Chasing The Dream
Directed, Produced & Co-Written by Angelo Mei
Narrated by Gary Busey
Trailer | Photos | Cast | Crew
“If you’re going to be the next Kelly Slater, we’ll let you know.”
Presented by Quiksilver and Metalstorm Entertainment, Chasing The Dream is a candid portrayal of seven Huntington Beach High School kids trying to obtain the impossible – a career in professional surfing.
These kids have dreams of competing on the Association of Surfing Professionals’ World Championship Tour (WCT), which only 44 men in the world qualify for every year and only one of whom claims the most sought after title of all… World Champion.
The teens must steer through the ranks of scholastic surfing while dealing with injuries, overbearing parents, demanding school curriculums and a trip to Australia aimed at separating the ones who surf from the ones who win.
Chasing The Dream features a broad spectrum of professional surfing legends, from the most elite world champions, such as Mark Richards (4x), Kelly Slater (8x) and Tom Carroll (2x), to the child prodigies that have been consumed by the World Championship Tour’s vicious obstacles.
Narrated by none other than The Masochist (Big Wednesday) himself, Gary Busey, Chasing The Dream is a coming-of-age story about kids who will do anything to achieve their dream of becoming a pro surfer.
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Trailer
Narrator Gary Busey
Gary Busey’s intro for Chasing the Dream film
Gary did this monologue in his backyard, hoping it would be the first thing the viewer sees before embarking on the journey of the film. From a directing standpoint, I didn’t think that would work but it was fun additional content for the DVD.
Gary Busey on Chasing the Dream film
After the crew and I waited around for several hours and Gary felt the sun was in the right spot for him to be shot, he delivered this profound monologue discussing his philosophies on life, surfing and the subject matter of Chasing the Dream.
Photos
Cast
Coach Andy Verdone
A formidable ex-football coach turned 25-year surf coach for Huntington Beach High School. Coach Verdone not only understands surfing but the importance of an education for surfers. “If you’re going to be the next Kelly Slater… we’ll let you know”, says Verdone, “but meanwhile stay in school. The best surfer in the world (Kelly Slater) finished high school.” Coach Verdone is known for his disciplinary coaching style and turning out some of the best surfers in the world.
Ian Ekberg-Team Captain
In the words of Coach Verdone, “possibly one of the greatest surfers to ever come out of Huntington.” Comes from deep surfing genes and it shows in his fluid surfing style. A complete natural that has to put very little effort in his surfing to make great contest results and turn a few heads at the same time. If Ian can combine his natural gift with physical training, education and perseverance, he could be the next big thing.
Logan Strook
“The golden child”, as Coach Verdone refers to him, is a straight A honor student and black belt in Karate with strong family values and communication skills. He would love to be a world champion but has dreams of college business degrees if the surfing career does not come to fruition. Director Angelo Mei says, “he will be the youngest surfer to own his own fortune 500 company. I may be asking him for work in the future.” Logan may very well be the first surfer on the World Championship Tour to have completed college.
Kyle Kennelly
Kyle is the smallest kid on the team with the biggest heart. A power surfer that focuses more on the traditional meat and potatoes power moves over flashy modern tail slides and airs. He is a passionate filmmaker that has already produced his own short films with his schoolmates. At 16 years old he asked director Angelo Mei for a job interning at Metalstorm Entertainment. “Anything will be fine to start with”, says Kyle, “as long as I can move up on the ladder eventually”.
AJ Collins
Quiet and more reserved than the others on the team but speaks on a level of maturity most 50 year olds don’t have yet. Can surf any wave from 2 to 20 feet. Has traveled all over the world with his father and brother searching for the best waves on the planet. AJ Understands how hard it is to become a professional surfer and takes school very seriously in case things don’t pan out.
Taylor Pai
Taylor is the class clown of the group, never taking life too seriously. He is always cracking jokes at his own expense. Taylor is the only surfer on the team who hates surfing in contests. Only competes out of pressure from his father, who would like to see him become a professional surfer. Taylor’s desire is to become part of the small group of surfers paid to travel and surf big waves. Taylor excels in big waves and has already made a name for himself surfing giant waves in Hawaii and Fiji.
Matt Mohagen
Has grown up surfing the polluted but occasionally perfect waves of Los Angeles. Matt has made a name for himself in a town that has very little surf industry and where one can easily be sidetracked by life in the fast lane. He is home schooled and has to discipline himself in order to get a proper education. So far that has not been a problem, with a 4.0 grade point average and a strict home school supervisor, Matt has found the balance of surfing and education. Matt is a member of the US National Surf Team. It was this accreditation that inspired Coach Verdone to invite Matt to join the team on the trip to Australia.
Allan Kincade
Allan could very well be the most talented surfer out of the group. Power moves that accompany new school tricks make him versatile in large or small surf. Allan has a winning amateur record that goes back to his days in diapers. He clashes with Coach Verdone more often than any of his teammates. Allan has more potential than any one else on the team but as Coach Verdone says, “potential means you haven’t got it yet.”
