Word on the street is: more big-wave surfing is coming to the small-screen.
Allegedly, film crews from HBO were out at Mavericks during the historic, potentially overhyped, yet undeniably massive December 28th, 2023 swell.
Which is all to suggest that…a new documentary in the works? Perhaps.
Local news reported on the HBO crews showing up during the swell.
According to ABC7:
“HBO was on hand creating a documentary of the day’s events. But a look through the sailboat sails and ocean mist shows crowds of spectators here to catch the action as well.”
(ABC7 also quoted Portuguese charger, Miguel Blanco, about the swell: “The waves looked absolutely massive and it was everything that we expected. It was really big, I’d say 40-60 foot waves.”)
Then, per SFist:
“An HBO filmmaking team was apparently in Half Moon Bay this week, starting some new project about the surfers participating in this year’s iconic Mavericks surfing. So were surfers from all over the world, coming to surf the Mavericks from Portugal, Brazil, Tahiti, and Hawaii.”
Of course, HBO has been dabbling in the surf sphere for some time now, with 100 Foot Wave, chronicling the crazy, epically oversized waves of Nazaré, Portugal and beyond. That one is set for a season three. Then, there was Momentum Generation, which documented the titular crew of influential surfers – including Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Shane Dorian, Taylor Knox, et al – coming out of the 1990s.
So, what’s this new project going to look like? Or will it be featured in 100 Foot Wave season three, given that main cast members including the UK’s Andrew Cotton and Maui’s Kai Lenny were at Mavericks for the swell and at the time of filming?
Guess we’ll find out soon…ish.
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