Ben Weiland began his career as a graphic designer. In 2009, he started a cold-water blog called Arctic Surf from his San Diego bedroom dedicated to the online exploration of new waves in the far, cold corners of the earth. Chris Burkard took him under his wing, and he was a key lensman in surf films such as Arc of Aleutia, Cradle of Storms and Under An Arctic Sky. Five years ago Weiland launched Fielder Films with his close collaborator, Brian Davis, and the pair released Island X and The Search for Volcano Island. A new film Return to the Bearing, comes out this month.
Given his decade-long success in making films on some of the least hospitable locations on earth, we asked Ben to outline some of the key tenets of his remarkable journey of adventure, creativity and surfing.
Filmmaking Is an Experiment
From the start, we’ve approached filmmaking as an experiment. And it’s kind of crazy to think when I first got into making cold-water surf films and going on these exploratory trips, I had no idea where it would lead. But more than a decade later, and five years with Brian, we try to explore new ways of telling a story and expanding our abilities and techniques on how we do it. You build on what has come before, but the goal is learning, exploring and experimenting with the creative process with each film.
Bigger Isn’t Always Deeper
In terms of scale, the goal isn’t to go bigger, but maybe deeper and more meaningful. Making a film is like a very challenging creative process and there’s a lot of it out there now and a lot of the same stories have been told using similar techniques. I want to do something more meaningful and long-lasting that connects with people on a deeper level. More recently, apart from the discovery of waves and surfing, we’ve looked at the characters, culture and history of the places and tried to tell those stories.
Find Your Niche and Dig In
I love these cold places because they tend to involve exploring obscure remote locations that aren’t really in the cultural consciousness. They are areas that many people don’t even know exist. The film The Search for Volcano Island was a boat trip through the Aleutian Islands, and a lot of those islands have not even been documented by drone or camera except for scientific research. I definitely love the landscapes of mountains and cold water, and that kind of thing, so that’s just a personal preference, but the mystery and exploration are what get me excited. That’s important in driving projects forward.
Ben Weiland has built quite a legacy in the last decade. Photo: Brian Davis
The Personal Relationships Matter
This comes back to the meaningful aspect of it, but looking at the people who live in the remote and wild communities has been a great inspiration. You get to connect with people, share meals, spend time and get to know them on a deeper level. I have gone back to that one island half a dozen times and built friendships and relationships over there. And so it’s been cool to get a window into their way of life and share that story.
Pay It Forward
We have shared surfing with these communities. We did surf lessons with the kids, and they fell in love with it. And on that tiny island, they have everything from perfect beginner beachbreaks to world-class surf breaks. You could learn to surf there and then graduate up to the highest levels of surfing. It’s been incredible to open their eyes to what they have on their own island. They had no idea and now with that realization, they’ve fallen in love with the possibility of it.
Find A Sustainable Model
Part of the experiment is seeing how to make these films sustainable, creatively and financially. You’re always riding that line. We’ve had a model of having sponsors and partners come on board, which has covered the sustaining part, which is awesome. I’m not in a place where I’m not worrying about the financial aspect, but that’s an okay space for me, that comes with the territory. It’s counterweighted by loving what I get to do and so I feel so grateful. It doesn’t even seem like a real job. And that’s a godsend.
Add a Tentpole
Working with Chris Burkard opened my eyes to see how cool it is to be able to gather people, share a story and connect on a more intimate level. Getting out there and sharing the stories is important. So many films and videos go straight online and can get lost in the void of the scroll. So there’s something rootsy and cultural about putting on a film night and getting people to gather around something that they love. Filmmaking is one of the most important mediums for sharing stories. And if you can turn that experience into a tentpole event out in the real world, it’s gratifying.
