On the Push

Workshop Videos Online Now!

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:18:00 +0000

The videos created by the young people in the workshops over the last 2 months are now online.
Watch them here.

Porthcawl Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:03:00 +0000

Yesterday as part of the Sustainable Wales Climate Change Event we ran workshops at the Seabank Hotel in Porthcawl. This year is also the 50th anniversary of Porthcawl lifeguard club & as part of their celebrations the nippers (junior lifeguards) were having a weekend camping at the beach. The tired looking group of nippers then joined us on Sunday morning for our workshop.
An enthusiastic group they were particularly interested to learn how one of the effects of climate change, increased storminess & heavy rainfall, will affect them as lifeguards.
In this country our antiquated sewage system is linked directly to our storm drains so heavy rainfall puts so much pressure on our sewage system that the system has to release directly into our water ways & the sea. For those of us that spend a lot of time in open water this poses a serious risk to our health.
This is particularly poinent for me as 2 weeks ago I surfed a local river mouth break the morning after heavy rainfall. The water stank & a day later I was suffering with crippling stomach pains & some other unpleasant symptoms. Two weeks later I'm still ill.

Maritime Museum Workshop Videos

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:49:00 +0000

The week of workshops in the Maritime Museum in Swansea went very well.
Each day we had a guest speaker come in for the young people to interview in the studio as well as taking the cameras out to interview members of the public around the museum. The solar cinema sat in the court yard & proved to be quite a draw.

The videos are starting to go up online now so if you were part of the workshops keep an eye out!

Workshops at Swansea's Maritime Museum

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:44:00 +0000

All next week (10th - 14th August) the On The Push team will be at Swansea's Maritime Museum running film making workshops based around the film.

First On The Push Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:57:00 +0000

Our first On The Push workshop went ahead at the Liberty Stadium on 1st July as part of the Welsh Assembly's Countdown to Copenhagen.
With over 30 pupils of all ages taking part the workshop gave the pupils a chance to voice their opinions on Climate Change & make a film to share what they had learnt with the rest of the world.
The film made by the pupils can be seen at the On The Push Website.

San Sebastian’s Screening & Plenty of Surf

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:56:00 +0000

The screening of On The Push went well at last week at the San Sebastian Surf Film Festival. Unfortunately none of the production team were able to make it but one of my friends attended instead.
On the surf front we've just had a lovely week of sunshine & surf in Wales.

San Sebastian’s Surf Film Festival

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:47:00 +0000

San Sebastian’s Surf Film Festival starts this week in Northern Spain & On The Push will be there!

Running from Thursday 11th June - 14th June On The Push will be opening the festival with a screening at 5pm on the Thursday. The film will be shown in English with Spanish subtitles.

Check the festival out here!

Award Winning Film!

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:38:00 +0000

On Saturday night On The Push won the Public Service / Community Award at the Swansea Film Festival!

On The Push in 2009!

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:09:00 +0000

Belated Happy New Year!
Things have been busy in the On The Push office this winter.
The screenings that were held last Autumn went well & based on the feedback created from those screenings we've sculpted On The Push into a final 50min edit.
Now the real work begins! A copy of the film will go to the distributor for broadcast distribution & in the mean time we will be taking the film to the public through screenings & workshops throughout the summer. I'll put more information & dates up as they come in.
If you would like to know more or put on a screening of your own please get in touch.
Cheers, Anne

Premier!

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:36:00 +0000

Finally we've done it (just!) the big day's been and gone. On The Push premiered on Sunday night at Porthcawl Pavillion. It was a lovely evening and the film went down really well - a big relief - all the work of the last year and a half seems worth it.

We've now got the rest of the tour to follow;

26th September - Jill Craigie Cinema, Uni of Plymouth

2nd Oct - Perranporth

3rd Oct - Blue Bar, Porthtowan

4th Oct - Croyde Village Hall Deckchair Cinema

18th Oct - Mariners Pub, Nolton Haven, Pembrokeshire

26th Oct - Aberystwyth Arts Centre Cinema

23rd Nov - BeyondTV Festival, Waterfront Museum, Swansea

Screenings start at 7pm.

DVD Cover

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:04:00 +0000

On the home straight.

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:37:00 +0000

The photos show Helen and me in the sound studio recording the voice overs for the final online edit which Helen and Mike should be finishing this afternoon. Not sure how I'm feeling at the moment bit relieved it's finally done, nervous as to how it'll look (I've not yet seen the final edit) and as to how it will be received. Also a bit sad it's over I want to keep on making this film for ever.

