For The Love Of Floaters

Retinas burned. Rails glided. Bodies hit the floor. Hips shook — vigorously — a couple Fridays ago at the PTERYGIUM premiere.

It was the best film premiere this jaded producer has attended in recent memory. The kind where you go for the surfing, then stay until 2 a.m. — despite a mandatory trek to Lower Trestles the next morning.

Surprising? A little. But the signs were there. 

On Thursday morning, at the Oceanside pier, Jack Coleman clocked in later than usual with a foreign look in his eyes. Pretty sure it was stress. 

He’d spent the morning coloring an edit for a Friday night premiere — where he’d also be making his debut as DJ/head of entertainment. 

Who better to set the tone for the night than the eclectic mind behind Natural High and a sprawling list of surf classics? A man rumored to have strutted Italian runways in the late ’90s, and more recently, made his Dr. Seuss’ haircut an object of envy among the Encinitas crowd.

But the pressure was off — slightly. Stab Highway alumnus Gabe Morvil had started a band, BIG HUNK, during an injury stint. The Wilmington, NC transplants showed up committed to the mosh. 

Jack described the edit as “fun” — packed with claymation, and odd textures. I gave him the affirmations he didn’t need, then paddled out for a quick wave and was greeted by the film’s star.

Ryan Risko is a 19-year-old Southern Californian known to the smaller world as Caity Simmers’ accomplice. But to anyone who’s actually met him: a personable Gen Z anomaly. Obsessed with shaping, floaters, shuv-its, and well-timed rail grabs. An underrated extension of Oceanside’s bubbling talent pool whose creative surfing attracts creative minds. 

The film also features Tate Kim — a crossover from the skate world who had the crowd wondering if the clips were playing at 10x speed. According to Risko, the crew spent five days in Mexico during May’s fruitful run of swell. An educated guess would say: 60% talking Pickle Forks, 40% surfing.

Cam Kruger, the small-biz owner behind sunman marine, organized and produced the film, surf trip, and premiere. While Cam put out fires at the premiere, Nora Vasconcellos poured kerosene all over the joint. She gave the dance floor hell. And the worm. The party stopped when the DJ set broke at 1:30am.

 PTERYGIUM is what happens when a goofyfooter, an underground surf/skate freak, a Mexican point, and a cult filmmaker collide. The 12-minute film follows the enigmatic duo, Ryan Risko and Tate Kim, from Southern California to a well-worn Mexican point. Watch & be seduced by alternative lip-lines, floaters, and a 10/10 soundtrack.