Business is set to boom for an Illawarra surfboard shaper thanks to the Hollywood remake of the ‘90s classic Point Break, due for release in coming weeks.
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Dylan Longbottom of Dylan Surfboards was approached by Warner Bros to be the surfing stunt double for Edgar Remirez, who plays Bodhi.
His surfing partner Laurie Towner was also chosen for the movie because of his likeness to Luke Bracey who steps into Keanu Reeves’ old shoes of Johnny Utah.
Longbottom, who’s now based in Bali with his surfing family, has just finished making all the promotional boards for the various red carpet premiers around the globe, including L.A. Australian film-goers can watch the high adrenaline action thriller from New Years Day.
“I made over 30 boards for the movie, what we rode, but another 30 for all the releases,” he said.
Unlike the original, the new version does not revolve around surfing but instead involves several extreme sports such as base jumping, motocross and snowboarding.
“The [original] movie was great, but the surfing made a joke of it,” said Longbottom. “This time they wanted to make it as realistic as possible… [it was] the big thing the producers said was really important.”
His and Towner’s role was to be the surfing stunt doubles for the lead actors, that were able to do “crazy things” in the surf. A short film of the pair riding a monster wave at Tahiti’s famed Teahupoo titled Code Red caught the movie makers’ eyes, and the rest is history.
What was the iconic big wave scene ending the original may not be in the remake, as Longbottom said their major scene was when the characters come across a reef off the coast of france.
“So it’s not the end scene, but it looks pretty crazy,”
The professional surfer has been shaping boards since 1995 and continues to work for Billabong chasing big swells around the world and mentoring juniors coming up through the ranks, but once a month he also sets time aside to visit his North Wollongong workshop to shape some boards.
He said being part of Point Break has opened more doors having met a multitude of producers who liked his professionalism and his surfing.
He also now has another Warner Bros opportunity on the table, a water based film to be shot in North QLD.