Edition29 Interview

i was really jazzed to be included in the Edition29 "return of the surfer 001" iPad issue.  this is a whole new world of media for me - audio interviews with photos, music, videos and enlightening content - all beautifully art-directed and packaged for your iPad absorbing enjoyment.  if you admire good aesthetics or a simple dose of surf stoke - download today - profiles include mollusk surf shop, julie goldstein's killer wood-block prints and my friend, italian photographer filippo maffei - as well as yours truly yammering for 5 minutes after way too much italian espresso, luckily they edit the raw audio files  - fun stuff.  they even got me to talk about our new project, BELLA VITA.

thanks to sean o'brien and jeff johnson for some "behind the scenes" photos.

chasing waves in the mediterranean

if you are looking for a truly unique surfing experience - please track down our friend Marco from menhirs surf camp in the mediterranean sea.  the weather systems move extremely fast here and your really need a knowledgeable guide to be on top of things.

he has shown us some of the most beautiful coast-line you will ever see, the clearest water i've ever seen and some really fun waves to boot.  it's not tahiti or hawaii but it is an incredible mix of fun surf, great food, amazing people, culture and history.

we thank all our new friends here for their generosity and warmth.  as our friend dave stated, in all my travels, these people have some of the most genuine aloha i've ever experienced.
www.albergomenhirs.it

bella vita, director's log - update #2

hard to believe it has been nearly 60days that i've been on the road, away from my family, friends and new baby jones!  italy has been amazing.  the hospitality of the local italian people is overwhelming.  without their support, Bella Vita could never happen.

we have been chasing waves, making amazing dinners, harvesting grapes at the castellani vine-yards and sharing with chris del moro, his reconnection to family and friends here in italy.

we have watched the seasons change from warm summer heat to a tempest of energy as the high-pressure system over the mediterranean breaks down, storm systems take over and violent wind storms produce rideable and sometimes, very good, surf.  it is a bit surreal to enjoy everything the world loves about italy and to then combine it with the joy of surfing.

the outer islands are raw and country.  i liken it to america's "old west" for surfers.  a vast frontier, open, and undiscovered.  every drive, every turn, shows us the natural potential this region has- but with sometimes fickle and frustrating conditions, a surfer could spend a lifetime absorbing information on what reef, cove, point or slab could have it's epic day.  Rastovich has already eyed a couple shallow zones- that we've been told have never been surfed.

we get our first solid pulse of swell this week- and it will be truly interesting to see what mother nature provides.  i think all the locals are excited to see their home-breaks in the sights of chris, rasta and the coffins.  it is a very sharing, family oriented culture here and the tribe of surfers is no different.  it reminds me of stories i read in The Surfers Journal about early California or Hawaii.  Where the tribe lived together, ate together and chased waves together.  That spirit is alive and well in italy.  We are honored to spend our short period of time within it.  - jb  10/14/12

bella vita, director's log #1

umm... what's the fastest way to...

Fly to Charles de Gual Int. France via Alitalia operated by Air France - 1 large pelican for Film Gear, 1 large Patagonia Duffle for living, 1 Tripod in Case, 1 Large camera bag for carry-on, 1 small patagonia backpack for additional carry--on-laptop, travel needs, etc.   One 9’ 8” Tyler Pig, prototype model.  24hrs. before the next swell is to arrive, must fly asap - just bought the ticket.

my producer, greg, drops me off at Tom Bradley 2:30pm for 4p flight (a bit late / which is funny since i live about 7min. from LAX) not funny since i was working a job the day before and packed 3months of gear in about 5 hrs - approach Air France Check-in, told to go to Alitalia Check-in / at Terminal 2 (about 400yds away!).  

begin walking with gear on cart - cart falls off curb, spills EVERYWHERE, someone asks to help - greg  pulls back up, jumps out - we load gear into his car, strap board back on top and drive airport loop.  Arrive T2 - i jump out and find Alitalia, we parked 50yds shy.  We hump gear to counter - i try to check in, the lady tells me i need to be at Air France Gate !!!   she says, sprint or you’ll be late.  i say “I WAS JUST THERE.”  she says nothing she can do.  greg is gone.  I grab an empty cart.  load it with bags, grab 35lb tyler and sprint down curb - 80degrees, August - i’m soaking wet with sweat.  wondering why i'd ever want to make another independent film when commercials feed you so well.

