To say that Tin Ojeda’s latest film project, Expencive Porno Movie, was the most anticipated NY surf film project of the summer would be an understatement. The buzz for the film was so big that some of the biggest names in West Coast surfing flew in for the sold-out premiere. Later, they stood, linking arms to be photographed together in front of the theater—one of NYC’s most venerated houses, known for showing art house flicks. It seemed a fitting location and a fitting scene: the movie is a perfect blend of kick ass surfing and artistic interludes, all set to an organ and base-heavy 70s score. Here Ojeda speaks with film promoter and producer Tyler Breuer about happy accidents, his love of West Coast surfers and his obsession with his finless board. Scroll to the end for an added treat: an exclusive outtake from the film, featuring Alex Knost.
Tyler Breuer: So the first question on my mind, honestly, is why make a surf movie? What did you think you were contributing to the surf film genre?
Tin Ojeda: Why? Well, first because I love surfing and I love film. I wanted to capture a moment in time with all these people. What am I contributing? I wanted to do something different. I’m really tired of the surf movies that are out there and I wanted to do something more artistic.
TB: You had a very distinct theme with the film. You titled it Expensive Porno Movie but it’s even more 70s than that. It had a very Blaxploitation movie feel to it. And the promotional artwork you use for it borrowed heavily from ’70s era albums covers. Can you talk about your inspiration?
TO: I’ve always been a really huge fan of those types of films—Sexploitation films, Blaxploitation films—a lot of shit. I’ve spent a lot of time on YouTube watching them and looking at old ads and trailers. I was like, ‘Fuck, I want to do a movie like that..” but I didn’t want to do something with a script. So I thought maybe I could put the elements I liked from those films into a surf film. I actually watched a lot of those movies while I was making the film. I was looking at the colors, to try to match the colors I saw in those films. There’s a lot of saturated yellow in them. And I was paying attention to the sounds. In my movie, there are really bad sound effects and they are not matching like they have in those old movies. It’s so bad. But I love it.
I was also influenced by Hollywood directors like Tarantino and a few other people I like who have experimented with that whole 70s feel in recent films. I’m totally impressed by their film making techniques.
TB: Did you study film at all? Did you go to school for it?
TO: No. I just always did it and learned by mistakes. I guess that was my schooling. I also learned a lot on online forums and from YouTube videos. These days I think if you’re really smart you can learn by yourself. But I definitely got help from other people—photographers and filmmakers who spent a lot of time on the phone with me answering questions.
TB: Who were you talking to?
TO: When I was in my photography phase, I was talking to everyone—from [my wife] Lisa Spellman to Collier Schorr and to people like Rob Kulisek. They all taught me so much about photography. For film… I cite Bill Jones. He worked with the DP and then the DP would tell me stuff. And I would call labs and ask questions. But again, it was a lot of trial and error.
For instance, when I was doing this movie I had no idea what the fuck I was going to get on screen. I just bought film and I shot one roll and I developed it and I looked at it in the light and I was like, ‘This looks good’. I took a photo with my iPhone, inverted it and I was like, ‘This looks good.’ Then I shot 380 more rolls after that and developed them all. I had no idea how it was going to look or anything. It was a total experiment.
TB: Why shoot film as opposed to digital?
TO: With film, you have all these variables: dust, the grain, color balance, the latitude, different ISOs and stocks. I never know what I’m going to get. It’s like opening a new present every time I get something back from the lab which keeps it really exciting. You can get the same look with digital but you have to work a lot with filters and I feel like then it feels fake.
TB: Do you think that knowing you were going to have mistakes and accidents made the creative process more challenging or interesting for yourself?
TO: Yes. The mistakes—the light leaks and all the stuff that came out weird—that’s what I love most [about the film]. That’s what I was going for. Maybe if I was doing something really professional I would’ve made different choices. I would probably have used digital because it’s more consistent. Unless you have the money to buy fresh stocks and pay people to help you, film is really inconsistent. I was doing it the cheap way, so I knew there would be errors, but I kind of liked it that way.
TB: You live on the East Coast but this was a very West Coast-centric film. Was that a conscious thing or did it happen organically as you were looking for a cast to surf in the film?
