In 2013, Taylor Steele released yet another surf film that was far better than most surf films. It was called Missing, and it had a simple yet interesting premise: take Mick Fanning and his passport and send him all over the world without telling him… anything.
“The whole concept came about because every time you plan a trip, you always expect something,” Mick said. “You always think you’re going to a destination to get these sorts of waves or whatever. Everything is always so scheduled.”
As wonderful as the life of a pro surfer might sound — and surely it is wonderful — it would eventually become a grind. A life of constant travel, constantly packing, unpacking, and repacking. Bouncing from place to place, none of them home. But the grind, one would think, would be tedious because of the strict scheduling. The life of a professional surfer would be one that would be easy to plan, because that event is happening in this window at this wave and that other one is happening in that other window at that other wave. Tedious, if that schedule wasn’t punctuated with perfect waves.
So Steele gave Mick a boarding pass with a blank destination, a surfboard, and a suitcase, and filmed him as he flew off into the wild blue yonder to meet up with John John Florence, Jordy Smith, Matt Wilkinson, and Tom Curren. The result? Unscripted, raw, real life (with some surfing thrown in for good measure) from Africa and Ireland to Central America and Spain. Seven countries in three weeks, and Fanning was surprised by every location.
Steele recently released a 20-minute edit that shows the story behind the story, and as is so often the case, it might be more interesting than the story itself.
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