Former Shell Beach resident David Malcolm, 24, will return to the area that gave birth to his filmmaking career to showcase what is arguably Southern California's most highly competitive surf team.

Malcolm, the film's associate producer and a 2000 Arroyo Grande High School graduate, will screen a full-length feature film, “Chasing the Dream,” Saturday and Sunday at the Palm Theatre in San Luis Obispo during the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival that kicked off last week.

The film features eight Huntington Beach High School students and aspiring surfers carving their way to what they hope will be surfing stardom in the face of injury, family life and school curriculum - and their trip to Australia.

“Chasing the Dream” is narrated by Gary Busey with appearances by former and current surfing champions Kelly Slater and Andy Irons and surf legends Peter Townend, Tom Carroll and others.

“It's something I thought never really would have happened,” said Malcolm upon returning from his filmmaking based in Oceanside.

“... the Palm Theatre, that's where I go to watch all of my favorite films, and now I've got my film there - it's pretty cool,” he said.

The film premiered at the 2007 Santa Barbara International Film Festival in January.

Advertisement

Malcolm moved to Shell Beach at the age of 12.

“That's when I learned how to surf,” he said. “I had a huge passion for everything that was involved in the ocean.”

As an aspiring longboarder competing in the National Scholastic Surfing Association, Malcolm said filming began as a chance to share video of friends - and perhaps even a few shots of himself surfing.

“I was always kind of the one in a group of my friends with my video camera and never really realized that I wanted to do film or video ... mainly (it was) filming your friends surf and hopefully getting some footage of yourself and just watching it for fun,” said Malcolm.

One high school film class changed all that, according to Malcolm.

“When I got into (Arroyo Grande) high school, we had that video production class with Joe Dickerson, who was the teacher, and that's where it kind of all started,” he said.

“You really kind of learned a little bit of how to put a story together, to make commercials and little short films that were always kind of funny and definitely under par, as far as quality goes, but still fun.”

Malcolm said he later refined his filmmaking skills attending the Art Institute of California in Los Angeles, where he met director Angelo Mei.

“He pulled me on board because I was out of school and I kind of needed a job, and we had worked well together,” Malcolm said.

The film had its beginnings in a shorter format, according to Malcolm.

“Originally, it was supposed to be a short 40-minute, you know, ‘Check out these kids, they're on the Huntington Beach Surf Team, they go to Australia and have fun surfing,' and that was it,” he said.

“And we got in there, and through the first stages of filming that project, we realized that there was a lot more that was involved with these kids, and it was a huge decision point in their life, and it should be followed a lot deeper than just this glamorous ‘Ooh, look at how well they surf' type thing,” he continued. “It became a film that had needed to be done by the surf industry for years.”

Malcolm's advice to young and aspiring surfers: “Be realistic. It's a tough world out there, and only 44 out of the millions that are trying to do it are making money.

“Have a backup plan, and if by the time you're 13 or 14, people aren't calling you the next Kelly Slater, than you might want to start thinking about college.”

Josh Petray can be reached at 489-4206, Ext. 5015, or jpetray@santamariatimes.com.

March 9, 2007