To tie in with the release of Waveriders in the USA, I was invited as the film’s writer, along with Gabe (who stars in the movie) and the Director, Joel to attend surf night at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, where Waveriders was the headline movie. Two weeks in the California sunshine, a green carpet premiere, meetings in Hollywood and many occasions to dress up in my new Quiksilver Women outfits - how could I say no….?!

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Gabe and I flew out a week early to LA to make the most of the occasion. We spent a few days with our great friend Pat O’Connell in Laguna, surfing Trestles daily with a very friendly pod of dolphins and a fun day with Jaws at Universal Studios (in the name of movie research of course!)

We then travelled north to reach San Luis Obispo, which is in the heart of the Californian wine region, in perfect time for the St Patrick’s Day party and wine tasting. Our film is set largely in Ireland so we were the party’s special guests. I wore this season’s stunning Emmanuelle dress in platinum, teaming it with the tuxedo style jacket from the winter collection. The vertical ivory piping on the centre back of the jacket matches the black piping on the back of the dress, which I thought was a very clever detail tying the two collections together.

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St Patrick’s Day is a huge occasion in the USA. So much so that drinking in San Luis began at 6am. We joined in late in the day with the wine tasting but we let the Irish side down when it came to achieving complete intoxication! The local wines were great but we had to be sensible as we had work to do.

The following day we had a live radio interview about the festival and lunch with the festival organisers, sponsors and Dana Cummings who runs Ampsurf. This is an inspirational organisation encouraging amputees to take up surfing through their surf clinics. Ampsurf were sharing our premiere night and, after meeting Dana who is himself an amputee, and watching their emotional film depicting what they achieve at their clinics, I was delighted part of the proceeds of the Waveriders evening were being donated to Ampsurf. I hoped the promotion would further help their cause that literally changes lives.

I was as nervous for surf night as I was for the first ever screening of Waveriders. Every audience is different in their reaction and one never knows how many people will turn up. The festival is a great event, however and the passionate organisers Wendy and Tim Eidson assured us the night would be a great success. I chose the Quiksilver Women maxi dress, the style of which matched the colours of the interior of the 1940s Fremont Theatre where the film was being shown. Because I am only 5’3”, I wore some very high heels and prayed I wouldn’t trip up when I had to go on stage for the Q&A session!

We were picked up in a vintage woody surf car, which really befitted the occasion and a very Irish green carpet greeted us at the door of the theatre, as did (thankfully) a queue of cinemagoers stretching down the street and around the corner! Peter Mel and Kalani Robb joined us as special guests with Peter acting as MC for the Q&A. He was a fantastic host and knew all the questions to ask Gabe about big wave surfing, being a big wave legend himself. We ate popcorn, we watched the film, we held our breaths at the end, the crowd erupted and I didn’t fall over as we took to the stage! It was a fantastic evening and one I hope to repeat with future films.

 

When I found out my Irish film Waveriders (written by me and directed by Joel Conroy) was nominated in the final five for the best documentary at the SURFER POLL AWARDS in LA, I thought it might be a fun trip to fly over and simply soak up the atmosphere.  The awards are the Oscars of the surfing world; a night when the Who’s Who of surfing come together in their glad rags to celebrate the past year and party together.  Gabe was also nominated in the Heavy Water category for big waves, which is a huge accolade for a European surfer so we thought, let’s go and at least have a chance to dress up and party with our friends.  Never in a million years did we think we would have to take to the stage in front of surfing royalty to accept the award.

 

I chose the Quiksilver Women NYC dress for the night.  Silk, double layered and floaty, it is so easy to wear and effortlessly glamorous.  I teamed it with the tuxedo jacket, which Marta had given me hot off a fashion shoot the day I left France.  Sleeves rolled up, high shoes on, camera in my bag, I was ready to take pictures of all the winners!

 

The event really is fantastic.  A red carpet greets the surfers at the door of the huge venue, which is lit up like the Disney fantasyland castle.  The Top 44 and the industry bigwigs have never looked so smart and the girls go all out on the glamour.  A few commented on my outfit with Californian enthusiasm – ‘Oh my God, girl, that is so cute!’ – ‘I love your outfit, it’s fly/fresh/hot (and other great American compliments)!’  Buzzing, I took my seat at a table of our lovely friends, next to Kelly, making sure he had space to slip out and accept his number one surfer award.