The only thing we are waiting to shoot the the Surfer's Chain world record attempt which is happening in Swansea on the 13th Sept footage of which will hopefully make it into the closing sequence of the film. But as it's dependent on weather we'll have to see what happens on the day.

In the mean time we've organised a screening tour and the dates so far are;

29th/30th August - Surfstock festival, St Agnes

Sunday 21st Sept - Surfcult Festival, Porthcawl's Grand Pavillion

Friday 26th Sept - Jill Craigie Cinema, Uni of Plymouth Friday 3rd Oct - Blue Bar, Porthtowan Sat 4th Oct - Croyde Village Hall Deck Chair Cinema Sat 18th Oct - Mariners Pub, Nolton Haven, Pembs Sun 26th Oct - Aberystwyth Arts Centre Cinema

Sun 23rd Nov - BeyondTV Festival, Waterfront Museum, Swansea

As we get more dates in I'll put them up. Also if you want a screening near you get in touch helen@undercurrents.org

In the water August has been a really good month with a couple of awesome swells normally what we'd expect in sept & Oct but not August. While everyone else has been complaining about the weather the surfers have been loving it. The high-light was a couple of days at the beginning of the month when it was 5-6ft glass & no one could believe their luck. The size also cut down the summer crowds together with the fact everywhere was going off. And it was warm I was in my shortie the whole time - why carn't it be like that all summer? Trouble is if it was I'd get no work done ever but then again I'd probably be so much of a better surfer know which I'd prefer. At the same time I've got no complaints I was able to take the time off when it mattered that week!

The End is in sight.

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:12:00 +0000

With only 2 months to go before the premier Helen's deep in the edit suit and I'm planning my final action for the film's finale. Plus there's all the marketing we're trying to cram in and organising a screening tour for Wales and the South West in the Autumn.

If you'd like to see the film come to a venue near you please give us a shout.

It's a good thing the film's been keeping us busy because there's been no decent surf in a while and working hard has kept my mind off it for a while but I'm now really starting to get itchy feet and could do with the exercise!

Final issue online.

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:41:00 +0000

On The Push number 10 has gone online today and in order for there to be some surprises in the feature length film Helen and I have decided to make this the last installment to go online.

Number 10 is a little different from the others with little in the way of action from the beach instead it features action from the Heathrow climate change/runway expansion protest we went to.

So what's next for us? Well there's loads of work still to do we've got the final few scenes still to film and while Helen's knuckling down in the edit suit we've also got to be marketing the films and arranging screenings.

After the first screening in Porthcawl's Grand Pavilion on the 19th September we're planning on taking the film on tour to venues across Wales and Devon and Cornwall. I'll put the dates up as they are confirmed.

As far as surf goes I haven't been in the water that much this month due to a mix of dire surf and having lots of work on. We had a lovely few days of decent sized surf last week but apart from that we haven't seemed to have more than stormy onshore slop since May. Seems like those climate change predictions for more storm surf may have arrived earlier than we hope. And as I type outside there is torrential rain which has been falling none stop since none stop for over 12 hours. It feels very much like it was this time last year I just hope the flooding is no where near as bad.

On the Push 10

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:50:00 +0000

Click to Play

To fly or not to fly?

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:17:00 +0000

Trailer-On the Push

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:08:00 +0000

Click to Play

A Surfer's Guide to Climate Change

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:23:00 +0000

Summer Surf and a busy month.

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:10:00 +0000

Surf's not been up to much the last month and the summer crowds have descended in force but at least we've had some sunshine and it's been no where near as wet as last year. It's turning into a typical British summer.

Meanwhile we've been busy getting On The Push ready for it's feature length edit. Filming at the protest went well and I'm busy planning another form of action.

We've also re shot the trailer for the beginning of the film and that should be up today and the next installment is on the way.

This is an exciting time I can see the whole film starting to take shape (Helen's going to get started on the full edit this week!) and we've booked a promotional screening tour for Cornwall in October. I'll put dates and locations up soon.

Activism?

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:40:00 +0000

It's very frustrating being a surfer in Wales after having that couple of weeks of great surf the last 3 haven't seen anything bigger than 2ft. But as I'm stuck working in London this week I'm kinda glad because it means I'm not missing anything.

We've been filming On The Push for a year now and the end is in sight. Helen and I have scripted the final couple of days shooting for the end of July and the editing is going to happen through August in time (hopefully!!) for the premier on the 19th September at Porthcawl's Grand Pavilion.

When I interviewed Richard at the C Change Trust he suggested that some times other action is needed to bring important issues to the forefront of peoples minds. I've never been involved in activism of any sort so wasn't too sure where to start. Also feel a little nervous about using activism as a way of raising the profile of issues. But I'm willing to give it a go.

