Photo: Sam Scribner
Editor’s Note: The Hometown Hype film tour is presented by White Claw. The New Smyrna Beach, Florida film premiere is November 12th at Beachside Tavern. RSVP here.
New Smyrna is a beach that means a lot of different things to its locals. For fearful swimmers, the name may strike a pang of panic into their hearts – as the beach has been unofficially dubbed “The Shark Bite Capital of The World.” For surfers, this strip of Volusia County is one of the most consistently breaking spots on the East Coast of Florida. For Hometown Hype director Sam Scribner, it represented a new beginning – and a way to reconnect with surfing after his life changed forever.
Scribner grew up in Central Florida, where he found surfing at the age of nine. His interest really ramped up when he could drive, and from the ages of 16 to 22, he surfed as much as he could – part of a life that revolved around action sports. Then, by a random stroke of misfortune, he fell out of a hammock and broke his neck. He was left paralyzed from the chest down.
“It was really difficult at first to still interact with my buddies, because we were all 22 at the time, so everybody kind of wanted to keep living and keep rolling,” he remembers, “I had to find a new way to hang around them. It started with me just going to skate parks with them, and I would take out my phone and figure out a way to fumble it around.”
From there, he started to work with a voice-activated GoPro, then a DSLR. Eventually, he went to a technical film school in Orlando to formally learn how to use studio equipment. Even more crucially, he learned how to mount that equipment on to his wheelchair, which gave him a lot more freedom to film.
Photo: Sam Scribner
Shortly after that, Scribner and his family moved to New Smyrna, which brought with it an opportunity to reconnect with the ocean. “I didn’t really have my buddies around me anymore at that point. So I was like, ‘Well, I’ll go sit at the beach, and I guess I could just try to get some clips out there.’ What started as me getting clips turned into like, ‘Oh, wow. This is a way for me to, like, be back in the lineup again. Like, this is a way for me to experience surfing in a way that I didn’t think I would be able to again.’”
That lineup he found himself in was a unique one, a crucial part of Florida surf culture, with a rich history behind it. “The inlet gives us one of the best waves on the East Coast, arguably, depending on who you talk to. At least one of the most consistent breaks on the East Coast,” says Sam. “It’s been really cool for me to put this piece together and really dive into history and learn from a lot of the local legends that I’ve seen over the years out in the lineup or from the beach. The history of this place, it’s rich. There’s a lot going on here.”
So, with this film, he’s hoping to give back to the community that gave him so much. “The biggest thing for me was I wanted to do it right, because of there being such a rich history here, because of there being so many people that have literally made their lives on this community and the surf break,” he says. ”It’s incredible to see what it’s done for some people, and even me specifically, and how it’s given me a new shot at life, let alone experiencing surfing again.”
Director
Sam Scribner
Directors of Photography
Dan Abrusci
Kevin Ondarza
Sam Scribner
Producers
White Claw
The Inertia
Editor
Sam Scribner
Music
Jeff White
Mike Levin, Dana Miller, Pascal Sacleux, & Bob Pine
Ian Atkins & Eric Snowden
Additional Music
Music Bed
Artlist
Featuring
Patrick ‘Tupat’ Eichstaedt
Buddy Wright
Evan Gieselman
Noah Schweizer
Lily Whatley
Randy Richenberg
Shannon ‘Hopper’ Eichstaedt
Additional Cinematography
Katarina Mandiola
Patrick ‘Tupat’ Eichstaedt
Shannon ‘Hopper’ Eichstaedt
Cody Moore
Max Bressan
Ehren Tresher
Missy Schweizer
Brent Eite
Archival Footage
Creative Consultant
Patrick ‘Tupat’ Eichstaedt
Special Thanks
Clancy’s Cantina
Red Dog Surf Shop
Island Roasters Coffee
Beachside Tavern
The Surfari Club
NSB Surf Community
A big shout out to our friends at White Claw for making this celebration of surf communities happen.
