A Brazilian Beatdown, Empty Greenbush, And A Video Dump

Three years after a shocking attack in Bali, Sara Taylor reflects on the trip and the film that followed.

cinema // Jun 9, 2026

Words by Pedro Ramos

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“I haven’t really followed up with anybody over there, I honestly don’t know. I should check in.“

That’s what Sara Taylor tells me when I hesitantly bring up the attack she and videographer Charlie McHarg suffered three years ago in Bali at the hands of a Brazilian man called JP Azevedo and his accomplice, Adriano Portela.

“It was super rattling, especially on land when they went after Charlie. It was just so crazy,” she continues. “I spent a couple of days just getting the runaround trying to file police reports. I don’t know exactly what happened, but ultimately nothing came of it. I heard rumors that maybe they paid off the police or something.”

Just before the attack, the pair had decided to head to the same wave-rich area in Sumbawa where we documented Ethan Ewing electing this year’s SITD winning surfboard.

“We did manage to get some fun waves after the attack. We were determined not to let it ruin the trip. I even surfed the same spot the same afternoon and had a nice time with some Australian kids.”

Scrimmage, her new edit, is what came out of the period after something Sara describes as “shocking and disgusting.”

Most of it was filmed around Sumbawa, the Mentawais, and a hollow righthander elsewhere she’d prefer remain unnamed.

“We didn’t really score in the Ments,” she says. “There’s probably only three days of surfing there in the edit.”

Then Sara lucked into uncrowded Greenbush.

“We had been surfing soft, mushy pointbreaks for a while, and one day Greenbush was a possibility, so I was like, ‘Could we please try it?'” It wasn’t quite all-time Greenbush, but then again, most of us would’ve paddled out anyway.

Sara and Charlie have been collaborating for a while. “We did a little series called Starfish.” The pair also released Gum Crush and Beach Blvd with Sara’s main sponsor, Stüssy.

Scrimmage, like the edits before it, is shot and edited in a visual language that borrows more from worlds outside surfing than we’re accustomed to.

“Charlie’s been filming her whole life,” Sara says. “She comes from skateboarding and music mostly, then took an interest in surfing. It’s been amazing working with her.”

Based in LA, Sara also works in fashion, shooting both stills and video. Whether directly or indirectly, those influences inevitably bleed into the way her surfing is documented and presented.

“I think it’s important to have interests outside surfing,” she says. “Things that give you a different perspective. I like skateboarding and fashion, especially the creative direction and concepts behind the shoots.”

“I love working with Charlie. Anything she touches is gold. It would be cool to see her work with other surfers — like the Red Bull women’s team, something at that level. As long as she doesn’t forget about me [laughs].”

To borrow a tired Instagram term, Scrimmage works out as a “video dump” of sorts, or as Sara puts it: “A fun little edit that I want to be done and out with so I can start working on a heavier one.”

That next project is already underway. Sara is heading back to Indo, visiting some lesser seen parts of Europe, and trying to score on the East Coast during hurricane season.

“I want well-roundedness, I want heavy waves, performance surfing, rights, lefts, airs, reverses,” she says.

Expect variety.