“Trilogy: New Wave” Staring Griffin Colapinto, Ethan Ewing and Seth Moniz is Available for Digital Download
The original Trilogy was released in 2007,” said Andrew MacKenzie, who manned the helm on a film of the same name 17 years later showcasing Griffin Colapinto, Ethan Ewing and Seth Moniz. “We remember the Mundaka and the Barra sessions. But I think in a lot of ways the medium has come a long way. From counterculture to mainstream, and in a way back to counterculture. Surfing’s changed a lot over the years, we’ve seen more guys making their own edits and vlogging. For me, that’s not always the best representation of a person or how you perceive a person to be.
“I don’t feel like any of the three boys, many people knew what they were truly like outside their immediate circles. So in a lot of waves, it’s different from the original trilogy. Because Joel Parkinson, Taj Burrow and Andy Irons were already established when Taylor Steele made Trilogy. For me, and what Taylor helped clarify, is that this is a character film. These guys aren’t as established, so there’s an opportunity to tell their story.”
Photo: Quinn Matthews
All of which is to say, Trilogy: New Wave is many things. A sequel, a portrait of three friends, a snapshot in time, a masterpiece of surf cinematography. It pays homage to the original (soundtrack lovers will know) while at the same time moving surf filmmaking into uncharted territory and takes full advantage of the nearly $1 million Billabong, other sponsors and investors poured into its budget. Steele, Evan Slater and Enich Harris (part of the first Trilogy) were a few of the executive producers and played a big part in getting the movie off the ground.
Filmed from mid-2021 through 2022, this is the first feature-length surf movie directed by 32-year-old MacKenzie, an avid surfer who grew up watching classic DVDs and later worked with Steele on Proximity in 2017. It was produced by Mackenzie's Aether Films, which makes commercials for big-dollar clients including Toyota, Adidas, Google, Uber and Oakley. It follows that the cinematography for Trilogy: New Wave is as hi-fi and slick as it gets. The package of sound design, slow motion visuals and of course, absurdly good surfing will remind viewers of John Florence’s View From A Blue Moon.
Photo: Quinn Matthews
The most striking part of the cinematography is drone footage using what Mackenzie calls Cinema First Person View. Mackenzie hired a pilot who competed in drone racing to wear virtual reality goggles while flying the drone and following the surfers. Mackenzie used this in a Michael Bay film and saw its potential for documenting surfing.
“It allows them to be a lot more accurate with their movements because depth perception and line of sight are no longer an issue,” he said.
The result is an intimate and unexpected angle that we’ve not really seen in the niche corner that is surf films. Mackenzie’s crews later attached high-speed cameras shooting 420 frames a second which produced the molasses slow motion clips in black and white.
With a runtime of 1 hour and 13 minutes, the film is a slow burn that dives into the trio’s personalities and backgrounds. Griffin “the goofball” is a workhorse when it comes to surfing. Seth talks about his waterman lifestyle and his family’s rich surfing legacy and homegrown values. Ethan has his own family story, as his mother passed away when he was 6 years old. With his father a working firefighter for 32 years, his brothers were a big part of his upbringing.
Photo: Quinn Matthews
The friendly rivalry that comes with a group of high-level surfers in the same age bracket is also a major theme, too. It culminates at a captivating Periscopes session with Griffin and Ethan. It’s pumping, and Griffin goes full froth and a bit overzealous, lapping the crowd and belting wave after wave. He goes around Ethan, who is sitting wide. Ethan gets visibly frustrated, choosing bad waves and falling over and over.
“Ethan’s really calm, cool and collected,” Mackenzie said. “But he has a switch. And for whatever reason it seems to be Griffin that flips that switch.”
“Griffin’s smoking all these guys,” Seth told Ethan when he paddled in for a breather. Just like that Ethan’s fire is lit, and he clicks into vintage gear. The tropical rights never stood a chance.
“From that second on, Ethan and Griffin surfed for another six hours straight,” Mackenzie recalled. “They traded blows the entire time. It was one of those sessions where they were so aware of what the other were doing that it pushed them. I don’t think we get it that much in competitive surfing where you have to be a bit conservative to get scores. That was not in their heads at all. It was like they were refusing to get out of the water until the other one did. You can see it in the footage, it turned into the most epic battle I’ve ever seen.”
Trilogy: New Wave will be available to buy on iTunes on September 13. You can also catch the film on the big screen that same day in New York, Los Angeles and beyond:
Laemmle, Santa Monica, CA (encore screening Sept 14)
Screenings beyond September 13 include:
9/14 Balboa Theatre (Ocean Beach Film Festival), San Francisco, CA
9/19 Full cast and crew premiere! Fine ArtsTheatre, Beverly Hills, CA
10/13 and 17 Ilkley Cinema, Ilkley, UK
10/14 River Oaks Theatre, Houston, TX
