Welcome to Innersection.
This is a surf contest. A worldwide forum for the year’s best individual surf sections. Through this site, 20 surfers will earn spots on Taylor Steele’s next high-performance surf movie. You will decide which ones. Who will be the final section? The decision is in your hands. That’s the competition. But there’s more to it than that. Innersection is a showcase for surfers and filmmakers; a workshop for the art of the surf section, with interviews, instructional materials and behind the scenes action; a home for the newest maneuvers, the best swells and the latest music. Innersection is surfing’s very own YouTube, with a dash of American Idol and a member-generated DVD as a result
Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out Taylor
So I have been drinking, a lot. And checking out the interwebs surfing network and I come across this. What the hell? Is this some kind of joke?
Oh yes, do all Taylor’s work for him on the ‘promise’ that your enthusiasm will be rewarded ‘down the track’. Carrot + stick = exploitation. I don’t buy it. Is Taylor Inc. out of ideas? Obviously. Anyone seen ‘The Drifter’?
Why does anyone need Taylor Inc. to launch their ‘career’. Do it yourself. Be independent. It appears to me that Taylor Inc. simply want to feed off the creativity, ideas and enthusiasm of young people. I am guessing those young people will be expendable too – cast them aside when Taylor Inc and the corporates have what they want (a cache of new ideas and projects), as per the surfing industry’s raison d’etre. Competition over. Thanks for coming. Now you are on your own. See ya.
Oh, but Taylor Inc. are providing aspiring filmmakers with an ‘opportunity’. Oh, an ‘opportunity’ to get ripped off?
If Taylor Inc want to make profit off someone’s enthusiasm and creativity, THEY SHOULD PAY. Competition? Competition in this framework is a signifier for exploitation, a ‘justification’ that actually equates to getting someone else’s energies and ideas, for free.
The interwebs and self-publishing and self-production and self-marketing go hand in hand. No need for endorsement from some ‘establishment’ (How ironic is that? I remember when Taylor came out with his first efforts: “Anti-establishment” and all that. Salt of the earth. Do it yourself. Punk soundtrack. And now Taylor Inc comes up with this cheap ass model of exploitation). Trust your fellow surfers, if you produce anything good they will circulate it for you. They are the network.
It is a case of exploiting the enthusiasm of those with less power to line one’s own pockets. Poor form. /rant
You’d have a point…if anyone was reading it. Why so angry? Taylor’s just setting up a forum for the “do it yourself” circulation. Not like he’s charging anyone for it. The pros get paid by their sponsors to be seen. This is an easier place to be found than YouTube, and less masturbatory than a blog. So why not?
How’d you find out about this anyway? Oh, on one of the establishment sites. Wow, how very “Lewis Samuels” of you to try to be a grumpy surf blogger. That’s so 2008.
lol @ steve. How .. to … miss … the …point, even when you DID read this. Taylor is not setting up a “do it yourself forum”, he is recruiting for his next production without wanting to pay for the services. He IS charging people for this ‘privilege’ of circulation: their time, effort and enthusiasm. Why should/would anyone do the marketing for a surfer or organisation for free, anyway? Why angry? because that is exploitation. Whether the surfers are sponsored or not. People should be paid for their work if those wanting it intend for it to turn a profit for themselves. If not, then that is a different story. And I recant my rant. However, spinning the whole deal into a competition which serves to avoid doling out monies while still getting the gear is poor form. How did I find out about this? Oh, by way of a nondescript surf forum that is pretty far from an ‘establishment site’. As for Lewis Samuels and being a grumpy “surf blogger”, I apologise. I should simply suck such stupidity up, should I? How very US-centric of you. There is a long tradition in Australia of writing off such stupidity. Read the rest of this website and you will see it is pretty far from Postsurf (which I did enjoy). Yes, I am grumpy today. I reserve my right to rant, when hungover. You make lousy counter-arguments, so my rant still stands.
love a fuck in a headline … (sorry about the pic edit clif, had to be done)
Clif + hangover + cranky + point-to-make = force to be reckoned with.
Yay!!
I like it when people speak up. Good for you cranky Clif.
To be honest I don’t know much about what Taylor Steele is up to and after following Steve’s breadcrumbs for about 3 clicks, I’m pretty sure I dont want to know any more about what hes up to. What I do know is there no end of people connected with short films, particularly those connected with surfing who make me nauseous. Dressed up in aloha flash and wordpress-drag little fil related entrepreneurs do their best to run lame ass grifts that exploit creatives. Its an old story – skinned anew.
Taylor isnt even original. Hes just spinning the same old a little bit differently. Its familiar. Check out the fine print in most film festival (too tired to search around for examples) and you’ll find the inevitable conditions. After hustling to produce their film, filmmakers are required to pay entry fees and supply any number of stills and copyright waivers in order to allow promoters to charge others to watch these films. After all the fooling around they may get screened. The final value add is the compilation clause. you know the one where the promoters reserve the right to produce a compilation DVD. A little something extra where the filmmaker gets zero.
Its hard for people to break through. It doesn’t matter whether they are photographers, musicians, filmmakers, artists, writers (finish this long list later), its hard. Whats particularly piss poor is when surfers who present themselves in a certain light turn out to be something darker.
On the day that the parents of the balloon boy hoax are charged for causing a public nuisance in their attempt to get their own reality tv show, I don’t know what bothers me most – Innersection’s appeal to ‘a dash of American Idol’ or the crap name.