TO: A little of both. I’ve always been very into California surfing. It was always so inspiring for me. So, I always wanted to do something on the west coast and but this particular project happened naturally. I went there and I met a lot of people from there that wanted to film with me. There are the most stylish surfers out there for sure. Here I feel like it’s more like the short board scene and it’s a little harder to find people. Also the waves were just so good there. There are good waves here too but…it’s harder and it was frustrating. Here, either the barrels would close out or we were too late for the swell. I didn’t want to shoot in winter because then everyone’s in a full suit and I wanted it to have more of a summer feel. And I didn’t want to travel the world because I don’t have that kind of money.
TB: When you film these guys are you asking them to ride a certain board? Or is it more free form and they’re just picking up whatever they have?
TO: For the most part I let them do what they want. I don’t like to tell people what to ride or how to surf a wave. But they understand I’m shooting film, it’s not digital. Every time I hit the trigger it’s money, so we had to make sure we were getting some good stuff. Also [the style’s] got to match the movie. So sometimes I would have to say “You need to ride this other board because we need more scenes.” Everybody understood except for Alex [Knost]. I just let him do whatever he wanted because he’s so good at riding anything. With some other guys I was like, ‘Yes, can you ride this,’ or ‘Can you do this or that’? I can be a little bit direct but it all worked out.
TB: Who surprised you the most during filming? Who really impressed you that maybe you weren’t expecting?
TO: I think Alex. He wasn’t even supposed to be in the movie. It just kind of happened. Dane [Peterson] was shaping a board for him and said , ‘Oh, you should film Alex.’ I didn’t even know him at the time. It took a while, but he definitely took the movie to the next level.
TB: What do you think you learned from your first film Daughter that you brought into this film?
TO: A lot. Daughter was my first time on the west coast, so it was very new. We were freaking out about every wave. So from that film I learned wave selection, what to shoot or not, and who to work with.
TB: What’s the next project? Do you have something in mind yet?
TO: Yes. I’m already talking to a whole new cast, reaching out to other people like Danny Fuller and Rob Machado.
We’re going to do a little bit of travel—go to Hawaii maybe and film a little more short board stuff and more gnarly waves, but in the same visual style. For the next movie, I want to do something that it’s not in the States—take four or five trips and then pick up the best waves. I want to shoot less film, but better waves. That’s something I learned from this movie. I was so excited to shoot in the beginning I filmed so much that I didn’t use.
ADDENDUM: FFFF
TB: Can we talk about your RabbitsFoot for a second. I saw you on it the other day and it was crazy. You were the most dynamic person in the water.
TO: The finless?
TB: Derek Hynd would disagree with that term.
TO: Yes, Derek Hynd would disagree. I don’t want to get Derek Hynd pissed. I know he’s going to definitely read this interview—like 100%. He’s actually the guy that inspired me to ride these kinds of boards. I was like, ‘Fuck, that’s how I want to ride—like he does’. There are a lot of people who are riding the Alias and they try to kind of mimic shorter boards on a finless board. But Derek has a totally different approach with his moves. So he is the one who inspired me. I could never get my hands on one of his boards, so my friend Ryan [Lovelace] shaped me one instead and I’ve just been riding that since last summer. I haven’t ridden a board with fins since then.
TB:Wow!
TO: I’m totally in love with it. That’s all I ride. I don’t even go on small days any more, which is kind of bad because I’m missing some surf. I don’t have any desires to ride anything with fins. It’s such a different approach. I tried to ride boards with fins and I was trying to do stuff that I will do with my finless. It’s like you don’t want to go back to the old thing.
TB: That’s really cool.
TO: Some people are saying, ‘Oh, the finless thing—it’s so played out. Everybody is doing it’. I don’t care; I love how it feels. I rode it the other day in like fucking eight foot waves. And it was the best. I had the best time. I was going faster than anybody. I was like, ‘Oh my God’. I was having fun. I’m not trying to hit the lip or anything. I’m just having fun sliding on the wave and drifting and just feeling all these things that I haven’t felt in like ten years of surfing. I kind of project what I’m going to do: Am I going to turn or do this and that? So much depends on where you end up on the wave. You actually don’t do a cut back. You do a spin but you have to do it in the right part of wave to drift back into the pocket. If you’re too far forward or too in the back you’ll fall. There was a lot to learn. But it’s a very good feeling.
Check out Expencive Porno Movie this Friday, August 22, at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, NY. Starring: Dane Peterson, Kassia Meador, Alex Knost, JJ Wessels, Mikey DeTemple, Trevor Gordon, Kyle Albers, Devon Howard, Justin Adams, Billy Death, Scotty Stopnik and Jared Mell.
