Aug. 29, 2010

Four CSU Monterey Bay alumni – all graduates of the Teledramatic Arts and Technology program – are part of a group traveling the California coast making a documentary film on surfing.

Ben Chargin (Class of 2007), Adam Newacheck ('08), Haley Pikhart ('08) and Ben Hoedt ('09) and three of their friends are surfing spots in 14 counties along the Pacific Coast Highway over a two-week period that started Aug. 28. The trip will cover a distance of 1,024 miles.

Their plan is to produce a feature-length documentary, "Crash the Coast," that details the experiences of seven amateur surfers. Some of them have been surfing their whole lives, others are new to the sport. All will end their adventure by entering an amateur surf contest in San Diego on Sept. 10.

Why do it? According to the project website, most surf films have used professional surfers. This film will show that anyone can have a great road trip on a low budget.

Ah . . . the budget. That's part of the adventure. All seven of them are traveling in a 1978 Southwind motor home they bought on Craigslist for less than $2,000. Each crew member is limited to $500 in expenses for the two-week trip.

"Our sole purpose is to chill as hard as we can over the next 14 days," Newacheck said via e-mail.

The journey really started on Aug. 23, when the group left L.A. for Del Norte County in Northern California. On the route south, they will stop in Humboldt, Mendocino, Sonoma, San Francisco and San Mateo counties before reaching Santa Cruz County on Sept. 3. They will head for Carmel Beach on Sept. 4, and plan to spend the night in East Campus before continuing the journey south.

Their finished product will be submitted to the International Documentary Festival in November. They also plan a series of 3-minute webcasts, a feature film distributed through amazon.com on Blu-ray DVD, and a possible television show on FuelTV, MTV or MTV2.

All of them live in Southern California where they work, surf and play together in hopes of making their dreams into a career.

Pikhart is employed in the art department for various television shows. Newacheck is trying to start his own production company. Chargin hopes to write for television and films and Hoedt hopes to be a director of photography.

More information is available, including a blog and Facebook page.

Learn more about the university's Teledramatic Arts and Technology Department.