Where Does HBO’s ‘100 Foot Wave’ Go From Here?

Hey Joe, what’s the latest with season three of 100 Foot Wave?

We’ve been shooting this show for six years now, basically without a break. Really, it just takes a long time to put the show together. For season two, we shot like 3,500 hours, and you have to cut that down to five-and-a-half. It takes a long time to get these things in shape. Great productions take time, and I’m really happy with how it all turned out.

Do you ever run into that curse of producing something, pushing it out, then a new swell, or potential record-breaker, comes out soon after?

The show has a really long narrative. After season three, we’ll have 17 hours. We wrapped like two years ago. But no, the nature of the show is that we capture the show for that time period, and then we package what we captured up, and present it to the world. When you spend so much time going over the footage and honing it in, by the time it comes out, it feels like what it was meant to be. Obviously, so much has happened in big wave surfing – like the swells from last December and January – which were epic. But I don’t regret that they’re not in season three. It may sound cheesy, but it’s like surfing in general, we just show up as prepared as possible, then see what happens.

While Hollywood has continually struggled to capture surfing in a captivating way, why do you think the show connects with so many people, surfers and non-surfers?

There’s such a depth of world and characters in big wave surfing. Everyone we’ve had the pleasure to shoot with is just endlessly interesting. The world itself keeps spreading out with season three. There’s less surfing in it that people might think; it’s more just a compelling story about these radical humans. Then, there’s the natural beauty of it all. In our world of meme culture, seeing someone riding down a humungous wave, is just naturally captivating. You wanna hear what they have to say. Then, of course, there’s Garrett. He’s endlessly compelling. He’s such a character, and that’s where we started, then just branched out from there. Big wave surfing is so unpredictable. It’s not like skiing. You might score, or you might not. That adds some addictive, exciting stakes to the whole dynamic. There’s so much pressure for it all to come together.

Talk about that Cortes Bank session…seems like that might be a highlight for this season?

I was walking around my neighborhood in Brooklyn, and I was talking to Garrett on the phone. I was like, ‘I wonder what’s happening at Cortes.’ He looked on his phone, and he was like, ‘it actually looks pretty good.’ Two days later, we’re getting on a boat in San Diego. It was a really amazing experience. It’s just such a mission getting out there. So much pressure going into it. Like, will it be good? And if so, how do you surf it? I love the whole season, but that might be my favorite episode. It’s so big in scope.

The show kind of started with everything coming out of Nazaré. And in the big wave world, that focus has somewhat shifted. Like with Cortes, is that the case for the show, too?

The surfers get itchy. The wanna go explore new spots, surf new waves. The season, which this show follows, was somewhat smaller at Nazaré. It just felt like the next step – to go see these other locations. It just felt like the natural evolution of the show, to go explore these other spots, and the characters who come with them. It started off as this show about Garrett and Nazaré. Then, all these other characters came into play, like Chumbo and Justine and others. Getting to spend more time with them has been amazing. So, new places, new people, it all comes together.

What about the head injuries and dangers? It seems like this season delves into that a bit more.

I think it’s good for us to accurately display the reality of what these athletes are doing. Like Kai Lenny, the first time he wore a helmet, he goes out at Pipe, and hits his head. It was really good he was wearing one. We just follow what’s happening in the big wave world. It’s not just about surfing; it’s about what that lifestyle means and what these surfers are putting themselves through to be the best they can be…and literally to survive.

This past season, there’s been a lot of talk about 100-foot waves being ridden – Mavericks, Jaws, etc. Last time I asked you if the show would be over if that triple-digit barrier was broken. What’re your thoughts on that now?

I’ll suggest that Sopranos idea in the edit. [Laughs.] I like that. If we have shot [the 100-foot wave] already then who knows. There’s that whole process with measuring waves. It takes a while, nobody can agree, you know how it goes. But once the 100-foot wave has officially been surfed, they’re just going to chase something bigger. I saw video of Garrett 20 years ago saying he wants to surf a 200-foot wave. He’s joking, but there’s a little bit of truth to all jokes. So, no matter what, even though that’s the title of the show, as long as they’re charging, we’ll be filming.

Season three of 100 Foot Wave debuts on May 1st.