From skimboarding to filmmaking
Brothers George and Bill Bryan, natives of Laguna Beach, credit the city as the inspiration behind their film company, 10th Street Bros. Films.
“We made our first movie in my bedroom on Tenth Ave. in South Laguna,” George said via email. “They call the beach [there] Tenth Street, which was a magical place at the time. Unfortunately, due to what many think is overdevelopment, there is way more sand there now and the wave doesn’t break anymore.”
The company makes movies around their favorite sport — skimboarding.
“I have been skimboarding my whole life like my brother, Bill,” George said. “Our skimboarding is very different, but we both have the same love for it. He enjoys kicking people’s butts in competition and I prefer to skim waves by myself where I can sit in the tube. That is why he is the 14-time world champion and I am a single-time world champion.”
The Bryans started 10th Street Bros. Film in 1991 with the idea of combining Bill’s love for competitive skimboarding and George’s love for filmmaking.
“There were no professional skimboarders when my brother and I started skimboarding,” he said. “Filmmaking, as well as skimboarding, became something that helped us a great deal.”
When they began 10th Street Bros., George said many people had different ideas about skimboarding.
“Most people thought we were spinning 360s down the sand when you mentioned skimboarding,” he said. “We knew people would get psyched when they saw what we were actually doing. We hoped this would turn into a little sponsorship so we could continue to spend our time to trying to progress.”
The goal is to build awareness for the sport.
“The films could reach people all over the world and introduce skimboarding to people who have never seen it,” George said. “The films could also help skimmers improve their skills by seeing what the world’s best were doing. They created more sponsorship for everyone involved in the sport and created a way that my brother and I could subsidize our skimboarding. Seeing how much fun we were having skimboarding in our videos helped get people interested. I knew how lucky I was to be getting paid to skim instead of laying bricks.”
While the brothers prefer different styles of skimboarding, they share one thing in common: their passion for it.
“I think we would both agree that the most rewarding part about being a professional athlete is being sent to countries like Japan, Chile, France, Indonesia, Australia, Mexico and South Africa,” he said. “Meeting amazing people, learning a new culture and living the search is really what life is about.”
So far, 10th Street Bros. has created more than 20 skimboarding films, many of which have been shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival. Most recently, its film “Good Call” debuted in July after the World Championships of Skimboarding in Laguna Beach.
“Good Call” follows the 10th Street Bros. as they travel to Brazil, South Africa, Hawaii, Mexico, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach.
The Bryans are currently traveling the United States to promote the film, which can be found at local surf shops.
They’ve also released “BTV – Bringing the Vibes” via iTunes. They’re currently working on a documentary that follows
some lesser fortunate skimboarders who the Bryans have met from around the world.
10th Street Bros. can be found at Facebook.com/pages/Tenth-Street-Bros/114245498640779.
Twitter: @coastlinepilot