Tomson to Attend Special Showing of Award-Winning
Surfing Documentary ‘Bustin’ Down the Door’
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 10, 2008) — World champion surfer, Shaun Tomson, will be in Panama City Beach, Fla. to attend the showing of “Bustin’ Down the Door” – an award-winning documentary about a pivotal period in the history of surfing. A hit at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, the film documents the rise of surfing as a professional sport.
“Bustin’ Down the Door” will have a special showing in Panama City Beach, Mon., Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m., at the Grand 16 Theater, located at 500 South Pier Park, Panama City Beach, FL 32413. Tomson, the film’s co-producer, will introduce the film and head a question-and-answer session. Fans attending the showing will be able to get free posters autographed by Tomson.
The film will air in select locations throughout Florida in advance of the Surf Expo, taking place in Orlando, Sept. 10-14.
Narrated by Edward Norton, the acclaimed film takes a look at a dramatic moment in history, during the winter of 1975 in Hawaii, when a group of young South African and Australian surfers sacrificed everything for a dream and changed the sport of surfing forever.
“Bustin’ Down The Door” chronicles a tumultuous two-year period of competitive and cultural clashes in the mid-1970’s in the surfing Mecca of Hawaii’s North Shore of Oahu where a crew of six surfers from Australia and South Africa arrive and set out to change the world of surfing. Framed around the emerging careers of former professional surfers and world champions Shaun Tomson, Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew and Mark Richards, the film documents how these young men risked everything to become the world’s best surfers. Viewers will see how their determination and vision began a cultural revolution that led to the birth of professional surfing and ultimately to today’s billion-dollar surfing industry.
As a competitor, Tomson’s consistency and longevity marked one of the most prolific careers in professional surfing. He became South Africa’s most successful surfer, winning the country’s largest event, the Gunston 500, six times in a row and taking the World Title in 1977. Tomson has been called the greatest tube rider of all time and was named as one of the 25 most influential surfers of the century (Surfer, 1999) and one of the 16 greatest surfers of all time (Surfing, 2004).
Australian Mark Richards redefined the limits of performance surfing on the North Shore of Hawaii. In 1976, he won the richest event on the fledgling IPS professional tour, the Coke Surfabout in Sydney. Richards began shaping his own boards that year and developed a revolutionary, short, winged swallow twin-fin design that perfectly suited his particular style. His swooping turns earned him the nickname “The Wounded Gull.” By 1979, with the twin-fin perfected, he won the World Title and for four consecutive years dominated the World Tour, winning in every type of surf. Today, Richards is considered one of the world’s best and most innovative surfboard shapers.
Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew burst onto the international scene in the winter of 1975. Professional surfing was still just a dream back then, but Bartholomew had the vision and the attitude to make it a reality. His article “Bustin’ Down the Door,” published in Surfer Magazine in 1976, is the inspiration for the film. Bartholomew was crowned World Champion in 1978 and remained in the Top Five for seven consecutive years.
Directed by Jeremy Gosch, and produced by Shaun Tomson, Monika Gosch and Robert Traill, the film, was shot on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii and features iconic surf footage from the best of the mid-1970’s films as well as a period soundtrack that includes music artists Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and Leonard Cohen. Included among the many notable surfers and pros interviewed for the documentary are: Ian Cairns, Peter Townend, Michael Tomson, Tom Curren, Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Barry Kanaiaupuni and “Fast Eddie” Rothman.
For more information about the film and to view the trailer visit http://www.bustindownthedoor.com.
Former Panama City Beach Mayor Lee Sullivan has been gracious enough to invite me on his weekly News View Show aired on WPGX every weekday evening at 9 pm.
Hurricane Ike made landfall at Galveston, Texas at 2:10 a.m. this morning. Maximum sustained winds were 110 miles per hour, just one mph less than a Category 3 strom. High surge, wind, heavy rains, tornadoes, widespread flooding, massive power outages, and fires were the main news stories overnight.
PCBDaily 