I trudge back to Air France Counter - run up - they tell me i’ve missed the flight and i can only do standby.  Standby!!!  i say, I WAS HERE.  finally, the manager nicely looks through my itinerary - after 15min - she comes back, she says i can confirm you on the 9pm flight.  You are good to go (which means i will make the swell, so i’m happy) but then she says, “you’ll have to check in at Alitalia - it is an Alitalia operated flight.”

At this point, I can only laugh.  I schlep cart - slowly this time, back to T2 and check - now really soaking wet.  I ask for a free up-grade, she says no - but she does nicely give me an Air France Lounge pass and a food cupon - her name was Layla - good song.  she dings me $300 for board and gear - that's a $100 discount, for my troubles, she says.

I call greg - he comes back to pick me up (great producer, better friend) - i go home, take a shower, wash my clothes - head to a nearby tiki bar and throw back 3 Mai-Tais, not the lame, pink, grenadine-ridden kind, but the real deal, dark-ass rum, Tiki Mug toting kind.  good stuff. now happy.  

Back to airport - pass security easily, enjoy free Martini at Air France Lounge (as a "sorry we made you hike all over LAX with 300lbs of gear) - get on plane, take Ambien (don't try this at home, i'm a professional) - sleep 10hrs.  wake up near France.  Next flight delayed, do email.  have some bad food - fly to Pisa.  

and the journey begins.   bellavitafilm.com

The Dark Sequel

my good friend, JJ, forwarded along this interesting article on "the dark side" of the 2nd film in the Indiana Jones series, "Temple of Doom."  if you are a film fan or more importantly, an Indy fan - it's a fun read.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8321331/explaining-indiana-jones-temple-doom

In response to this article - i replied to john, seemed kinda fun to share:

ah, yes, the dark sequel - many see the Empire Strikes Back as the darkest of star wars films as well.  and arguably one of the best in the series.

i went to a fairly dark place making One California Day - maybe it has to do with the pressures of living up to the first success- or just the difficulty of shooting California for 4 years.  luckily, OCD was made with my friend, mark jeremias,  so perhaps his stoke balanced what  could-have-been myself derailing into despair and portraying california surfers as delusional druggies - like those guys from venice in Point Break.

who knows, maybe dark is good.  it's definitely better than fluff.  

as i embark on Number Three - i do feel the pressure, that line in the "Temple of Doom" article about not disappointing the audience with what they "expect".  As a filmmaker, you want to do something different, you want to challenge yourself- but you also want people to enjoy watching it.  i guess it, as my yogi wife would say, is all about balance.

or as yoda would say,  "trust your instincts and use the force"

ciao from Marina di Pisa, italy.

b

making a film is like carrying all the pressures of a falling - or slightly leaning building. 

Bella Vita

we are truly living the "beautiful life."  production has officially begun on our new feature documentary,  "Bella Vita".  This film will take an intimate look at a rarely publicized surf culture, until now, underground from mainstream media.  we hope to combine eclectic characters, inspiring stories, adventure and beautiful imagery - more info to come.

Coffin Wins US Open Pro Jr

a huge congrats to my nephew conner for his US Open Pro Jr. win at Huntington beach- pretty rad spot to bag a win in front of a few hundred thousand of your friends.

Staying Creative

I recently upgraded to Mountain Lion - low and behold, some of my older design programs no longer work.  frustrating, yes - but probably fair as well, you see, these are programs that may have been "gifted" to me years ago, perhaps from a friend at an ad agency or production company, someone generous who wanted to see me flourish as a young artist and granted the oh-so-important key codes and serial numbers.  turns out the modern era of technology frowns upon this type of sharing.  dare i say, some might even call it, shhhhhhhh- "stealing"

well, my parents would surely be upset if they found out i was stealing things, so i have been looking into a new Adobe service called "creative cloud."  any designer out there reading this would know that the new adobe creative suite runs about $2K all-in.  the new creative cloud is a pretty unique alternative.  it allows anyone to download any or all of the adobe "apps" and pay for them on a monthly basis at a monthly fee (from $29-$50 USD).  thus, minimizing your out-of-pocket-start-up costs, a blessing to any young designer or filmmaker and also, creating a work-platform that can constantly be updated by adobe.  gone are the days, of upgrading this or needing to download that - once you sign up for the "app" adobe will present you the newest, coolest version of the program and continue to update it for you.  they are offering trials now- i'm in the process of checking it out.  so don't take this as a recommendation, just a heads-up.  happy designing.

