Surfing

Single Fin: Yellow and One California Day - meet Jason Baffa

Normally when surfers make a trip that requires the participating of the airlines, they bring their quiver along with them, packed in board bags wrapped just so, such that airlines like Delta don’t wreck them. In the case of Single Fin: Yellow, a film by Jason Baffa, the board itself did the travel, courtesy of a solid coffin from Santa Monica Hard Case. We interviewed Jason Baffa about his experiences on Single Fin: Yellow and its off-spring, One California Day, which he produced with co-conspirator, Mark Jeremias.

The first question on my mind was where he got the concept for making the board do the work, which is an original concept for a surfing flicks. As Baffa explains: “The concept of one object being the focus of a movie has always interested me, ever since I started my filmmaking as a kid with a Super 8 camera. The board is just as much of the filmmaking craft as the film itself. You see examples of this in ‘The Yellow Cadillac’, ‘Red Violin’.” Says Baffa: “At the time of ‘Singlefin’ I wanted to capture longboarding in a cinematic way.”

And where is the actual Single Fin longboard that Tyler Hatzikian shaped and glassed? Upon my asking, he laughed, noting: “She’s safe, but she won’t be coming out for some time.” He did, however, hint, that it was too far away from him. (Jason, if it’s in your garage, we think you should share.).

Baffa and Hatzikian’s collaboration on the project came from the convenient fact that they surf together. (In fact, on the morning of the interview, Jason and Tyler had just finished a session.) Says Baffa: “We connected early on, with surfing nostalgia and the concept of both surfboard shaping and filmmaking as being a craft. We appreciate each others’ work.”

The film features surfing footage with surfer and shaper Tyler Hatzikian, Aussie logger Beau Young, pro logging champ and noted Hot Wahine, Daize Shayne, exceedingly tall and skilled Japanese surfer David Kinoshita, editor of Longboard mag Devon Howard and Hawaiian pro logger, Bonga Perkins, each of whom takes a turn sharing the board. Finding the surfers featured in Single Fin: Yellow was not a challenge for Baffa. “It was really organic. I was doing event coverage for [tv show] Blue Torch so I knew some of the surfers from that. I wanted to explore their lives personally and I wanted the film to be multicultural. I wanted these guys to be like hosts of a show.” Not a bad show after all!

In his followup film with Mark Jeremias, Baffa and Jeremias spread out over the coast to showcase surfers from SoCal to NoCal and everywhere in between, in all conditions and with every manner of surfer, from Joel Tudor to Al Knost and Jimmy Gamboa. The results are nothing short of epic. The music, let alone the surfing, rocks. Says Baffa: “I found the pieces through a commercial-free radio station, KCRW.”

As would be expected, Jason loves to surf, and took that opportunity in filming Single Fin: Yellow. “There was a great opportunity to surf spots that you might not always get the chance, including Hawaii, where conditions are perfect all day long, in Japan and also in Cabo, with Devon.” In One California Day, however, there was less of a chance to get out there. “When the surf was firing, we needed to be filming the surfers,” he explains. “You can’t film a surf movie if you’re always sharing in the surf, unfortunately.” Too bad, indeed.

When he’s back a home, he’ll surf with Tyler on a Tyler Hatzikian’s The Point craftsman model, (like the board featured in Single Fin Yellow) which is Baffa’s current board in favor in Jason Baffa’s quiver, along with other Tylers (such as the 777), boards by Calvani, Hansen and Corky Carroll.

If this is the first time you’ve heard of One California Day or Single Fin: Yellow, do yourself a favor and pick them both up for your collections. They’re out of the ordinary, and resonate with shortboarders, loggers and any fan of great surfing.

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