Andy: The Untold Story of Andy Irons is seeking funding on Kickstarter apparently to maintain independence from corporate interests. Photo: Sardelis
It’s out. The 3-minute, long -awaited trailer for Andy: The Untold Story of Andy Irons was released last week, and if you haven’t seen it, you should. With such an ambitious title, the feature film has huge shoes to fill. But perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the project, produced by Teton Gravity Research, is the launch of a campaign on Kickstarter to raise funds in support.
“As Kickstarter campaigns go, the risk on this project is very limited,” says the official page. “Principal photography is finished and the edit is well under way without the need of this community. The ask is to join us in simply assuring that the finishing touches and music are the best they possibly can be.”
The need for community funding is apparently rooted in a desire for impartiality in telling Andy’s story. “With a story as emotionally charged and layered as this it is extremely important to us that we get the film right and that every level of the film is detailed and polished,” says the campaign page. “This project has been a true labor of love for the team here at TGR, it’s a project that has been independently funded without any corporate involvement and influence.”
It’s not difficult to imagine why those entrusted by the Irons family, his friends, the media, and surf fans in general to tell Andy’s story would desire their project to feel as independently produced as possible.
As the Kickstarter campaign page alludes, the story surrounding Andy’s death is “emotionally charged and layered.” More specifically, evidence suggests that Billabong’s Director of Media (maybe) sought to obfuscate details about Andy’s cause of death by distributing a press release claiming he succumbed to Dengue fever. The truth is no one has ever come out and revealed why that press release was circulated. Later, a toxicology report concluded that Andy’s primary cause of death was, in fact, cardiac arrest, the secondary cause being “acute mixed drug ingestion.” Without diving into the motivations behind the conflicting information, it’s clear that the surfing community at large felt betrayed, misguided, and confused, to say the least.
It goes without saying that an Andy Irons documentary produced by Billabong would raise serious credibility issues. What’s more, in the aftermath, debates flared about corporate interests in surf and the desire to embrace rough and tumble athletes insofar as “bad boy” images could sell t-shirts and boardshorts. But, in terms of shining a light on the seedier side of life, or even helping athletes in battles with addiction and mental health, brands washed their hands. The presentation of Andy’s death, in other words, left a sour taste for “the industry” in the mouths of the general surfing public.
Teton Gravity Research was not complicit in the perpetuation of this false narrative. And, by the looks of it, they’re painfully aware that any project that bills itself as Andy’s “untold” story has a responsibility (at least in the eyes of the general public) to rectify a wrong. That explains why TGR has gone through such great lengths to explain that the film has been independently funded without corporate support. I won’t go into the fact that “independently funded” is a pretty opaque term, and fails to explain who TGR is accountable to if not corporate interests.
But for now, people are supportive. At time of publication, TGR has already raised nearly $27k of the $150k goal, and it’s only the fourth day. If anything, it’s proof that the general public has high hopes this film will tackle numerous unanswered questions. Here’s to hoping it lives up to the hype.
