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WAR. TRAUMA. SURFING.

Struggling with trauma and depression after his military service, Iraq war veteran Bobby Lane wanted to cross surfing off his bucket list before taking his life.

Resurface tells Bobby’s story and explores the question: How can surfing change the lives of military veterans? More and more research has demonstrated the healing effects of surfing on the brain and body. Organizations like the Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation, Operation Surf and Surf Action are now acting on this research, turning to ocean therapy to help active duty Marines and vets cope with physical and mental trauma.

Resurface focuses on these vets and how surfing and the ocean are helping them heal.

Scott Stillman  – PRODUCER

Scott Stillman produced and edited Two Hours to Tyler, a documentary on the juvenile death penalty that screened at film festivals and aired nationally on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network.  Scott also spent two years working in the production department at GMMB, a national political-media consulting firm headquartered in Washington, DC.

Josh Izenberg – Co-DIRECTOR

Josh Izenberg is a documentary film director based in San Francisco. His 2013 film, SLOMO was the recipient of the International Documentary Association award for Best Short Documentary, as well as notable awards from SXSW, Sheffield/Docfest and AFI/Docs, ultimately premiering as a New York Times Op-Doc. He’s currently a documentary film resident at the San Francisco Film Society’s Film House.

Local surfer Van Curaza and his non-profit Operation Surf, a surf therapy retreat to help veterans deal with PTSD, are featured in an upcoming documentary titled “Resurface” that will be screened at the SLO Film Fest. 

Wynn Padula – C0-DIRECTOR and CO-DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Wynn Padula is both a film director and a cinematographer.  He has directed and shot many TV episodes, documentaries, commercials and branded content videos for clients ranging from Adobe to HBO. Wynn Padula is well known for his work on the film SLOMO, which was shortlisted for an Oscar. Wynn received his M.F.A. in Directing and Cinematography from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, where he had the opportunity to learn from Francis Ford Coppola, Roger Deakins and Janusz Kaminski. Later Wynn worked in Story Development for Roger Corman as well as becoming a filmmaking professor at UNC Chapel Hill.

Owen Bissell – DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY and CO-PRODUCER

Over the past decade and a half Owen Bissell’s interests as a cinematographer have focused on scientific and natural history subject matter. His work can be seen on National Geographic, the BBC, PBS and Smithsonian, with commercial clients from Eddie Bauer to Williams-Sonoma. Owen started surfing in Northern California 25 years ago and considers it a foundational pursuit of his adult life.

Traci Loth – EDITOR

Traci is an award-winning producer/editor with over a decade of experience in documentary and commercial work for television and film.  Recent projects include PROTECT & SERVE, by Jesse Moss for The New Yorker Presents series on Amazon. She edited SLOMO, winner of the SXSW Grand Jury Prize and the International Documentary Association Award for Best Short. Traci produced and edited THE 99ERS for ESPN’s acclaimed Nine for IX series. She also edited for the HBO doc ONE NATION UNDER DOG, and Smithsonian Channel’s AERIAL AMERICA series. Her feature-length documentary work includes RETURN TO DAK TO– a veteran’s personal account of the Vietnam War, and the award-winning ROW HARD NO EXCUSES—about two Americans rowing the world’s toughest race across the Atlantic.  Her corporate clients include Apple, Sony, Nike and Adobe.

Nick Gage – ORIGINAL MUSIC

Nick is a Chicago based Songwriter/multi-instrumentalist. Many of his songs have appeared on NPR through local affiliate WBEZ. 2012 brought about his debut musical HOLY MUSICAL, B@TMAN! with Team StarKid. He is currently music directing at Second City.

Jeremiah Moore – SOUND DESIGNER and RE-RECORDING MIXER

Sound designer, mixer and sound artist Jeremiah Moore is known for his sensitive and listening-centered approach to sound production. His work has appeared in documentary films Miracle In A Box, Key of G, feature film Cherish, theater productions Merchant of Auschwitz (Denver Drama Critics Circle award for best sound design), permanent museum exhibits Prehistoric Journey at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Detention Barracks at the Angel Island Immigration Station Museum, and various art gallery installations. He has collaborated with filmmakers John Korty, Ellen Bruno, and Felicia Lowe, artist Su-Chen Hung, jazz trumpeter Derek Banach, and radio producers The Kitchen Sisters. He has created sound design for many commercial clients such as Nike, Microsoft, Toyota, Palm, AMD, SEGA, Levis, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, and Disney. He currently serves as co-chair of Bay Area Sound Ecology (BASE), organizing BASEbot listening salons, public soundwalks and other projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. BASE is the Bay Area chapter of the World Forum on Acoustic Ecology (WFAE).

FULL CREDITS

Additional Editing: Stefanie Watkins

Additional Camerawork: Andy Quinn, Zachary Hill, Steve Byrne

Additional Location Sound Recording: Shawn Doyle

Sound Designer, Re-Recording Mixer: Jeremiah Moore

Dialogue Editor: Tanvi Phadke

Assistant Sound Effects Editor: Tanvi Phadke

Color Correction: Robert Arnold

Visual Effects:  Mike Williams, Conor Grebel, Stormy Pyeatte, and Peter Clark

Title Animation: Iban Goiatxe and Garrett Eaton

Musical Arrangement, Scoring, and Mixing: Nick Gage and Scott Lamps

Production Assistant and Film Title Ideation: Steve Agnos

Transcriptions: Thais LaVacque

Archival Footage Courtesy Of Rob Brodman and Owen Morris

Featuring: Bobby Lane, Liz Lane, Van Curaza, Carly Rogers, Martin Pollock, Mike Shirley, Wayne Scott, Eugene Winters, Dr. Wallace “J.” Nichols, Russell Crawford, Dr. John Straznickas, Dr. Kristine Burkman

The Filmmakers Are Grateful To: Operation Surf, The Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation, Nancy, Jim, and Jeff Miller, Amanda Curaza, Aquatech, Owen Morris, Rob Brodman, Eric Alexander-Hughes, and John Davidson.

Associate Producers: David Roth, Jerry Anderson, Richard Morris, Nick Dunn & Suzanna Bapst-Dunn, McGuinn, Hillsman & Palefsky, Don Stillman & Judy Scott, The Greer-Solien Fund

We also received invaluable help from so many others, including our generous, numerous Kickstarter backers. Thanks for helping us make this film.