A Deeper Shade of Blue

Most professional surfing contests hold their final at a charity beach on a Sunday afternoon regardless of wave quality. The Billabong Challenge, a bold new direction in competition surfing, enticed 8 hot surfers from around the globe to battle a dangerous shark infested reef, at a secret location on the remote desert coast of Outback Australia. Held over a 14 day period, enduring harsh elements, till time and tide set perfect conditions for the ultimate challenge.

Red hot pumping sessions with Occy, Richie, Ronnie Burns, Munga, and the rest of the Billabong crew in exotic Indonesia, Africa, Hawaii, and Europe. This is flowing surfing, carving surfing, tubes, and huge curves and carves on great waves. Occy is the star.

The world's most renowned surfing cinematographer, Jack McCoy, spends two years following two of the world's greatest surfers: Andy Irons, a highly competetive and driven surfer, set on beating Kelly Slater and winning the world title, and Dave "Rasta" Rastovich, a free surfer who is more about the soul of surfing. The result: Blue Horizon, a documentary made to bring surf movies back to the big screen, where "they truly belong

Somewhere out there, many years ago, the story of evolution took an unexpected turn. On an isolated tropical island, far from the acid rain of civilization, a new breed of man was born. He was called 'homowavesailor.' The 'homowavesailor' evolved rapidly. As centuries passed, wave sailing men gravitated to the tropical island of Maui. From their very first appearance here, they multiplied rapidly. By the 1980s, they were the dominating group on the island. The steady trade winds and warm tropical waters perfectly suited the development of this new sub-species.

A balance of wind, tide and consistent, deep ocean swells are the factors that control the destiny of the Billabong Super Challenge. Eight of the world's best surfers discover big, clean, gnarly barrels, in a contest without compromise. Starring Mark Occhilupo, Luke Egan, Ross Williams, Kalani Robb, Martin Potter, Rob Machado, Paul Patterson, and Shane Dorian. Music from Submarine, Yothu Yindi, Tumbleweed, Storytime, and The Celibate Rifles.

As modern surfing leaps into the future, a new breed of hot young surfers merge the energetic moves of snow & skateboarding with the traditions of rhythm and flow, as they feverishly attack any wave, in any condition. Challenging eight of the world's best juniors in a revealing expose of the next generation, 'ALLEY OOP' stars Andy Irons, Taj Burrow, Chris Ward, Michael Lowe, Shaun Holmes, Ono, Yuri, and Tim Curren. The winners of seven international BILLABONG regional events were invited to compete in the 1998 BILLABONG JUNIOR CHALLENGE. Contested over 3 rounds with accumulative point scores, the extreme energy and intense rivalry set the stage for top Aussie Juniors to do battle with hot major talent from Hawaii and the USA. Featuring Andy Irons, Taj Burrow, Trent Munro, C J Hobgood.

From letting go of the two rope to rocketing into the channel in a gale of compressed air and spray, the apex of one man's life all came together in a mere ten seconds which shook the surfing world. In August of 2000, Hawaiian big wave waterman Laird Hamilton, one of the creators of tow surfing, was pulled into the largest wave of the day by jet ski in the sleepy town of Teahupo'o. Broadcast internationally by CNN, Reuters and AAP news feeds, Hamilton's feat including being sling shot over a thick ledge where the wave hit the reef and almost tripled in size, which would have ended in severe injury or death if not successfully executed. The entire story of this amazing trip to Tahiti is documented a film The Surfers Journal hails as "the greatest combination of soul surfing and cutting edge futuristic surfing like never before seen!"

The second BILLABONG CHALLENGE continued the pursuit of great surfing waves. Held in massive surf on the last day of the 10 day waiting period at one of the world's most perfect rights, Jeffrey's Bay South Africa. Top international surfers battled the rising swell for US $50,000:00; challenging each other, the awesome forces of the sea and their own personal stamina. Featuring the surfing of Kelly Slater, Mark Occhilupo, Warren Dean, Brenden Margieson, Johnny Boy Gomes and Shane Powell.

The last of the BILLABONG CHALLENGE series; Challenge Four, in Indo, and Challenge Five, in Australia. Indo did not deliver the surf necessary to complete one round so it was cancelled until the following year. Starring Rob Machado, Kalani Robb, Luke Egan, Shane Dorian, Tom Curren, Sunny Garcia, Mark Occhilupo, Taylor Knox, Pancho Sullivan, with appearances by Margo and Kelly Slater. Winner of "Surfer Magazine’s Video of the Year Award" 2000 Best Cinematography Award.

Presenting the cream of the hottest surfing of the era with a fresh and imaginative approach. The best of Australia, Hawaii and secret spots in Bali and Indonesia.