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DAMON THE FILMMAKER
FILMMAKER DAMON MEADE TALKS TO REMIX ABOUT HIS PASSION FOR FILMING NEW ZEALAND SURFING, WHAT INSPIRES HIM, CROWD FUNDING VENTURES AND HIS LATEST PROJECT UNDER THE WEATHER... Tell us a little bit about your background. How did you get to where you are? I’m a self-taught freelance filmmaker from Gisborne. Having spent a large chunk of my youth in the ocean, it was a natural progression to make it a subject of my work. I’m not sure I entirely planned my progress, it just kind of happened. Hopefully I evolve in the future. You come from a fine arts background. What inspired you to take up filmmaking? I guess it was gradual and not necessarily something I’d planned to be doing fulltime. I studied Fine Arts in Wellington for a few years, which gave me access to cameras and editing equipment, and video work became part of what I was doing there. It was always something that I’d wanted to learn, and at that time it was simply complimenting the paintings and installation work I was making. Then when I got back to Gisborne, I noticed that a group of guys were surfing really well and it wasn’t being documented, so I took it upon myself to start capturing what was going on. What was your first introduction to filmmaking? At university I was smashing ceramic cups and throwing paint around. A fine arts painting paper has a pretty loose framework, and anything goes. It seemed that videoing these things made more sense then
painting them. This was my first introduction to film making.
SOMETIMES YOU SPEND MONTHS WAITING FOR THAT DAY OF DAYS, AND WHEN IT DOES FINALLY COME AROUND YOU HAVE TO DROP EVERYTHING AND MAKE SURE YOU ARE THERE. How did your crowd funding venture come about? Under The Weather came about on the back of two years shooting for the Innersection films with Ricardo Christie and
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Luke Cederman. In doing this I was filming a lot, and started gathering a heap of material but holding back the very best stuff. For example the big wave shots with the crew towing in the first section of the film - I knew that stuff was worthy for a movie and not just a web clip. So with things like that in the bag I started to shoot a lot more and when it got to a point where I could conceivably turn it into a film I started the crowd funding campaign and went for it. Why did you decide to use crowd funding to fund your Under The Weather project? Crowd funding seemed like the only way I could possibly generate enough money to justify spending months on the road shooting. I know that the industry isn’t at such a strong point right now regarding having sponsorship dollars to throw around. Asking for product that could be turned into money in return for some rider coverage seemed like a smart approach. I haven’t found traditional funding methods very successful for what I do in the past, and crowd funding gives you a level of control over your destiny. Were you surprised by the success of the venture? Not so much surprised. It was something I had spent months making happen so I would have been disappointed if it wasn’t successful.
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UNLESS YOU SPEND A LOT OF TIME REFINING YOUR CRAFT, EXPERIMENTING, FAILING, YOU WILL NEVER LEARN.
Describe for us a day in the life of Damon Meade? A day in the life would generally involve waking up, checking emails. Often I’ll be trying to deliver an edit from the night before so the computer may have been on all night. Random jobs often come in. Last week I ended up making a promo clip for Rhythm and Vines, as well as a TV Episode for the show Airtime. Freelancing often involves dropping everything to meet deadlines as they come up, and can be quite a chore. If I have a surf project on I might be filming and up early if the forecast is good. Sometimes it can involve travel. What might we expect to see you doing when you are not filming? When I’m not filming I like to get out there and surf myself. I also make time most days to swim a few laps at the pools to break up my routine, and I’d like to be making more art if I become less busy at some stage. What is the most challenging part of being a filmmaker in New Zealand? In New Zealand, we don’t always have the consistent wave quality that you can get in other parts of the world. This can sometimes mean that getting A grade clips is pretty hard work. I mean it’s easy to get good clips, but getting excellent clips involves throwing away 99% of what you film. Sometimes you spend months waiting for that day of days, and when it does finally come
