PROJECT WIDE: mexico from
CI Surfboards
“There’s nothing more enjoyable than a surf trip to some right points with a crew of friends,” explains Tanner Gudauskas in reference to his edit that features Channel Islands Surfboards all-new groveler model—the Rocket Wide. “Our Project Wide short film mostly celebrates the lighter side of surfing, with me, my brother Dane and Nathaniel Curren in some cruisy Mexican point breaks riding the Rocket Wide we helped design with CI shaper Mike Andrews. I even brought along my 16 mm Bolex to shoot some of the fun as well.”
Tanner’s Project Wide video is the third chapter in a string of a videos he’s made for his new blog The Paradise Projects. Reminiscent of an art driven Tumblr blog, Paradise Projects offers a mix of new and old mediums covering Tanner’s journies such as ‘zines, film photos, collages, journal entries and video edits. Visitors to this new site can also sign up for a newsletter that will keep them up to speed on future projects, as well as receive handmade elements like one-of-a-kind zines, including personal notes from Tanner himself.
Why did he start the blog? Like many other professional surfers that have invested years of their lives qualifying for the dream tour, Tanner began to examine his relationship with it all earlier this year before the new competition season began. He knew this was the life he’d always wanted—and it was no surprise that it required sacrifice and hard work—but he began pondering if there was more to his path than chasing points?
While on a trip to the the Pacific Northwest to think over the reasons he pursued surfing in the first place, he came up with both an idea and an answer: The Paradise Projects. Shortly after returning home he launched this new blog as a creative avenue to express aspects of surfing that stoke him most, and his latest project for The Paradise Projects just dropped today: Project Wide—the third chapter in a string of a videos he’s made to date for the blog.
While he hasn’t given up competitive surfing by any means, Paradise Projects has re-energized his relationship with surfing. And by the looks of the latest chapter Project Wide, the surfing world at large will benefit from his efforts as well.
Edit and Cinematography: Alex Kilauano
Second Camera: Taylor Curran
16mm: Tanner Gudauskas
