The Antithesis Of Mindless ‘Raw’ Clips

“In 2020, I moved to the Gold Coast from Tassie, worked in Brisbane mowing lawns to save up for camera gear,” Connor ‘Hooky’ Hookway told us for a recent story. “After six months, I bought the gear but struggled to find filming gigs. I had to take a job at a steel factory in Burleigh for five months to make ends meet.”

Now, Connor is a near-full time filmer on the Gold Coast — taken under the wing of Cooly staples like Jack Freestone and Dan Scott.

Above, he flexes some of his skills with a handful of unseen clips featuring Freestone, Mick Fanning, Joel Parko, Sheldon Simkus, and more talented friends. 

“I guess I made it because I Just wanted to show people some of my clips that I was pretty stoked on for the year,” Hooky says. “It’s a pretty simple edit, no storyline, just some clips from a bunch of legends I got to shoot with. Coming from Tasmania and getting to know some of my idols has been such a trip.”

“Funny story,” he laughs. “I missed one of the best waves last year ‘cause a homeless guy was trying to steal my bike from D-Bah. Jack [Freestone] said it was the biggest air he’s done for a long while. Lucky Dan got it though so all was good. Love hate relationship with D-Bah for sure”

Allow this to be a reminder that, despite the endlessly rising popularity of mindless raw clips — a mindful collection of music and surfing always tops the pile.