Arts & Entertainment

Hollywood Surf Movie Seeks Local Extras: Surfers and Families

The movie about surfer Jay Moriarity will film in Santa Cruz mid-October.

A about Santa Cruz big wave surfer , who died at age 22, is seeking extras to be in scenes filmed in Santa Cruz in October.

Moriarity was well known in the local surfing communities of Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay and Pacifica as conquering the world-famous surf break Mavericks as a teenager.

Mavericks is less than a mile past just outside Half Moon Bay.

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Last year, the organizers of the 2010-11 Mavericks surf contest named the contest , in memory of the Santa Cruz surfer.

The extras won't be paid, but there will be drawings for prizes.

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The movie needs hundreds of surfers and families. The surfers will be filmed at Steamer's Lane and Pleasure Point, and the families will be at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

The as-yet-untitled movie is being directed by Curtis Hanson, the man behind LA Confidential and 8 Mile.

Gerard Butler, who starred in 300, plays Moriarity’s mentor (Rick “Frosty” Hesson), and 22-year-old Jonny Weston will play the lead role.

Moriarity, born in Georgia and raised in Santa Cruz, was an iconic surfer who at 16 started surfing at Mavericks and helped bring the big waves to national prominence. One of his early wipeouts was caught on film and made the cover of Surfer magazine.

When he was 12, he met his mentor, Rick "Frosty" Hesson, a veteran surfer, lifeguard and collegiate swimmer. Moriarity talked him into taking him under his wing and training him for the biggest waves. The movie is said to be a tale of struggle, redemption and a purity of soul that affected all who knew Moriarity.

Moriarity died a day before his 23rd birthday in a diving accident in the Maldives.

Some of the local scenes include a day at the boardwalk, with Moriarity and his future wife, Kim. Hundreds of people will be needed for it.

The film crew will also need a thousand surfers to recreate the "paddle-out" commemorating his death.

If you are interested, email the promotional extras coordinator at 831management@gmail.com, and leave your name, age, email and phone number.


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