Logan Dulien is putting the SNAPT series to bed. SNAPT5, which he quietly announced by slyly posting a compilation of Clay Marzo’s cutting-floor clips from Desert Point, will wrap up more than two decades of a legendary film series that’s epitomized surf porn at its best. No frills. No need for a story. No sappy narration trying to make the process of chasing waves sound more important than it needs to be. Just good surfing and good music.
Back around 2000, Logan “Chucky” Dulien pointed a camera at guys like Andy Irons, Mick, and CJ, to name a few, because he sensed these friends sleeping on his couch in Orange County were about to take over. He let their surfing do the talking in his films. And they all did take over. That’s how Snapt was born. It’s commendable then, that over 20 years later his creativity and vision for SNAPT is still aligned with that same idea: let the surfing do the talking.
But while Chucky’s passion hasn’t changed, surfing and the rest of the world have. For example, there was no social media in 2000 and the internet didn’t run the world (or the entire industry) like it does now. So asking a guy like Andy to hold his best clips for a feature film wasn’t the tall order it is today. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when you jump into a conversation with Dulien about why he’s decided to give his legendary film series one last installment.
Gosh it was a few months ago, I think you just teased me with, “Hey, this is the last one.” That was the last we talked, and now it’s here.
I’ve been on the fence, to be honest, about even having this be the last one. And there are a lot of reasons and variables as to why I’m making that call. Some are personal and some are business related. And it just seems like from a business standpoint the surf industry is…it’s in a weird spot at the moment. I’m a fan and supportive of some of the direction that it’s going and I’m not bitter about it. It’s just the evolution of anything. At the end of the day, I made SNAPT (one) almost 25 years ago and it’s changed so much that sometimes you kind of look around and you’re like, “Am I really enjoying this anymore?” As far as surfing goes, I love surfing more now than ever. But as far as you know, social media, I’m not as much of a fan.
I’m wondering if you’re going through this process where you’re like, “I don’t really see a space for Snapt anymore.” There’s the world tour level but there’s also this level of guys just trying to make a living out of professional surfing. What do you think could shake things up in a positive way right now?
With SNAPT, I want everyone just to go out and try and have fun and just nail my shit. Like, let’s end this thing on a really high, good note. But getting back to what you’re saying, it’s so easy for us to complain about the way things are and I think it’s just kind of human nature for us to cherry-pick what we see wrong instead of what’s good. I mean, I don’t know about you but I’m glad that the world tour exists. I watch a majority of heats. I watch every event. I love it and I’ll take the good with the bad and the bad with the good. So I’m not stopping or deciding this is the last SNAPT because I hate where the surf industry is. Do I like certain directions, for instance, like seeing all these brands owned by the same (entity)? I believe competition is healthy. I don’t think getting access to your competitors and controlling your competitors (is healthy). I think it loses some of the fun and takes some of the cool out of watching these brands battle with each other and do cool shit. So they don’t bring out the best in each other anymore. What I’m getting at, I guess, with SNAPT, is I feel like it ran its course. Twenty-five years ago if you told me we’d be having this talk and I’d be saying I’m making my fifth and final movie, I would have laughed and said there’s no way, ‘SNAPT‘s too independent,’ or people don’t even really know what it is. Especially in the beginning. Those first movies, SNAPT one and two, they were these underground movies. I feel like we were at a peak with Taylor Steele, Jack McCoy, you know, Taj was making all his movies…they were all in their prime but Snapt was just this underground surf porn.
And SNAPT rose with Andy’s rise.
Here’s one thing about Snapt that was sick. The year we made Snapt one, he won his first world title. And the year we made Snapt2 he won his second world title. It wasn’t a bad look, not to mention, he was the most badass surfer on the planet. And then (there was) Mick Fanning. The roster was pretty sick, Aaron Cormican and some other guys that weren’t as well known as the Irons brothers or the Hobgoods. It was a special time.
So then before I forget, who’s on the roster for SNAPT5?
Well, with injuries and other stuff that comes up throughout the year, some guys plan on being in the movie but things just don’t end up panning out. So, the only guys that I can say are in the movie right now are the guys I know we have the footage of already. That’s Mason, obviously. It’s some pretty gnarly stuff. Been sitting on some gnarly Jack Robinson stuff that’s still never been seen. And I think fans will be psyched on Parker Coffin. He’s definitely been working hard and has put away some really good stuff. Benji Brand has been working hard. Clay Marzo is sitting on a lot of stuff. And then Taro Watanabe is kind of like the new guy who I’m super, super psyched on. He just went on a trip. So those guys I can say for sure are in.
Speaking of Clay, he’s been traveling a lot. During the last film, I felt like Clay was in hermit mode. You didn’t really see him outside of Maui. And the last couple of years it’s like every time we turn around he’s off doing something. And that’s actually been really cool to watch.
For me, Clay is kind of like the Last Samurai. I think Clay got that reputation that he just wants to sit at home and stay on Maui and do nothing. And we’ve seen over the last couple of years that no, he’s done the Backdoor Shootout, he’s gone over to the Padang Cup, he’s gone over to Indo, Portugal. And not only does he go to Indo, he goes for a fucking month. He knows Maui’s not good in the summertime and he knows Indo fires. So I think he wants to be in Indo at least a couple of months out of the year when it’s shitty on Maui. And then he loves traveling with Mason (Ho). I mean, now when Mason puts out another video part, all these edits, Clay’s in how many of them? And from an entertainment standpoint, I think Mason is the most entertaining regular footer on the planet. And I’d have to say Clay Marzo is the most entertaining goofy footer. Am I saying they’re the best regular footer or goofy footers? No, I’m saying entertainment-wise, as far as their approach to surfing, they’re just so creative.
And Clay is one of those people that gets such a unique reaction from people whenever he walks into a room. I mean, I’ve watched Italo gush over meeting him. I’ve sat at the dinner table and seen how fans come to say hi. It’s different from anybody else. And the really beautiful thing about it is watching how cool and gracious he is… somebody walks up to him and they’re like, ‘Dude, you’re my favorite surfer in the world.’ And he just kind of smiles and happily takes a picture. He’s so chill about everything.
It’s gnarly. There are definitely moments where Clay reminds me a lot of Andy. He has a lot of these gestures and mannerisms and stuff that remind me of him because, back to earlier in the conversation, Clay Marzo is fucking core. And nobody can deny that. There are only a few guys I feel deserve to have that title. It’s just Clay’s approach. Clay’s the surfer’s surfer, you know what I mean? He’s not doing this shit for the ‘Gram. He’s not doing it for follows. He isn’t calling up any media outlet and talking about how rad he is. He doesn’t need to. Because he’s fucking core and he just lets his surfing do the talking for him. And that’s the most badass shit. And I think that gets back to something I don’t like in surfing now: I think these athletes — with social media and stuff — they feel like they have to self-promote and they have to claim everything.
But I know Clay doesn’t want to be rich. He doesn’t want to be wealthy. He just wants to be able to continue to surf. To me, man, we’ve got so many talkers in surfing these days. There are so many vloggers and so many dudes that don’t mind talking about how core they are. Isn’t there a brand out there that just wants a surfer that’s going to just shut up and produce content? What do these brands want? Don’t they actually want some wizard that just does incredible shit on a surfboard? Because surfers are like artists, you know? And Clay’s Picasso. Who cares if he has an in-depth conversation with people? He’s creating incredible fucking art that no one else is making. So my thing is like, there are so many good talkers out there. But how many Clay Marzo’s are out there?
