Jack McCoy using his customized underwater scooter rig while shooting for “A Deeper Shade of Blue.”
And Dave mentions that his own pieces are greatly influenced by Jack’s earlier work and style. “Bunyip Dreaming” a film produced by Jack McCoy in 1989 featuring Munga Barry, Luke Egan, Mark Occhilupo and the late Ronnie Burns was one that Dave recalls watching on the regular. “I just loved the way he worked with time lapse, and his beautiful underwater photography.” The aged look of Jack’s movies creates a timelessness that so many appreciate. “Film is something that I hold strong and close to my heart,” Dave continues. “And that’s what Jack has always shot on.” Today, Jack experiments with mixing video and film. But his originality remains evident in the unmistakable qualities of his work. We caught up with this filmmaker and asked him his
take on the meaning of surfing, the future of surfing, and both his personal and the sport’s beginnings. With a string of films listed below, this master surf cinematographer is truly one of the world’s greatest.
How did you start surf filmmaking? “When I was growing up I had the opportunity to see one of Bruce Brown’s early movies called “Slippery when Wet” at Kailua Elementary School. It was a really inspiring night; all of my surf hero’s were there. Like Butch Van Artsdalen and Barry Kanaiaupuni… It was kind of a lot for a little boy; to see all these guys that I had only read about and studied in surfer magazines.
“Bruce Brown was so cool, he shared the stoke of what surfing was, and I think that was implanted into me. I then went on to become a poster gremmie for some of the filmmakers. I used to work with Greg Land Gerry and Jim Freeman. Eventually, Randy Rarick and I started showing surf movies in Hawaii. I went to Australia in 1970 for a world surfing contest and loved it and stayed. I then became the agent for people like Montgomery Freeman and other people who made surfing films in America and I’d show them in Australia for them. People like Bud and Bruce Brown. So I did that for 5 years until I had a little accident. When I got out of the hospital my friend put a camera in my hand and said, “We’re gonna go make a surf movie!” I didn’t have anything