Quinn McCrystal
Originally comes from the cold, uncrowded and localized Ventura area only to move to the capital of surf industry, culture and history: Huntington Beach. Is the most determined to go pro of all the kids and has all of the tools to do so; a surfboard shaping father, great waves, natural talent and a support system at home that would rival any child athlete. Stays consistently at the top of the amateur contest ratings but needs to overcome his toughest competitor: himself. He will need to take education more seriously in order to accomplish his dream of being the next world champion because it takes more than athleticism to make it.
Contact Angelo via email for more information.
Crew
Director/Producer/Writer
Angelo Mei, grew up in Los Angeles, where he developed a passion for music, surfing and filmmaking. He attended the Art Institute of LA where he studied all aspects of filmmaking but focused primarily on directing. It is there where he met mentor and soon to be colleague Maggie Carey, who is currently the editor of Chasing the Dream(Quiksilver/Metalstorm ent). It was under her tutelage that he made the documentary short, Film This, a voyeuristic look into the life of a psychopathic surfer. Film This goes into distribution next fall. His short film Howie, a dark comedy about a man in his late 20’s moving back in with his sexually active mother, has already won several awards, and is continuing to make the rounds at various film festivals. His commercial work includes the recent Learn to Surf with Andy Irons(Billabong/Transworld), which he co-wrote and directed, and can be found in surf shops all over the world. Chasing The Dream(Quiksilver/Metalstorm ent), a feature length documentary about what it takes to become a professional surfer, is finally complete and will be released Summer 2007.
Editor/Writer
Maggie Carey, an award-winning filmmaker, began her career with Sun River Homestead, a documentary about women homesteaders in 1910 Montana. Sun River Homestead aired nationally on PBS and won a Regional Emmy. Carey’s comedic documentary Ladyporn, won the South By Southwest Film Festival Audience Award. Carey’s short comedy Dance Club, won the Austin Film Festival Audience Award. Carey’s recent editing credits include NBC’s Emmy- winning daytime reality series Starting Over and the Quiksilver surf documentary Chasing the Dream. Carey works as a crew chief for the Sundance Institute Director’s Lab. Carey also teaches editing at the Art Institute of New York City.
Executive Producer
Josh Williams, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, is a 5th generation Los Angeles native. He first began making amateur films while still in his teens and later became a 2002 graduate of UCSD’s Visual Arts program where he received a B.A. in Film & Video and produced and directed his first award winning film The Rising. He is also a graduate of the New York Film Academy where he completed his first narrative short under the study of Award winning Director David Riker (La Ciudad) titled Brandon, the true story of a child traded away for drugs at a Los Angeles Gas Station. Williams formed the production company, Metalstorm Entertainment Inc.,in June of 2001. Under the Metalstorm Banner, Williams is currently serving as Executive Producer and Producer on several film titles that will be released through out 2007/2008.
Producer
John Philbin is an American character actor who has appeared in television and film throughout a long and successful career. He is also an accomplished surfer and Pro Surf Instructor near Santa Monica, CA. John first began acting in high school, around the same time he began surfing. Choosing acting over wrestling, John joined a drama team that went on to win awards throughout his high school career. Upon leaving High School, John went to UC Santa Barbara and surfed on their surf team. John went on to appear in films such as Stephen King’s, Children of the Corn and Grandview USA. That same year he also appeared in an episode of Steven Speilberg’s Amazing Stories alongside actor Kevin Costner. It was later on that he once again took up surfing when he landed the role of Turtle in the film, North Shore which gave him the chance to act and surf with some of his childhood heroes. His legendary performance on North Shore landed him the role of Nathanial in the film, Point Break opposite Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves and Gary Busey. John has also been in the films, Tombstone opposite Kurt Russel and Val Kilmer, Return of the Living Dead, Dillinger as well as others and has appeared in various television shows including Law and Order. John Philbin currently resides in Pacific Palisades, CA where he teaches professional surfing and continues to appear in films and on television. John has his own instructional video he has released and has also produced a surfing documentary for Quiksilver titled, Chasing The Dream.
Composer
Raney Shockne grew up in Pacific Palisades California – After studying classical music and taking orchestral performance art to Hollywood, filmmakers and tv producers began to place his music – After several years Raney has scored 10 films (which include Timmy Turner’s Ombak and Second Thoughts) and has created and placed over 2000 pieces of music on NBC, CBS, WB, SPIKE TV, MTV, HBO, IFC, and SHOWTIME. Notable credits include Chasing Sunsets, Novel Romance, The Real World, and IFC’s Film School.
Associate Producer/Assistant Editor
David Malcom grew up on the Central Coast of California and has a strong bond with surfing and all things dealing with the ocean. David received a Bachelors Degree with Honors from the Art Institute of California – Los Angeles where he got an education covering all grounds of filmmaking and made a strong connection with director Angelo Mei that was put to the test on Chasing The Dream. “He is to me what Robyn Quivers is to Howard Stern”, says Mei. “A voice of reason for an irrational mind.” David’s short documentary, Underexposed, received a “Best Documentary Award” at the LA Digifest.
