Roxy launched the premiere of an all new girl’s surf flick, “Dear and Yonder” Thursday night at La Paloma Theater in Encinitas. The event was not only packed with every surfer girl from Ocean Beach to Oceanside, but Roxy team members and executives including Randy Hild and Danielle Beck were among the attendees.
We took the opportunity to ask Randy, Roxy’s executive vice president of global marketing, about the brand’s backing of the new movie.
The movie is a project created by film producer Tiffany Campbell (renowned artistic cinematographer Thomas Campbell’s wife) and Andria Lessler. It traces surfing’s athletic history through women like Linda Benson, and Joyce Hoffman to modern day sensations like Sofia Mulanovich and Sally Fitzgibbons. It also delves into environmental issues featuring an eco board shaper Ashley Lloyd, geophysicist and big wave bodysurfer Judith Sheridan, and Liz Clark, a female sailor who is using wind and solar power to propel her across the globe. The film has an artistic edge that links surfing abroad to surfing close to home – the “dear” being home, and “yonder” being far.
(Above: Andria Lessler, left, and Tiffany Campbell.)
This seems to be a pretty big grassroots event for Roxy. During a down economy and Quiksilver’s current situation, are you pushing grassroots events like this?
Randy: We are lucky that we made a commitment to this project before the financial drama so I am glad about that, but it was still a conscious decision to not wimp out at the last minute. We have an amazing passion for the core and the great thing about this film is that with Tiffany Campbell involved, there’s an artistic and cultural side to the movie. It was a unique piece and we were lucky that they approached us to be involved first.
(At right: Danielle Beck, Roxy’s sports marketing director, and Randy Hild.)
Your athletes are here, there are big giveaways and prizes and there has been advertising all over town. How much does an event like this cost?
Randy: It’s in the six figures by the time you pay for advertising and the movie events across the country. This is not a casual decision to sponsor this movie. A bean counter finance guy might not really understand this decision, but I am lucky our company lets me do what I believe in. There hasn’t been a women’s surf film out in a while and this was a great fit for our brand.
How many more premieres do you have?
Randy: We’ll have a dozen bigger premieres at this level, and then more across the country and in France.
For more information about “Dear and Yonder,” including dates for other premieres around the country, click here.
