You’re the man behind the project. You’ve been working on it for 8 months now. What were the ideas and motivations?
Actually, the idea came from smaller projects I realized with Quentin Maynadier, Gontran Viard and Adrien Klouytten. One day I came up with the will to realize a longer project, on a larger scale. The boys were 100% keen, straight away. So we created Wingz. We wanted to build a true identity and a team able to produce media content, starting with this movie. The crew saw some early additions with Clément Lodeho, Yon Aimer, Davo Fever and the Portuguese Antionio Saraiva and Miguel Coelho.
You’re promoting a pretty underground bodyboarding scene in this movie. Why these riders?
I didn’t think to the project before the riders, but the opposite. They gave me the idea, without knowing about it. They’re all good friends. I said why not, they’re motivated, I know their abilities in the water, they can rip. And they fully trust me too.
We heard that some of the soundtrack has been created for the movie. Can you tell us a bit more about it? Was the music created watching at the footage or the reverse?
Exactly, half of the soundtrack has been created by my friend Cédric Campays – Lavion, including the teaser’s soundtrack. They all came from the atmospheres I wanted to picture in Luxury. Cédric quickly understood what the idea was and transmitted it to perfection. Photography & editing have been adapted afterwards to the music, because I had in mind to define precisely the different parts of the movie.
You’re one of the only filmmakers to have an arty approach to the job, in the French surfing community in general. What are your inspirations?
They’re wide, and diverse. In the bodyboarding industry, Todd Barnes is my reference. But I also try to get my inspirations out of this small world. Music clips, dancing, other topics… It’s crucial to see what’s happening anywhere else before getting to do what I want to do.
What’s you video setup? And editing quiver?
I film with a Sony FS700 and an external recording unit which allows me to increase the camera’s capacities. I’ve got an Aqua Housing from Waves Solutions Housing and I use a Sony A7SII inside the housing. Quite a nice combo!
All the editing has been done on Premiere, and After Effect for some animations and effects.
Any upcoming projects in 2018?
For clients, yes. Like this one, I hope so. But other inspirations will come to the picture and new ideas will come up for sure!