Award Winning Surfing Documentary, "The Westsiders" by Josh Pomer
Surf 5 years ago 1,878 views
Please subscribe to my channel. The Westsiders will only be available for a limited time. This is a free preview. Please subscribe and share this movie with your friends and family. From surfing innovations to gritty localism, follow the rise and fall of The Westsiders surf gang through the eyes of three best friends from the original 'Surf City': Santa Cruz, California. Best friends Daryl 'Flea' Virostko, Shawn 'Barney' Barron, and Jason 'Ratboy' Collins bonded by common tragedy and their love of surfing. They live through shattered homes, drug addiction, other psychological issues and hard-core localism to achieve their dream of becoming professional surfers before the age of 24. To surf the notorious Steamer Lane, they had to join 'The Westsiders' Surf Gang and go face to face with Vince Collier, aka 'The Godfather of The Westside'. Vince, a massive brute force, ran Steamer Lane with his own version of street justice. This film explores The Westsiders as the latest chapter in the fascinating surfer history of Santa Cruz, California.
I'd love for people to know that this sort of life and all of the insane ups and downs of these guys at the top of the surf food chain wasn't unique to them, but too common then. "Broken home" latchkey gen x'ers making an escape out of nothing but swelling water's rapture. (And parties after.) Many I knew growing up on the east side too didn't make it in one piece or at all. Drugs/dealing, violence, mental issues, jail time, suicides and all. Way too many. Best and worst of times. Sometimes water saved us. Sometimes consumed us. I escaped the worst by drastic measures. I miss surf-centered life too. Dream it every day... all those people are still in my heart. Surfing SC is ruined by stairs, commerce and crowds, now. To me. Some, like you Josh, lived to tell the tale, though. Awesome job!!