Tom Blake had a motto: Nature=God," says filmmaker Jack McCoy. "Everywhere I look, the land, the sea, and the sky, I see pictures and movies that bubble the juices." Photo: Tim-McKenna.com
Tom Blake had a motto: Nature=God. Everywhere I look – the land, the sea, and the sky – I see pictures and movies that bubble the juices. The challenge is how to tell the story, and for me the hardest part is starting. Once you start to lay the images, music and words down on your timeline, the rest follows. You can always go back and change it if it’s not working, but for me, getting started is the biggest hurdle. The other source of inspiration is to not make the same film twice. Once you’ve made a certain type of film, move on to a new challenge, keep the faith, and hang on for one crazy ride.
A Deeper Shade of Blue was inspired by Blue Horizon. My objective was to show where surfing was at the turn of the century. For this film, I wanted to go deeper, (pardon the pun), and share what I’d lived as a kid growing up in Hawaii. I wanted to share stories about surfing’s roots, about being a waterman, about the evolution of surfboards, and about the loving and giving creed of Aloha.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve really focused on living aloha, and I’m humbled to be able to share what I’ve lived with others through this film. I keep rewinding in my mind’s vision library the day I met the Duke, his giant hand, and his big smile as I finally had the nerve to look up at him and into his eyes. I’ve had that moment with a lot of my indigenous brothers all over the world. My good friends Derek Hynd and Garth Murphy have the same spirit within them, and this film has kept us all super excited and stoked through all the ups and downs of this almost-five-year effort. Some days we’d go nuts over a new discovery and tell each other how much we enjoyed what we are doing. Even though a lot of you will know the story of ADSOB, there are millions of surfers out there who don’t and everyone comes away saying they were entertained and had learned something. A friend told me that if you get just one person to take away some sort of inspiring feeling from watching your film, then you’ve been successful. I really feel blessed having made 25 films, each one a period of time that I return to when I watch them years later. For those who have shared them with me, I thank you for sharing and watching.
Now the film is finished, and we’re in the process of finding a distributor. We are off to a good start with our acceptance to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Hopefully, a distributor will pick it up and it will be in theatres ASAP. If we don’t find a distributor, then you may miss out on seeing the film on the BIG SCREEN, how it we intended it to be seen. However, if you want to make sure to see it BIG and be the first to experience it, please join us at the SBIFF on Feb 1, 2011 at the Arlington Theatre. Tickets are available at sbiff.org or thearlingtontheatre.com. Thanks to all.
With aloha,
Jack
View the film’s latest trailer below:
