Miracle Mile: A South Bay Surf Documentary

" The South Bay was the hub of the surf culture in its early days. From Dale Velzy shaping under the Manhattan Beach Pier to his opening the first ever store front surfboard shop across the street from the pier and the multi-brand surf shop row that followed, it formed a seedbed that grew across SoCal beach towns."

—Steve Pezman, The Surfers Journal

"Surfing and beach culture in general were shaped by what happened in South Bay during much of the 20th century. The story is rich and deep and begging to be put onscreen."

- Matt Warshaw, The Encyclopedia of Surfing

“In 1907, Henry Huntington brought Hawaiian George Freeth to Redondo Beach Pier to give surfing demonstrations, and so began the surf culture of the South Bay. Dale Velzy’s surf shop, arguably the first in the world, opened up in the early Fifties, soon followed by Dive N Surf, which would spawn the surf shop explosion in the South Bay in the Sixties. Bing, Jacobs, Greg Noll, and Dewey Weber commanded the surfboard world during this period”

- Peter Townend, former President of Surf Industry Manufacturer Assoc. & 1st IPS/ASP World Surfing Champion (1976)

The South Bay Boardrider's Club (SBBC), is a 501c3 non-profit volunteer-based organization founded in 2009. Our mission statement guides each of our initiatives:

“The South Bay Boardriders Club is dedicated to celebrating the rich history of the South Bay surfing culture, introducing families, youth, & our community to all aspects of ocean activities and being guardians of our local shoreline.”

Over the last few decades, we have lost many of our local surf legends from the Golden Era of surfing: Dale Velzy, Dewey Weber, Greg Noll, Hap Jacobs, Mike Doyle, Phil Becker, Mike Eaton, Bob and Bill Meistrell, and the list goes on. During the 50s and 60s, these individuals and other South Bay locals had an enormous impact on the emergence of surf culture and the surfing industry. For instance, Dale Velzy opened the first known retail surf shop in the world in 1950 in Manhattan Beach. These stories, and their lively backstories, need to be showcased and archived in a format that is accurate, compelling, and entertaining. Hence, we are making a documentary with award winning filmmakers and we need your support.

We know where surfing is now, how much it's grown, what it's become and where it's been colonized and exported.......but how did it start? This documentary is the story of how the culture was born - one that would in large ways characterize what it means to be Californian and more broadly, for a time, what it means to be a young American. A story about who influenced and shaped the world's most aspirational lifestyle culture, and most importantly, where it all started.

Let's create a film that is a viewpoint into this moment in time - bringing the memories, feelings, and textures from this seminal period to life. South Bay's heritage, history and influence deserves more than 60 minutes of legends reminiscing to old photos and footage. It mandates that we take the audience on a journey - an engaging and unique positioning, one that adds dimension and layers, and taps into the creative energy of the time. It needs a story.

This initial phase of funding will create a script and short film clip from the Director and Production Team that will lead the way to find a known actor/narrator for the one fictional role, as well as provide the necessary tools to approach potential large donors to fund the overall film production.

The Miracle Mile documentary is targeted to be produced in 2023, enter film festivals in 2024, and distributed in 2024.

Again, SBBC is a non-profit 501c3 organization that allows for your donation to be tax deductible.