BoardRoom Interview - Mike Hynson Part 1
Our interview with Mike Hynson is the latest release of our full interviews for Boardroom.
Matt Warshaw from Surfer.com recently wrote "Mike Hynson was the second-most polarizing 1960s surfer, behind Mickey Dora. Those who would kneel before Hynson and kiss the ring on his well-manicured hand were roughly equal in number to those who would've liked to see his privileged little ass get kicked from Windansea to Big Rock and back."
We kind of got that sense when our Orange County video production team showed up to interview Hynson, he was not one to mince words.
You can get your copy of Boardroom here and learn what these legends had to say: www.boardroomfilms.com
BoardRoom Interview - Robert August Part 4
Best said on the Encyclopedia of surfing:
"Agreeable, clean-cut goofyfooter from Orange County, California; costar of Bruce Brown's 1966 crossover hit surf movie The Endless Summer, and longtime surfboard shaper/manufacturer. August was born (1948) in Hermosa Beach, California, and raised in Seal Beach, just north of Huntington. He began surfing at age six, under the guidance of his father, Blackie August, a one-time Redondo Beach lifeguard who surfed with Duke Kahanamoku during the famous Hawaiian's frequent visits to California.
August developed a smooth and relaxed wave-riding style, and later became a dependable if not spectacular competitive surfer, placing fourth in the men's division of the 1963 West Coast Championships, third in the 1964 United States Invitational, and third in the 1965 United States Surfing Championships. He was also invited to the 1965 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational.
In his early teens, August was featured in two of Bruce Brown's surf movies, and a few months after high school graduation (he was senior class president), the 18-year-old flew with Brown and San Diego surfer Mike Hynson to Senegal to begin filming Endless Summer. Over the next few months they traveled through Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti. A live-narration version of The Endless Summer debuted on the beach-city surf circuit in 1964; the slightly modified final edition came out in 1966 to glowing reviews in Time, Newsweek, and the New Yorker. August and Hynson had no speaking lines (Brown's narration is heard throughout), but both became minor pop culture stars.
August worked in 1965 as a salesman at Jacobs Surfboards in Hermosa. He began shaping boards in 1966, first for Jacobs, then as a Huntington-area freelancer. August opened the Endless Summer restaurant in Huntington in 1971, a venture, he later told Longboard magazine, that "set a world record for losing money." In 1974 he opened Robert August Surf Shop in Fullerton, and two years later relocated to Huntington. The longboard renaissance, beginning in the early '80s, was a boon to August's business; he closed the retail store in 1998, but by 2000 his boardmaking factory was producing about 4,000 boards a year—almost exclusively longboards and longboard hybrids—and distributing them to dozens of outlets worldwide.
August had a cameo in 1994's Endless Summer II, Bruce Brown's long-awaited sequel, and he was inducted that year into the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame. In 2001, he was featured in Biographies, an Outdoor Life Network documentary series. He also appeared in 2003's Step Into Liquid."
Here is Part 4 of our interview with Robert from your favorite Las Vegas video production team, FiveSix.
Boardroom Interview - Robert August Part 3
Beginning in 1965, August worked for Jacobs Surfboards in Hermosa Beach, first as a salesman and then as a shaper before becoming a freelance shaper in late 1966. Then, as the shortboard revolution hit the surf industry, Robert found himself making adjustments to the changing sport. In 1971, he opened the Endless Summer restaurant, a business he later described to Longboard magazine as one that "set a world record for losing money." In 1974, he launched Robert August Surf Shop in Fullerton, California and relocated it to Huntington Beach in 1976. Stocked with shortboards because of their popularity at the time, Robert was still a longboarder at heart. "In the '70s, you couldn't even find a longboard blank. I knew I wanted one, but I didn't know if they would sell. Finally, I made five of 'em and everyone came in the shop going, wow--a longboard!"
This clip was produced by FiveSix Productions, a Las Vegas video production company.
BoardRoom Interview – Robert August Part 2
Just a few of months after graduating from Huntington Beach High School--where he was senior class president--Robert was presented with an opportunity that would change his life forever. Along with 21 year-old Mike Hynson, filmmaker Bruce Brown chose 19 year-old Robert August to travel the world in search of the perfect wave while making the famed movie The Endless Summer. August was selected over better-known surfers because to Bruce Brown, Robert represented surfing in the positive way he perceived the sport. Not a stranger to Brown's camera, Robert had appeared in three of his movies prior to Endless Summer, including Slippery When Wet (1957), Barefoot Adventure (1960) and Surfing Hollow Days (1961).
Filmed in 1963 and debuted in '64, The Endless Summer played throughout America, with Brown originally providing masterful live narrations. In 1966, Newsweek Magazine named the film one of the 10 best movies of the year, and it gave August the recognition that would serve him extremely well in his future business ventures. This once-in-a-lifetime experience, coupled with a lifelong friendship with Brown, made a lasting impression on Robert's life, the effects of which are still evident today.
Here is Part 2 of our interview with Robert.
BoardRoom Interview – Robert August Part 1
Robert Alan August was born in Hermosa Beach in 1944 and grew up just down the California coast in Seal Beach. His father, Orral "Blackie" August, was a lifeguard at nearby Redondo Beach and was one of the first surfers to ride its waves. Blackie often surfed with Duke Kahanamoku when The Duke would visit Southern California, and had Robert surfing at the age of six.
A natural goofy-footer, Robert quickly developed the smooth, relaxed style that allowed him to become a successful contest surfer at a very young age. He finished fourth in the men's division of the 1963 West Coast Championships and third in the '64 U.S. Invitational. In 1965, Robert placed third in the U.S. Surfing Championships and was invited to surf in the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational.
Below is part 1 of our interview with Robert. If you enjoy this you should check out our surf documentary, BoardRoom - Legends of Surfboard Shaping.
Executive Producer: Robert Jax
Producer / Interviewer: Robert Bell
Director: Markus Davids