not only dig deep into surfboard history but we also touch on Harold’s influence on modern board design,” Davids said.

Shapers are being interviewed including Dick Brewer, Donald Takayama, Bing Copeland, Hap Jacobs, Mike Hynson and Rich Harbour.

BoardRoom – Legends of Surfboard Shaping Trailer 2

In times when most credit and fame goes to the surfers who ride the boards, BoardRoom pays homage to the men who created the boards and also shaped this industry.

Assisted by cinematographer, Robert Jax,  producer Robert Bell, and helmed by his production company CineBags in collaboration with Five6 Productions, Davids has been traveling up and down the west coast of California, and the Hawaiian Islands, capturing the true legends of their craft.

More info can be found on www.boardroomthemovie.com our the movies Facebook page.

BoardRoom is scheduled for a festival release in the summer of 2010 followed by a DVD release in the fall.