https://creative.adobe.com/apps

jb films artwork at LA art-walk

if you can make it - check out the ArtforPeople booth at the LA art-walk, thursday June 14th, 2012

spy optic - behind the scenes

we had a really fun group of people who all wore multiple hats to put together the spy optic "flip" commercial.  a big shout out to devon howard and michael marckx at spy for coming up with a fun idea and letting us run with it - my production team of DP scott kassenoff, 2nd unit Andrew Petersen via running roots productions, gripville kelly flood and super fantastic set utility via bob sugar aka jay moore.
and SALT for bringing the edit to life in culver city - thanks ian douglass and team!

artwork now available via Art for People

fun vid i did a few years ago- professional prints now available.
check out  Art for People

surf films and sausage

i really love this photo of friends in italy making home-made italian sausage and throwin' down in a One California Day movie tee-shirt via toes-on-the-nose.

nice guys.  grazi !!!

curren- so smooth

if you grew up surfing in the last 25yrs, it's hard to deny the influence on all of us via tom curren.  i believe it was lance carson, who stated, "good power surfing will never get old."

as we see the new guard blazing an acrobatic approach to the world tour, i still believe the above quote nails good surfing.  yes, the new school is more wide-open, higher above the lip and arguably more creative as to what-can-be-done on a wave but the good ones start with a foundation of solid power surfing.  phil edwards, billy hamilton, buttons, tom carrol, occy, tyler hatzikian, kelly slater, andy irons, joel parkinson- all great stylish surfers who begin with a foundation of smooth power-surfing and who can deny, perhaps the smoothest, tom curren.  enjoy

Rent or Buy One Cal Day digital download

here's any easy way to take One California Day everywhere you go!  amazon.com offers 7 day rental or the purchase of the film - all in the digital download format.  there's probably even a way to gift this download to a friend - although i'm not smart enough to figure that out.

thank you for watching!

click here for amazon.com link to download the film.

the spirit of aloha

i've been on a bit of a break in hawaii - during our recent trip - my son, Jones George Baffa decided to grace us with his presence about 8 weeks early.  not exactly how i expected to spend my time in hawaii.  the entire staff at kapiolani medical center has been unbelievable, my wife linda and i can't thank them enough for their kind support.  i am so proud of linda's strength in what have not been ideal times and i am so incredibly thankful to all the wonderful family, friends and friends of friends who've offered their kind support and true aloha.  aloha is a word that gets thrown around a lot in hawaii these days but let me tell you, true aloha is a wonderful thing.  we feel so blessed for the support and JGB is doing great.  we hope to take him home soon.  although i will miss waikiki sessions on the 11-footer!
mahalo nui.  - jb

One Beach screens at SxSW

thanks to all who made it out to the One Beach screening at South by South West.  So bummed i couldn't be there but i'm sure barefoot wine & bubbly put on a fun party.  now let's keep those beaches clean!

for an article from Austin Culture Map  about the event click here.

local catch

i was cruising around the n. shore with chris malloy when he spotted this kid pulling a cooler out of his dad's rusty old pick up in front of the haleiwa fish & tackle store.  turns out they had stopped by to weigh in their day's catch for a local fishing contest going on right now.  i was pretty blown away by the color on this guy.  sashimi anyone?

butts, barrels and back-side-slashes

i hope my nephew parker knows that most 16yr. olds don't have it this good.  shoots!  b

Parker Coffin North Shore '12 part 1 from youngwisetails on Vimeo.

Singlefin: yellow posters finally available to public !!

the audience has spoken and we've tried to clear the wax, sea salt and sand from our ears to listen!!  SFY movie posters are now available to the public via our online etsy store (click to enter).  now you too can have the yellow board in your home -- this series is 14"x17" on heavy weight stock.  thank you for all the support !  -jb films

lady's and gentlemen, phil edwards...

cali warmth

i picked up a new lens and started playing around - man, ya gotta love indian summer in california. warm, glassy and good surf.  i'm feeling blessed.