I think it’s the name.
btw, I don’t want to suggest you stay cranky Clif, but it does suit you.
so, you’re saying it’s like a Roxy design-a-bikini contest? hmmm…when you put it that way
filmmaking and what you see/hear on a screen is always a conjecture of different peoples’ ideas and resources though, isn’t it? since when was any of it really the property of the film’s author/director? i’m not sure this is really that different, just more brazen, maybe.
tiffany campbell and andria lesser (of Dear and Yonder fame) recently discussed this an interview with Julie Cox of Drift Magazine:
http://driftsurfing.com/features/2009/tiffany_cambell_andria_lesser/p9.html
salaam,
dina
(Cough…Cough) Little Weeds.
Clif,
enjoyed the rant..
so much to rant about, so little time, and this little episode is certainly prime fodder.
watch the blood pressure..don’t take it too much to heart, keep up the good fight (really, someone has to do it) but recall that it’s always, always been an uphill battle.
Here’s a comment about the fundamental underlying paradigm that perhaps sums up the surfing/marketing/industrial /complex:
“Surfers make sheep look like independent thinkers”.
don’t know who said it, but sounds pretty much like a universal truth to me,
and/or the starting point for any surf related marketing campaign that has even a remote chance of commercial success.
Sponsors pay their “freesurfers” annual salaries. Guys who don’t even compete. Why? To build the exposure of their profile, and hence endorse the quality of their goods.
This just seems to be the way things work. Pro surfers are paid to show their stuff. The contest is a free forum for people to watch it. I think Taylor Steele’s hit the nail right on the head with this one. And in the meantime, it frees up his own filmmaking time to work on projects like Sipping Jetstreams and The Drifter, which I didn’t think were the same ol same ol at all…I thought those films were a real step forward for Mr. Steele.
Frock me!
I posited the same argument in RS abt a year back and was shouted down by the “aspirational parents” and media toadies.
So Clif, can war be declared on this pile of crap that masquerades as “opportunity”? Ideas welcome.
If Steele wants a part for his next DVD, he has to pay the filmer and the editor or at least give them royalties. Want to be a producer? Act like one! Every job needs to be paid, we’re not some kind of drifters …
what about free board and accomodation at an isolated west aussie hobo ranch and a lifetime supply of sanuks. thrown in with a little tattoo on your left big toe which says in hindi script taylor steele inc. fuck off with a nomination to the newest surfing hall of fame award, the least explETITIVE read repetitive generating ideas on the internet. a cuban cigar. tweezers. aformentioned tattoo gmail account. a bag of surfing world fantales with top 300 (all-time heroes) made from rainforest nougar and slave trade free bolivian chocolate. what you mean we are not drifters? at least we are not grifters
I mean I’m not eating nasigoreng in Kuta, I mean I’m not looking every 5mn at my haircut, I mean I’m not travelling alone with a DP and his 30 indos camera crew, I mean there’s no metaphysical shit or philosophy in surfing or surf movies, I mean if you think Taylor Steal is cool, just run buying his DVD, download his movirs from iTunes Store and film and edit your cocksucker best friend pro surfe for free. Grifters sucks dick. Fuck Youtube of surfing!
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I’m thinking of starting my own site called ‘incestion.tv’…. It will feature a contest of the best surfers out of the coast of Kentucky. It will be rad. Check Google soon.
sipping grifters 2
here is the deal.
The surfers either go on editorial trips or competitions like the WCT on their own or their sponsors wallet. Given.
Taylor steele is putting up $100kUSD to the winner.
Now the surfer or the surfers sponsor can either pay the filmer/editor to enter the comp or not. It’s there choice. Same as the surfer will either pay an airline/manager/hotel/out of pocket/ etc expenses to chase editorial or WCT.
The WCT events pay for last place about what it costs to turn up and do the contest. Actually not even.
Pretty simple when you actually think about it eh.
My only gripe with the whole thing is that the contest doesnt’ leave anything special for the end. It used to be cool to see who got the final part in the video.
for what it’s worth, Jordy and Julian won’t be doing the comp so that’s to surfers that would go close to winner the end section anyways.
wade goodall will win it.
each brand can get into it. for example billabong can compile & edit footage of goodall, rip curl can do owen, quik can do clay. the voters decide who wins the 100k.
Oh! Well, as long as the major surf brands can get in on it, and put all their resources behind their surfers, then that’s ok!!!! I feel better about it all now.
Another Taylor Steal snoozer perhaps?!
here is the STOOPIDITY of the idea…EVERYONE WILL SEE THE sections before the movie comes out, so why even buy or watch sucha a lame ass idea when youtube will have already played it for millions..hey TAYLOR you suck!…and you blew it by letting Kai Neville steal your thunder….you’re old now go surf a longboard..if you EVEN SURF AT ALL kook!
Whats worse is that it seems like Mr Steele and a guy named Damon might have stolen this idea from some other guys in Santa Barbara who were going to use this concept as a free forum and instead of trying to make tuns of money off of it, they were going to let the competitors have all the money that their videos earned through sponsors. Damon saw the business plan within months his friend Taylor comes out with this, minus the benefits for the public.
The winner gets 100k. Isn’t this a good thing? This could turn an underground surfer and filmmaker into someone. I don’t understand why everyone hates Taylor so much. Don’t worry Taylor I love you, you’ve kept me entertained for years with your amazing films.