Breaking Even.
Another week, another grassroots boogin’ film! This one comes from the talented Sackchat crew who’ll be debuting their first full length film in Cali on December 17th. We caught up with Tanner McDaniel to get the low down on the up coming release.
There seems to be an uptick in locally made, grassroots type films and premiere’s across the boogin’ scene, what was the inspiration for the release of ” Breaking Even”?
It’s awesome to see! Community based events are such a vital part of the scene and it’s so good to see them getting a much needed revival. Boogie Boarding at its core is about having good times with good friends and that is what we’re shooting to represent with this project.
The Sackchat crew have released mainly sub- 5 minute clips up until this point, what was behind the decision to make a longer movie?
Craig and I have had the idea of doing something like this in the past. After we started to stack some footage from the first few Wedge swells this past summer it didn’t feel right to just throw it on YouTube and that be it. While we didn’t have a clear game plan for what we would use the footage for at the time, we felt it was good enough content that it should be saved for something larger scale. The goal was to put together something that will stoke the fire locally. If people worldwide enjoy it then that’s an added bonus.
Is there a story behind the name of the film?
Funnily enough there is. Originally we had planned to title it something pertaining to 1 year, since that’s the time frame it was shot in. We all threw out ideas but we couldn’t quite find one that everyone was really 100% stoked on. While we were having this discussion, we were also working on booking a venue to premier the movie and discussing the costs of that. We worked out how many tickets we needed to sell to break even on the cost of the venue. I chimed in on the group chat “Breaking Even is also a great movie title” and then bam we had a name for it. I think the name is a pretty good representation of where the sport is at as well. No one is in this for massive fortune or fame. Just people doing something they’re passionate about and if you’re “Breaking Evening” in your pursuits in this industry then you’re winning.
Where can we expect to see footage from?
A large portion of the movie is filmed in Southern California, but it also features footage from Hawaii, Mexico, and the Canaries. The California footage is, in my eyes, the best stuff that we have gotten over the years so I’m very excited for people to see it.
Aside from the main Sackchat crew, will there be any other riders featured?
We have a few of Southern California’s finest up and coming riders featured in the film. Evan McMillan, Scotty Plowden, and Lincoln Presley were the local standouts at Wedge this year so they’ve got some pretty sick clips in there.
What does success look like for the film? Big audience numbers?, A financial windfall or just to stoke out the boogin’ community?
Our goal is just to stoke out the community. If the film gets people amped to get out in the water and boog then we will consider it a complete success. It’s our way of trying to give back to the community that has given us so much. While it would be great if we could make a profit to help fund further projects, we are more than happy to just “Break Even” 😉
Any other shout outs or thanks you’d like to include feel free here!
This whole project would never have happened without all of the filmers who contributed. So on behalf of Sackchat I have to thank everyone who contributed even just a single clip. The boys over at Riptide Mag have come on board to help us out as well so a huge thank you to them.
I’ve got to give a huge nod to Craig Whetter for the countless hours he spent working on this. He was the driving force behind it and really carried the film across the finish line. He should be quite proud of how it has turned out.