around you have to drop everything and make sure you are there. What were some challenges with making Under The Weather? There are a lot of challenges with putting something like that together. Sourcing the soundtrack ended up taking forever. Making well known surf breaks and locations look a little different was also something that challenged me to search for as many compelling angles as I could find. The wind, the weather, the long hours driving – it’s all a challenge. I guess that is what makes it rewarding when it all comes together. What is your favourite part of being a filmmaker? Travelling around New Zealand and seeing new parts of the country is always a great experience. It’s amazing when you think about people who travel from the other side of the world to check out our country, and yet we have it right on our doorstep and perhaps take it for granted a bit. Going to new countries on filming missions is also pretty cool, and the friends you make along the way you stay in touch with forever. How have you found the support from the New Zealand surf industry? The industry has been supportive over the years, employing me to film their events, sometimes sending me on overseas team trips, sponsoring my films and so
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on. I think the surf industry in general isn’t in the best shape, and these things may have dried up somewhat in recent times. How important are your relationships with the surfers you film? It’s important you get on with each other as you can spend a good amount of time on the road travelling together. Plus it’s better to work with friends, and you do become pretty close with certain guys. The crew I work with best don’t question what I do and trust I’ll shoot the right angles, and if I miss something it’s not the end of the world. Likewise if they are having a bad surf and we are getting no work done, I will always come back the following day and don’t bring it up in conversation. Working as a team is key. Do you have a favourite surfer to work with? Ricardo Christie is in my opinion the most progressive surfer in NZ right now. He’s always positive which helps, and we have nailed some things together that we would consider firsts. Do you have a favourite place or break to film? I enjoy filming PK bay down in the Catlins. The place is severely isolated, often freezing, blowing a gale and sometimes hailing in other words fraught with challenges. But it is also one of the most beautiful places on earth and when the elements line up, the imagery on offer can be magical. It’s a real case of effort equals reward
down there. Nothing comes easy, but the hard work pays off. What inspires you? When I was growing up my parents moved to Wainui Beach in Gisborne, I was surfing every single day and always used to thrash Taylor Steele’s films. This was a pretty major inspiration to start capturing high performance surfing. Over time I came to appreciate the cinematic side to the art form, and with the DSLR boom a few years ago I became motivated to learn how to drive those cameras properly and compose a shot more creatively. I’m also proud to be from NZ and have taken that sense of place into my recent work. Outside of surf films I’m inspired by a lot of artists, particularly from the Modernist era. Picasso and Duchamp spring to mind. Leonardo Da Vinci, Edison, Einstein, history is littered with many brilliant people who provide a source of inspiration in one-way or another. What other filmmaker’s work do you admire? For surf films, Kai Neville and for non-surf Quentin Tarantino and Stanley Kubrick. You’re a self-trained filmmaker. How do you think that may give you and advantage or disadvantage over those who have studied filmmaking? At the end of the day, if you want to learn something you need to spend time doing it. Regardless of whether you are studying
a craft or teaching yourself, unless you spend a lot of time refining your craft, experimenting, failing, you will never learn. I am sure there are
THE WIND, THE WEATHER, THE LONG HOURS DRIVING - IT’S ALL A CHALLENGE. I GUESS THAT IS WHAT MAKES IT REWARDING WHEN IT ALL COMES TOGETHER. advantages of going to film school. But there are also advantages with buying a camera and getting stuck in. These days I can learn anything I like on YouTube at any time of the day, so the Internet has probably made the distribution of
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learning resources a lot more accessible then they were 10 years ago. What does it mean to you to be a New Zealander? Being a New Zealander is certainly a big part of my sense of identity. I feel that we come from the best country in the world, albeit somewhat isolated. I am proud to have contributed to putting NZ surfing on the map in some way, especially with the success of projects like Under The Weather, which is approaching 100,000 online views. Filming surf in Indo is boring; filming surf in NZ can take you on the road the less travelled. What’s on the cards next for you? Currently I’m just taking jobs as they come and using those opportunities to become better at what I do. No exciting projects are currently in sight, but who knows, there is probably one just around the corner. Watch this space. Under The Weather can be viewed online and can be purchased at http://damonmeade.com/ Interview and Images by Layla Papworth