There's a Climate Change and Heathrow airport expansion protest in London on Saturday which I wanted to go on to experience this kind of activism.

On the Push 08

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:40:00 +0000

Click to Play

Hot, Sunny, Offshore & Pumping Surf and yes I'm still in Wales!

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:53:00 +0000

The swell has finally dropped today after over 2 weeks of solid groundswell and mostly favourable winds. My body's crying out for a rest and my bank manager would like me to do some more work.

Yesterday morning Helen and I went down to Llangennith with Pete Jones to film him surfing to go with his interview from last week. It was 2-3ft offshore and we got some lovely shots both in and out of the water so can't wait to see the finished edit. I went for a surf later that afternoon on the push and had a lovely session. The waves were a solid 4ft with light offshores and as nice a Llangennith gets. The water temperature has gone up nicely in the last 2 weeks too so I've lost the boots and might even attempt my summer suit soon.

Although the air temperature over the last few days has been nearly 10 degrees above the average of 16 for this time of year it isn't something that can really be pinned down to global warming as April and May are transition months and often have warm episodes like this. But what is being linked to global warming is the trend for these warm spells to be coming in a little earlier each year and that fact that plants are flowering earlier each year and newborn animals are being born earlier too.

The Welsh Nationals were held over the Bank Holiday weekend and were blessed with good surf and mixed weather. I was ill so didn't make it down until the Monday but in time for my heat and 3ft clean waves in the sunshine. The atmosphere at the comp was great with loads of people hanging out in the sunshine watching the heats. I got knocked out in my heat but it meant I could film the finals. Jo Dennison won the womens for the second year running with Beth Mason coming second, Renee Godfrey third and my friend Breige Laurence coming 4th. The mens was won by Lloyd Cole from Swansea and Greg Owen from Porthcawl came second.

So all in all it's been a great couple of weeks and the next installment of the film should be up by the end of the week.

Yay! The surf's arrived.

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:51:00 +0000

Finally after three weeks of little to no surf we've got a solid swell that looks set to continue for the next week. Water's warming up slowly too and I've taken off my gloves but it's only just warm enough to surf without them. The hoods gone too which is a big relief especially as I got sunburnt yesterday which would have made for very stupid looking tan lines had I been wearing it!

I've been making full use of the last 3 days of surf and as a result am feeling sore and tired and have done very little work but now I've got the desperation out of my system I'm going to have to knuckle down, not the easiest thing to do when you can see the surf's pumping on the webcam.

Helen and I went up to Llangennith yesterday to interview Pete Jones who runs the surf shop and surfline surf report for the area. He talked to us about the changes he's seen in his 40 years of surfing Gower. We then headed to Langland for a surf in the sunshine. His interview should be online next week sometime.

Next weekend is the Welsh Nationals in Pembrokshire so I'm heading down with some of the other girls to give it a go and looks like the swell's going to stick round too. Should be a good weekend.

See you in the water.

Carbon Offsetting and a Party (No surf though!)

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:59:00 +0000

What a rubbish month for surf. Apart from those 2 lovely days on the 30th and 31st March. But April has been dire, either flat or really windy, all in time for the start of the contest season! Hopefully it'll pick up soon.

In the meantime Helen and I have been busy working on ideas for the feature length version and doing some more filming.

This week we went to Bristol to interview Richard Whistance the founder of The C Change Trust, a carbon offsetting charity with a difference.

They're a UK based charity and the money goes towards re-establishing, planting and maintaining green spaces and native woodland. Renewable energy projects and educating school children. Richard was great to interview and very passionate about sustainability and climate change I think he'll be great on screen I just don't envy Helen wading through what was a long and interesting interview and getting it down to a couple of minutes of screen time.

Tonight we're going to the Tonnau Surfers Ball at Langland, Gower. The magazine are organising a party at which we are screening some of the film so far and if we have time my surf film Grey Days. Should be a good night and be good to get some feedback before we get going on the finished film.

I'll blog on how it goes and hopefully there'll be some surf by next week!

Funding and some lovely surf.

noreply@blogger.com (On The Push) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 13:15:00 +0000

Surf's going flat this week but we've had a couple of lush days over the last couple of weeks with last Monday being the best of them. With sunshine, light winds and 4-6ft of swell it felt like summer was on the way. Unfortunatly it doesn't look like we'll be seeing anything like that for at least the next 10 days.

We got some good news from the Welsh Film Agency who have offered their support for the film and have awarded us a grant in order to get the film another editor and for marketing. They would like to see the film making it to the cinemas and hopefully with their support it will. Exciting times! All we need now is the surf!