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Pura Vida No Pro: Video Blog Post #2
The above footage is of Gilbert Brown; Costa Rican native, professional surfer and Pura Vida No Pro volunteer. Gilbert showed up at the PVNP fresh off a third place finish in the Pan American games. As a Central American surfer he is making a serious run at the ASP world tour, which would be a phenomenal accomplishment. Gilbert is a local surfing star and in the midst of fielding tons of attention for his performance at the pan-am games, was amazing in the way he interacted with the kids. And though the video above shows more of his touchy feely side, we have some footage of this guy ripping some head high Las Olas beach break. Stay tuned to the film for more...
The event went off very nice, with a number of kids getting up on their first waves. Marvin, one of the veteran campers, became the first kid from Casa De Suenos orphanage to enter the contest. He was part of the winning team and paddled in to a huge crew of fellow kids who came down to the water to meet him and congratulate him. Pretty rad.
OPP is very lucky to have been invited on this project and I think we can do it justice. There were dozens of volunteers from Charleston, Arizona, California, and I think every local surfer in the Jaco, CR area showed up to help.
The thing I hope we can get across in this video is that these folks flat have a good time while doing this. That it is an easy thing to build into an action sports or eco-vacation. Help a kid get up on a wave.
These guys come to Costa Rica, catch waves, have surf-rock star parties and they laugh -- a lot. But when those kids climb off that bus, it becomes a bonding experience and sheer fun and games for all. We first met Marvin at the orphanage our first day in San Jose and when asked about the PVNP, his shy response was "it is the best day of the year".
A huge shout out to Chuck H. for his phenomenal camera work and great attitude, Timo, the crew at Los Alos, Michael and Marcel, and all the people showing some big love and catching some big waves. The above footage is of Gilbert Brown; Costa Rican native, professional surfer and Pura Vida No Pro volunteer. Gilbert showed up at th... more -
Pura Vida No Pro - Video Blog Post #1
The footage posted here is of Kristin Wilson, a professional surfer who has been involved with the Pura Vida No Pro for over 5 years. We grabbed an oceanside interview and some surf footage of Kristin late in the day on Thursday. Kristin is an impressive surfer and an impressive person with a gentle nature. This is a short excerpt from the interview that will be in the forthcoming documentary
Trip Journal #1:
- posted by Mitchell 6:10 AM, Friday Nov. 16th
We landed in Costa Rica on Wednesday afternoon and took a trip straight to the Casa De Suenos orphanage, located in the hills outside San Jose. After battling through the improbably bad traffic of San Jose we reached the boys home and were able to get some footage of the facility, interview the social worker and house mother Anna, and get some time with the in country director - John O' Toole. John served as our guide and has also graciously put our budget minded crew up in his house near Hermosa Beach. John is a very funny guy who moves between people and languages with a real ease. John was instrumental in the founding of the event and continues to breathe a real life into the efforts to help the kids at Casa De Seunos - year round.
The visit to the Seunos was inspiring. The kids were obviously nervous with a bunch of camera carrying gringos storming into their space, but were all friendly and seemed excited about the film. We will see them all again on Saturday in a totally different environment. When asked about the Pura Vida event, one of the older kids said "it is the best day of the year." I flipped through the sketchbook of another where they had done a full page drawing with "Pura Vida" written in beautiful graffiti type text.
Yesterday was spent getting to know all the surfers and volunteers showing up in town. People split time between organizing and catching a few waves (which were glassy and head high most of the day) in classic Pura Vida style. We got some great footage and have set up to talk to a number of volunteers today, all of whom spend their vacation time here in Costa Rica having fun and giving back...quite a novel idea for anyone's free time.
We are off to a 7 AM interview...and a day full of storytelling...more later and thanks for tuning in. The footage posted here is of Kristin Wilson, a professional surfer who has been involved with the Pura Vida No Pro for over 5 years. ... more -
Pura Vida No Pro - Day one video blog post
The footage posted here is of Kristin Wilson, a professional surfer who has been involved with the Pura Vida No Pro for over 5 years. We grabbed an oceanside interview and some surf footage of Kristin late in the day on Thursday. Kristin is an impressive surfer and an impressive person with a gentle nature. This is a short excerpt from the interview that will be in the forthcoming documentary
Trip Journal #1:
- posted by Mitchell 6:10 AM, Friday Nov. 16th
We landed in Costa Rica on Wednesday afternoon and took a trip straight to the Casa De Suenos orphanage, located in the hills outside San Jose. After battling through the improbably bad traffic of San Jose we reached the boys home and were able to get some footage of the facility, interview the social worker and house mother Anna, and get some time with the in country director - John O' Toole. John served as our guide and has also graciously put our budget minded crew up in his house near Hermosa Beach. John is a very funny guy who moves between people and languages with a real ease. John was instrumental in the founding of the event and continues to breathe a real life into the efforts to help the kids at Casa De Seunos - year round.
The visit to the Seunos was inspiring. The kids were obviously nervous with a bunch of camera carrying gringos storming into their space, but were all friendly and seemed excited about the film. We will see them all again on Saturday in a totally different environment. When asked about the Pura Vida event, one of the older kids said "it is the best day of the year." I flipped through the sketchbook of another where they had done a full page drawing with "Pura Vida" written in beautiful graffiti type text.
Yesterday was spent getting to know all the surfers and volunteers showing up in town. People split time between organizing and catching a few waves (which were glassy and head high most of the day) in classic Pura Vida style. We got some great footage and have set up to talk to a number of volunteers today, all of whom spend their vacation time here in Costa Rica having fun and giving back...quite a novel idea for anyone's free time.
We are off to a 7 AM interview...and a day full of storytelling...more later and thanks for tuning in. The footage posted here is of Kristin Wilson, a professional surfer who has been involved with the Pura Vida No Pro for over 5 years. ... more -
La Pura Vida: Religion in Samara
I did a short piece on religion in Costa Rica and how different generations are interpreting the national motto "Pura Vida" or the pure life. It was amazing how in this small town in Costa Rica had two different churches and that the younger generation was rejecting formal religion. Take a look! I did a short piece on religion in Costa Rica and how different generations are interpreting the national motto "Pura Vida" ... more
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Video Blog Post #1: Quiksilver Foundation - Finding Pura Vida T-Shirt Fundraiser
We are excited to have partnered with Quiksilver Foundation and Redux Studios to produce the Finding Pura Vida TShirt release party.
We have taken artwork from children at Casa De Suenos, an orphanage in Costa Rica, and applied it to shirts donated by the Quiksilver Foundation in order to create a unique fundraising program.
These are the same children that we support each year via our Pura Vida No Pro surf contest. You can learn more, and see the tshirt designs, at www.puravidanopro.com.
September 19th 2007 The Finding Pura Vida TShirt program was a huge success. Thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting our event. Special thanks to Quiksilver Foundation, Grasshopper Surfboards, Redux Studios, Woody's Pizza and Palmetto Brewery. We are nearly sold out of shirts!
All told we raised over $8,000 (and counting) for the children at Casa De Suenos!
- Tim McManus We are excited to have partnered with Quiksilver Foundation and Redux Studios to produce the Finding Pura Vida TShirt release party. ... more
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