I spoke with Transworld Surf’s Chris Cote this afternoon to get his reaction to the closing of the magazine where he has worked since its founding in 1999.
Chris’s current title is Creative Content Editor, and he worked as Editor in Chief of the publication for many years, and is the public face of the brand.
A proud legacy
Chad DiNenna, Bob Graff and Chris Cote at the SIMA Image Awards. Shop-eat-surf file photo.“Emotionally it’s heartbreaking but at the same time as I look back, I am super proud of what we’ve done,” Chris said. “We’ve been a huge conduit in changing surfing as a whole. We came in with the goal of having fun, and advancing surfing as far as the radical nature of the sport.
“We challenged people and the view of what it was to be a surfer by doing things like burning surfboards and melting wetsuits and putting surf trunks on dogs,” he said. “We were the underdogs – the punks of the party.”
I asked him for examples of how Transworld Surf changed surfing.
He pointed to a T-shirt the magazine made in 2000 that encouraged surfers to do aerials in their heats.
“We were pushing progression as far as aerials and doing different tricks on your surfboard,” he said. “Around that time, contests were very boring. We said, ‘don’t take this too seriously – have fun and got out and do something rad – don’t be a robot.’ “
Other accomplishments
“It think we helped make surfing as a whole better and surf media better. The other guys were doing the bare minimum before we started. We lit a fire under their ass.
“We pioneered a lot and had so many firsts over the years. We were the first to use flash light surf photography. We invented what we called “broisms” like Bromance, which is now very common in pop culture. We took a skate mag approach to humor.”
Impact on athletes
“I feel bad for the surfers,” Chris said. “We were the one magazine that had an all inclusive policy about who we put in the magazine. We were the most successful at breaking the careers of new surfers. We ran photos of people you probably wouldn’t see in other magazines.
“Some surfers’ jobs just got more difficult now that there’s one less outlet. It just got a little harder to make a living as a surfer and that sucks.
“The goods news is that people are surfing better than ever and more people than ever are surfing. Hopefully, we’ve hit rock bottom – I guess we’ll see.”
See Page 2 for how morale is holding up at Transworld Surf, what’s next for Chris
Morale
I asked Chris how morale is around the Transworld Surf office.
“People are shattered, but at the same time proud of the work they did,” he said.
“In all fairness, the (GrindMedia) management has been nice, and they are trying to make sure people are placed in jobs – they are not being dicks about it.”
“They didn’t want to do this in my opinion, but they are coming in as a business, and they said it didn’t make sense to have three surf mags.
“We did get the news delivered to us in a way that was very fair and heartfelt and that meant a lot to us.
“I don’t worry about the people here being picked up quickly – a lot of talented people are now available, and we had the best staff.”
The future for Chris Cote
I asked Chris if he will stay on with Grind.
“It’s a day-to-day thing,” he said. “I’m excited with the opportunities being presented. There is a lot of growth for Grind, and we’ll see if I’m a part of it.”
I asked him if other companies have been calling now that he may be available.
“Yeah, but that’s been happening for the last 10 years,” he said. “I’m a very loyal person and I believe in what I’ve done here. We’ll see what happens.”
Last thoughts on Transworld Surf
“I’m proud of what we’ve done here, and I have no problem saying we’ve changed surfing forever,” Chris said. “We’ll never be forgotten. I know that sounds corny, but I believe it.”
