A Young Crop Of Kiwi Surf Talent Just Put Together A Very Slick Surf Flick

Words by Luke Griffo

“This film originally came about three years ago when we started filming for an IGTV film which was called 3116 Core, the 2.0 version later followed,” says Luke Griffo (that guy who surfs like Ian Crane). “3116 is our postcode so it was quite fitting at the time, Because it was just my mates and I from around this area. But this year we’ve included friends from all over the country, so the name change was understandable. After the last two years I felt like something was missing and that was a good camera. So I blew the bank on some gear, with the help of my course related costs haha!

“This film isn’t a big project with companies bankrolling us. It was us pretty much stringing together a trip every few weekends whenever the waves were good. Traveling around NZ with my best buddies was what made it special. Leaving the parties behind to find waves was refreshing and I recommend it for sure. I’d like to thank everyone that helped behind the lens, such as Billy Lee-Pope, Cam Haylock, Derek Morrison, George van der Beek, Scotty sinton, Andy Deere and Heronium.

The surfing in this film isn’t quite of the caliber from those films that inspire my friends and I. Rather than making a 10 minute piece featuring the best waves from each trip, the film has a loose sort of narrative to make you feel as if you’re partly there on the trips themselves. From the best waves to the blow ups, and all the other antics between. You’ll understand if you’ve ever experienced a road trip at full force. Including parts within the film was huge, it gave everyone something to work and improve on throughout this year. It also was cool because it showed how bad some of the boys really wanted to get clips, as they knew it would be seen by people all over NZ and possibly the world, so the pressure was there. But I think it brought out the best surfing in all of us, I mean there were thousands and thousands of shitty clips, don’t get me wrong, but the improvements I’ve seen over this summer from everyone is pretty rad! Everyone wanted to have a better part than each other but no one would ever say that hahahaha. It reminded me of the old comp days when you’re trying to beat your mates, but instead of being off it when they got a good one in a heat, you’d actually be stoked because you knew that they have just added a clip to their part, which made everyone want to shred harder. 

The temptation to just run a Cure or Tool album was there, but that’s not how I wanted to film to be perceived. Rather the music to be unknown artists as I feel like that reflects the film. Yes there is some music in the film that is well known, but it suits the surfing and lifestyles, so don’t be too hard on me haha.

The film features Kehu Butler, William van der Beek, Luke Griffin (Myself), Elliot Paerata Reid, Finn Vette, Rory Goodchap, Khan Butler (No he’s not kehus brother it’s actually his dad haha), Tom Butland and friends!

Hope you enjoy the film as much as we did while making it. I recommended viewing the film super loud with a crew of mates, and too many cold beverages.”

Fucken aye.