Surf theater revival house

Dave Brooks

Dave and Leslie Carlos were longing for the days when viewers used to

hoot and holler in the movie theater, rough-house a little in the

aisles and clink the occasional beer bottle on the floor.

“It’s funny because they weren’t remembering the video, just the

hangover,” Leslie Carlos said.

Three years ago, the Huntington Beach couple launched “Surf

Theater,” a sanitized throwback to the old Surf City movie house of

the same name. Once known for rowdy crowds who sneaked in beers to

catch surf classics like “Endless Summer,” Carlos’ Surf Theater

incarnation is geared toward families. Half the audience is usually

filled with teenagers and prepubescent “groms” who buy raffle tickets

to win T-shirts and knock a beach ball around the cinema.

The couple launched the project three years ago to screen “Burning

the Map,” a coming-of-age surf documentary on local pro Timmy

Turner’s voyage to Indonesia. Dave Carlos rented a theater in the

Mann Pierside Pavilion at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and

Main Street and sold out two screenings of the film.

The success of the film captured the interest of the Orange County

surfing community, and the couple formed Big Red Productions, named

after the 6-foot redhead female half of the two-person production.

On the first Thursday of each month, Big Red screens a new film at

the Mann theater, as well as showings in Encinitas and Manhattan

Beach. Today the couple is screening “Vaya Con Dios,” a documentary

on a team of surfers who adventure to ride the 300-yard long

coldwater waves of the Chilean coast. The movie will open with a

concert by punk rock band The Glue Factory.

Opening the screenings with a musical act is a new addition to

Surf Theater, which seeks to recreate the old surfing theaters of the

1970s, where screenings of films like “Pacific Vibrations” were

mini-social events and area surfers could view footage of exotic surf

locales or meet pro-surfers like Gerry Lopez and Barry Kanaiaupuni.

“These movies take you places that you wouldn’t be able to go,”

Leslie Carlos said.

Hugh Larry Thomas opened Huntington Beach’s first and only Surf

Theater in 1962 near the corner of 5th Street and Pacific Coast

Highway. Thomas operated the rowdy movie house for 27 years, using

money generated from the theater to produce his own film, “Standing

Room Only.” The theater was bulldozed in 1989 during a booming

redevelopment transformation and converted into a parking lot.

Dave Carlos said he wanted to spark a revival of the surf film

genre, which he said met its demise with the introduction of VCR and

home theater. Soon videos replaced movie stub tickets and the

specialized film industry saw itself forced out of theaters to make

room for Hollywood feature films and art flicks.

The Carlos’ revival has been successful enough that both were able

to quit their jobs to pursue the effort full time. The couple has

landed several local sponsors and hosts screenings for action sports

conventions. In July, they will hold their three-day Surf Theater

Film Festival to coincide with the U.S. Open of Surfing.

The highlight of the festival will be a video screening of Greg

MacGillivray and Jim Freeman’s “Five Summer Stories,” a hard-to-find

classic considered by many to be the best surfing film ever made. The

couple also plan to host big-wave legend Laird Hamilton for a

screening of “All Aboard the Crazy Train,” a documentary on the

bone-crushing waves of Peahi, Maui.

The Carlos’ said they hope they can continue to expand Surf

Theater and create a venue for the surfing community to gather and

enjoy footage of far-away surf spots.

“We just want everyone to go to the theater and have a good time,”

Dave Carlos said.

“Yeah,” his wife quickly replied. “And we want them to leave the

theater stoked.”