 

The other films up for best doc were ‘One Track Mind’, ‘Fly in the Champagne’, ‘Echo Beach’ and ‘Musica Surfica’.  Commentators on Fuel TV called it the toughest year yet.  Benji Weatherley announced the winner while Gabe and I predicted one of the others.  When Benji said, ‘This film comes from the country with the best pint in the world…’ everything seemed to go into slow mo.  Gabe gasped, Kelly looked at me speechless and our whole table slowly erupted.  Flapping with excitement, I basically threw my camera at Kelly and said, ‘Take pictures!’  He very kindly did.

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Pat O’Connell bounced into the aisle to hug us as we were staying with him, I gave a speech thanking the surfers in the movie – Gabe, Richie, Kelly, the Malloys and Kevin Naughton – and Gabe thanked Quiksilver. 

 

We were then squirreled away backstage for Fuel TV and photos where everybody was thrilled for us.  I think I was hugged by everyone in the surfing world!  The event was everything we could have imagined.  When I first wrote the treatment for Waveriders in 2001, I never thought 8 years on we would have won several film festivals, an Irish Oscar and now the Surfer Poll.   I still haven’t stopped smiling! 

 

 

 

Last weekend, Newquay in Cornwall played host to the surf and music festival the Relentless Boardmasters and I was there to premiere the new Kelly Slater film CLOUD 9.  Rather unusually for the UK, sun split the clouds on the day of the screening and thousands of people flocked to the beach to enjoy the surfing, the entertainment and of course the beer tents!

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On the morning of the premiere, Gabe and I decided to double-check the technical aspects of the screening in advance of hundreds of people turning up at 5pm.  It was just as well we did, as the first problem we encountered was a distinct lack of a DVD player to play the film on!  Having tracked one down, we then faced the issue of the screen being too light for a daytime screening.  With the premiere hour fast approaching, it looked very likely that fans would either be watching a faint outline of Kelly or that I would have to read the script aloud and act the film out myself!

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However, despite the pressure of the clock ticking, with the technical team on side and with Gabe running between autograph signings and the venue, we all pulled the event together with minutes to spare.  I had a few minutes to change into my Quiksilver Women T-shirt dress (Ian) in a shimmering gold beige that was perfect for the night.  The crowd poured in, I gathered my breath and I jumped on the stage to present the film.  Action!  The projector whirred and there on the screen was the film I have been working on with Director Nicolas Dazet for the past year.  To the public, it was a seamless premiere.  It just goes to show one never knows the chaos going on behind the scenes.

 

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I was happy to hear a huge cheer as the final credits rolled and it was then time for Ben Howard to play us into the night.  His music was fantastic as ever, the crowd sang along and he brought a tear to my eye by dedicating the film’s title track CLOUD 9 to me.  After he had played, Ben, Gabe, Ben’s manager Owain and I could finally relax and enjoy the party. 

 

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Two days later, I dressed in a Quiksilver Women rock graphic T (East Village) with a denim mini to attend the final day of the music festival.  There really is an outfit for every occasion in the collection.  Joined by beautiful British actress, Emma Pierson, who has just joined the Quiksilver Women team we watched Ben, his drummer Fabian and cellist India, play to thousands from the giant stage in Watergate, prior to jetting off to tour America with Jason Mraz.  For me, it’s back to work on a new book and a new script.   

 

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CLOUD 9 continues to tour and will be shown on TV before long.  Stay tuned to quiksilver-europe.com for details.

 

 

This week I went back to my roots; rather muddy, grassy roots at the Grass Roots Music Festival on the island of Jersey. As with most British music festivals, the success of the event is inevitably weather-dependent and, of course, having enjoyed a week of sunshine, the Jersey festival-goers awoke to torrential rain and rivers of mud. However, we were determined to enjoy ourselves after travelling an entire day from France and, with Quiksilver musicians Ben Howard and Charlotte O’Connor on the Bill, along with one of my favourite singers, mellow chart-topper, Newton Faulkner, we were promised a fantastic day of entertainment.

