<spanface="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Two weeks ago I went to Hawaii and attended the press junket for Sony’s new CGI movie "Surf’s Up." Since I’d never been to Hawaii I was really looking forward to the trip and experiencing some of the famous waters of the Pacific. What I forgot about was that I’d flown in to work, and while there was some down time, I was focused on trying to get as much as I could for Collider.

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<spanface="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And that leads me to what’s posted below.

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<spanface="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">While I wasn’t scheduled to cover the Hawaiin premiere of the movie, I figured since I brought my video camera, why not go to the theater and attempt to get some of the stars to talk to me on the red carpet. And while I was placed towards the end of the line, I was happy that everyone stopped and gave me some of their time.

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<spanface="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Starting tonight and going over the next few days I’ll be posting more interviews that were done at the junket, a bunch of photographs that I took on the island, pictures from the Saturday night Luau and more. Definitely check back as there is some great stuff coming.

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<spanface="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And once again let me say a big thank you to Sony for the invite to cover "Surf’s Up." While I’ve always viewed jounalists who’ve taken free tripsas a bit suspect with their opinions, know I won’t lie to all of you as it would destroy my future credibility. I will not write something positive if I don’t believe it, I don’t care what that would cost me in the future. Thankfully, I’m being totally honest when I say "Surf’s Up" was a great movie and one that should do very well when it opens. As I already said in a previous article, it’s the first non Pixar movie to remind me of a Pixar movie. That’s the highest praise I can give for any CGI film.

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<spanface="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">If you'd like to see some clips from the movie before watching the interviews click here. And with that, here are the red carpet interviews.

Jon Heder and Shia LaBeouf

The interview starts with Jon and after a little while Shia comes over and gets involved. Some of the highlights are:

  • Jon talks about his character Chicken Joe
  • The success of Blade of Glory
  • After that question Shia LaBeouf came over and I got the two of them to talk about the improv process and about the possibility of a Surf’s Up sequel.
  • But the highlight is when I ask about Indy 4 and if Shia has been training on a Mortorcycle… you have to see his smile after I ask the question.

 

Mario Cantone

We talk about Earth, Wind and Fire, the experience of coming to Hawaii, the movie, will there be a sequel, and he talks about his character in Surf’s Up.

 

Ash Brannon and Chris Jenkins (on right)

Ash Brannon is one of the directors and Chris was the producer. During the red carpet interview we cover…

  • What is the film about?
  • Surfing with Kelly Slater
  • They talk about working with Shia, Jeff, Jon and the improv process
  • I ask about what they might have coming up as the day before -at the junket -they wouldn’t speak about it… could a sequel to Surf’s Up already be in the works? And could it be about the X Games?
  • And I ask about Surf’s Up Saturday morning cartoons and could they actually happen.. specifically spin-off’s. Could there be Surf’s Up babies on a TV set soon?

 

Sal Masekela

Sal is the host of the X-Games and he was brought in as a consultant and then he got to do a voice in the movie. He talks about his character, the recording process and his reaction on seeing the final film.