The story behind THIS Kelly Slater vid – Talking with Morgan Maassen

If you haven't seen this YouTube vid of Kelly Slater saying “Hello, Rincon”, you should. We tracked down the dude who made it, and he just so happens to be Santa Barbara local, Morgan Maassen. What's more, and more important, is that this surf filmmaker is only 18 years old, and already creating some pretty amazing surfing videos. Morgan Maassen is the real deal. We recently caught up with Morgan to find out more about how Slater knocked the logger down…

DailyStoke: So I’m surfing around, and I stumble upon one of the best vids of Kelly Slater’s surfing style. It’s a video entitled “Kelly Slater Ripin’ Rincon.” Yes, indeed. So how does one happen upon Kelly Slater surfing at Rincon, and shoot a vid of it?

Morgan Maassen: I was down at Rincon surfing, when his holiness showed up- my friends and I were floored. I changed and sprinted back to the car to grab my camera and tripod in literally a minute. As I got back down to the cove he was picking a board from his Channel Islands demo quiver, with no other filmmakers around! I was in heaven!

DailyStoke.com: Has Kelly Slater seen your vid?

Morgan Maassen: About two weeks after I posted the clip, a close friend of mine went to the Channel Islands factory (and headquarters). When in the office he saw Kelly and the mythical Trav Lee (Kelly’s manager) watching the clip, studying his surfing and laughing about his “bump”.

DailyStoke.com: How did you not stop filming and laugh your ass off where at 1:38, Slater knocks a logger off his board? (Was that Shaun Tomson? I could’ve swore it was Shaun Tomson.)

Morgan Maassen: When my friends and I watched it happen live, we weren’t laughing; we were left speechless. It happened so quickly, and was so fluid, subtle, and well-executed, that our jaws dropped. Upon further (and countless) reviews, we’ve spent a good amount of time laughing at his handling of the surfer. Believe it or not, that guy snaked Kelly (as Slater was two sections behind, but caught up anyways)….

DailyStoke.com: You’ve also got a pretty sweet vid of Tom Curren at Sandspit. So, who is the master, Slater or Curren? Or is it the Dolphins in your flick, Fine Tea?

Morgan Maassen: I view both as masters, for different reasons. No one has gone through the evolution, seen the changes, perfected the moves, or reigned over the industry and media like Slater has. But Curren is a timeless master of water. Watching him surf (anything) is always indescribably beautiful.

DailyStoke.com: Our readers will be surprised to know you’re 18. That’s pretty sick. Are you really 18, or are you 32 with a beer belly?

Morgan Maassen: HA! I’m actually a 47 year old Software Engineer from Palo Alto. Several years ago I quit my job, divorced my trophy wife, sold my valley home, bought a video camera, and never looked back. I claim I’m 18 so people will pay attention to my stuff.

DailyStoke.com: How did you get so good at filmmaking, so quickly?

Morgan Maassen: I love surfing and music… I don’t know? I draw a lot of inspiration from Chad Campbell’s “5th Symphony Document”, that film taught me so much. I just play around, pretty soon I will be able to start taking filmmaking classes.

DailyStoke.com: What do you shoot with? What do you wish you shot with?

Morgan Maassen: I use a Canon XH-A1 hdv camera, Del Mar waterhousing, and an assortment of fisheyes/telephoto adapters. I have an army of ancient Super8 cameras from ebay, but I rarely use the same one for more than 5 rolls of film as they always break! Finally, I own a 16mm Bolex HBM with 10, 20, 50 and 75mm lenses, but I have yet to find the money to film even a 5 minute clip on it. Basically I wish I could shoot with my 16mm Bolex…. Soon. I can’t wait for Red to ship the Scarlet camera, I’m ordering one with a Nikon mount the day they ship.

DailyStoke.com: It seems like you’re a pretty creative and passionate filmmaker. What are your plans for the next couple of years? Film school? Filmmaking? College chicks?

Morgan Maassen: I am going to college at the moment, with no major in mind. I’m entertaining the idea of filmmaking, photography, or art, but the more I try to decide, the more confused I become. I just want to travel, and practice all three of my passions.

DailyStoke.com: What’s the best surf film you’ve recently seen, other than one you’ve produced?

Morgan Maassen: The more surf films I see, the more I respect and love I gain for Chad Campbell’s older “5th Symphony Document.” It’s seriously perfect. Other than that, Globe’s “Secret Machine” has mind-blowing water cinematography; that knocked my socks off. 5’5” x 19” 1/4 redux has some killer footage. The first half of “One California Day” was great.

DailyStoke.com: What do you think is missing from surf films these days, and what are you going to do about it? Or is that your secret recipe?

Morgan Maassen: A good balance of music, lifestyle, and performance surfing is very hard to come by. Surf movies are too specialized; i.e. trashers (“Stranger than fiction”) or art projects (“Sprout”). Up until now I’ve only made fun vignettes as I’ve been so committed to surfing, working, and school, but in January I started a massive, funded film project which will hopefully be just the right combination… more soon….

We'll be keeping an eye on what Morgan Maassen has got up his sleeve.

Check out more from him at Bogus Media, his company's website, and you can view more really well done short films, here.