FILMMAKER MAGAZINE | Spring 1997: PRODUCTION UPDATE

PRODUCTION UPDATE

Will Geiger's Ocean Tribe adds a surfeit of surfing to the story of four old friends who reunite to take a terminally ill pal on a final wave-chasing road trip before he dies. Bob's got two weeks before his next chemo treatment when his friends arrive in his hospital room only to find their newly bald friend resistant to their plan. Fueled by beer, they shave their heads in solidarity and kidnap him, escaping in the wildly painted Oldsmobile ambulance they used as a surfwagon in high school. Naturally Bob comes around and what follows as this motley crew chases a monster swell is alternately raucous and elegiac. "People pine for unconditional friendships and that's rare these days," says Geiger. "Bob's friends are all scared of the next step in their lives but he's dying. By taking him on this last trip they reaffirm their faith in themselves and the future."

Ocean Tribe's principals are experienced L.A. stage actors, many of them associates of Tim Robbins' Actors Gang; Geiger doubled them with real surfers for the tough stuff.

Geiger, 34, grew up all over California and dropped out of college to attend London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He landed in Rome on his first acting job and stayed long enough to acquire a wife and substantial experience on both sides of the camera, working as an assistant director and writing a documentary for state-owned t.v. station RAI. He came back to the U.S. for film school and worked as a ranger for the California State Parks Service, a connection that paid off in free access to Ocean Tribe's beach locations. Geiger says indie producers he approached swore he couldn't shoot Ocean Tribe with as much water work as the script called for on the budget they could raise. Tired of hearing "No," he got an attorney friend to help him form an LLC and put together six-figure financing from two principal investors, enough to shoot in 35mm. Ocean Tribe's grueling 24-day shoot last September moved from Huntington Beach Hospital and California beach locations to Baja Mexico and Florida's Grassy Keys Dolphin Research Center. Geiger enlisted famous surfing cinematographer Jeff Neu to shoot the doubles riding 20-foot waves off Baja's Todos Santos with a borrowed waterproof Bell & Howell Eyemo; because the specialized camera had a maximum film load of 100 feet (just 30 seconds at the slow-mo 48 frames a second Geiger wanted), they got a mad scientist friend to design a waterproof housing for a second camera to reduce down time during reloads. Ocean Tribe is now completed and all rights are available.

Cast: Gregg Rainwater, Mark Matheisen, Robert Caso, Troy Fazio, Vaughn Roberts, Brian Brophic, Natasha Ivanova. Crew: Producer/Screenwriter/ Director, Will Geiger; Executive Producers, Franco Zacchia, Michela Conti; Associate Producer, Andrew Matosich; Line Producer, Peter Yuvall; Cinematographer, Harris Done; Art Director, Steve Espinoza; Editor, Jeremy Kasten; Composer, Sean Murray. Contact: Will Geiger, SeaReel Prods., 206 First Street, Seal Beach, Ca 90740. Tel: 310) 430-4036, Fax: (310) 594-5679.