inkfreenews.com - 1960s Flashback — Moviemakers Said It’s Just Not ‘Commercial’
In 1962, Brown came up with the story idea that would become “The Endless Summer.” His feature would focus on two young surfers traveling the globe and following the summer season while chasing down the perfect wave. It would be a fantasy come true for any surfer.
The indefatigable Bruce Brown wasn’t about to give up on his movie project. After being rebuffed by Hollywood distributors, Brown chose to throw himself wholeheartedly into getting the documentary, “The Endless Summer,” out to the general public, even though it could spell financial ruin for him.
Brown was born in San Francisco in 1938 and grew up in Long Beach. After high school, he joined the Navy and was assigned to a base in Hawaii, where he filmed fellow surfers with an 8mm movie camera. Back home in California, he became a beach lifeguard and an amateur filmmaker. Beginning in the late 1950s, he created five short 16mm surfing movies in five years, screening them later to rapt audiences at local high schools and rented halls.