Jury Panel
2017 Jury Panel
We're honored to have an amazing panel of experts to judge the film line-up this year. Each of them brings a unique perspective to the task and we thank them for the many hours they spent painstakingly watching and considering the films. Be sure to check out and support their incredible work.
Image © Michel Junod Surfboards
Michel Junod
Master shaper Michel Junod has been making boards since 1966. He's long been a fixture in Santa Cruz, but has also lived and shaped in Hawaii and Chile. You can get information and order his amazing boards at Surfboards by Michel Junod.
Gary Griggs
Gary Griggs is a Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences at UC Santa Cruz. He first surfed at Malibu in 1960 and his love of waves were what initially drew him into oceanography. His latest books include Our Ocean Backyard: Collected Essays, California Coast from the Air and the just-released Coasts in Crisis - A Global Challenge.
Image © Michael Chantry
Judi Oyama
Judi Oyama is one of the pioneers of modern skateboarding. She founded Board Rescue, a non-profit that provides skateboards and support for at-risk youths. Judi runs Maximum Impact Design, an action sports design and branding studio, and is. She also still rips, regularly crushing competitors 30 years her junior in slalom races.
Darshan Gooch
When freesurfer Darshan Gooch isn't trekking to distant breaks you'll definitely find him on an empty peak somewhere near town. He rides for Stretch Boards and works with Reef Sandals.
Image © Sean Jansen Photo @seanjansenphoto
John Engle
A fourth-generation Californian, John Engle now lives in longboard champion Antoine Delpero's hometown of Marseille, in Southern France. He is a professor of literature and film at the Université de Toulon and the author of Surfing in the Movies: A Critical History (2015, McFarland). When John was a little kid, his dad took him to Hermosa Beach to see his first surfing movie, "Search for Surf," personally presented by big wave pioneer Greg Noll.