So I wrapped up warm in my new Quiksilver Women Fall 09 sweater dress (These Days), leggings and quilted Wellie boots and my dog, Coco even donned her yellow raincoat (she is waiting for the day Quiksilver make her a wardrobe!) We trooped through the mud along with the two thousand other Wellie-booted festival goers.

I had stopped in Jersey en route to the premiere of my new Quiksilver-produced film KELLY SLATER – CLOUD 9 (written by me and directed by Nicolas Dazet).

The film premieres in Newquay, Cornwall at the Boardmasters on Thursday at 5pm. The first British audience will be treated to 52 minutes of spectacular (of course!) action footage of the world’s best surfer along with revealing interviews with Kelly, Tony Hawk, Mick Fanning, Dane Reynolds and others. While writing the film, I asked Ben Howard if he would write a title track, hoping he would not feel pressured to be suddenly inspired. Within a short space of time, Ben returned with a beautiful song that perfectly compliments the film. He is a talented singer, guitarist and songwriter and watching him on the big stage at Grass Roots, I could see how far he has come in the last year. He wowed the audience in his Quiksilver T-shirt, jeans and Wellies, as did sassy Charlotte. Delightfully muddy, we then all danced along to Newton Faulkner, Coco included. Not even torrential rain could dampen our spirits.

Next stop, Newquay for the CLOUD 9 premiere and a beach session with Ben Howard.

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CLOUD 9 premieres in the UK at the Fistral Beach Bar, NEWQUAY this THURSDAY 6^th AUGUST 5pm. For details go to www.quiksilver-europe.com

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Lauren Davies

Deadlines can be stressful but a fantastic event awaited myself and CLOUD 9 film Director, Nicolas Dazet, if we managed to complete the new Quiksilver Kelly Slater film in time for the San Sebastian Surf Film Festibal.

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We worked every hour of the day and night in the weeks leading up to the festival and there were some tense moments as we edited to the required 52 minutes, inserted graphics, spell-checked, had music rights approved, sent the script off to be subtitled and locked 4-times world champion, Mark Richards, in the sound studio with us to narrate the film from beginning to end.  There were times when we doubted we would have the film ready but we buoyed up each other’s spirits and thanks to a fantastic team effort, as the planned world premiere drew near, all I had left to write was the credits and ‘THE END’!

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San Sebastian is a wonderful city and the locals really know how to have a good time.  The Festibal, run by the hugely energetic, Sancho and his crew, is held in the Teatro Principal in the centre of the old town, which has a regal, antique decor and a real buzz when the crowd filter in from the nearby bars.  I was there on Thursday night for a screening of my Irish film ‘Waveriders’ so I had two excuses to dress up in two of the most gorgeous silk dresses in the Quiksilver Women collection.  When you have films, technicalities and guests to think about, it really helps to have dresses that you can throw on without too much effort and feel instantly relaxed and ready to stand on the stage and present the film in Spanish!

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The World Premiere of CLOUD 9 was a real success.  Daz and I both gave a speech and we were joined by Basque local Quiksilver surfer, Aritz Aranburu, whom the crowd obviously adored.  The film follows Kelly behind the scenes as he aims for his ninth world title, while the likes of Tony Hawk, Dane Reynolds and Jeff Hakman give their views on the world’s best surfer.  Kelly could not be with us on the night but he was with us in spirit as the audience gazed in awe at some amazing action footage.  Many commented how they felt they had grown to know Kelly during the film.  The soundtrack includes Quiksilver sponsored young musician, Ben Howard, who wrote the track ‘Cloud 9′ especially for the film and I could hear some of the crowd humming as we left after the final credits rolled.

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With the job done, we could finally relax and enjoy the local pintxos and a glass (or 2) of Rioja.  Thanks to the Festibal and to everyone, friends, family, Gabe, Marta, Peyo and all who came to support our night.

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Muchas gracias, me encanta Donostia!

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Look out for screening times of CLOUD 9, which will now be released around Europe.  Times and venues are on the main Quiksilver site.