There’s a great story behind this prog-surf film. Riley Blakeway was an aspiring surf film-maker with incredible talent and a handfull of small film projects to his name. Chippa Wilson was a relatively unknown but amazing aerial surfer without the opportunity to show the world what he could do. In 2009, they won STAB magazine’s Little Weeds competition, respectively taking out the film-maker and surfer prizes.

The guys packed a huge deal of promise, flair and desire. They’ve worked together countless times since, but their most anticipated collaboration is NOW, an Analog Moving Picture Project. It premieres on October 29 at Sydney’s National Grid Gallery. Like Modern Collective, it’s a window into the future of surfing.

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I’m about to spend a week or so on the reefs of Oahu, so maybe I’m over-excited. But surfers and artists alike will find amusement and maybe some inspiration in this stop-motion film telling the story of surf trips and waves in a plastic world.

Much more than just another surf movie, this is the previously untold story of surfing. Before four Australians and two South Africans arrived in Hawaii with the goal of starting a world surfing circuit, surfing was simply a hobby. These six had the idea of making it a full time profession and since surfing is now a multi-billion dollar industry, it is safe to say they succeeded. While they revolutionised the sport with new equipment, moves, style and an enthusiasm that bordered on lunacy, not everyone was happy with the exposure.

As the profile of the sport was exploding, the Hawaiians were not entirely taken with the brashness of the new breed that resulted in death threats and physical beatings. Using documentary footage along with interviews with many of the main players and some present day surfers this documentary combines some amazing footage with a well-told story narrated by Edward Norton. The scenery and waves make for amazing scenery, and anecdotes of how little money the first professional surfers survived on illustrate just how hard they had to fight for the sport. Currently the film is touring around the world.

A colonial-style fishing village on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, San Juan Del Sur is becoming a popular tourist location but has remained largely unspoiled by the tourist dollar. The spectacular harbour still has many fishing boats dotted amongst the vessels of vacationers, and the road to get here from the Costa Rican border barely resembles a road at all. It’s got that undeveloped charm that we all know won’t last forever, which makes the place infinitely more attractive. For the surfers out there who don’t already know, this part of Nicaragua is renowned for having offshore winds all day. Yup, you heard correctly. All day. You can arrive at one of the many local breaks, surf all day, and finish with a wave as good as your first. It’s just incredible, almost like living some dream where the waves pump as if from a machine. The swell isn’t quite as consistent as the neighbouring surfing mecca of Costa Rica, but hey, the town, the winds and the sheer economic value more than make up for it.