The Spat Out in Glory Story

Spat the blog is about the making of Spat the surfing movie.

The blog is an experiment in maximal transparency, reflecting all it can about the creative process that goes into making the film. Expect video rough cuts, potential narrative and thematic directions, travelogue entries ... whatever influences the creation of Spat Out in Glory.

Spat the surfing movie documents the attempts of a media-industry refugee (me) to get barreled, and to catch it on film. See the videos in the blog, and the one embedded here, to draw your own conclusions about my ability as a surfer. I've never had much luck with cameras, either.

The movie is being shot in HD video and Super 8 film, on location in California and Nicaragua. The title was coined by and borrowed from Layne Beachley, discussing what it feels like to get barreled and ejected when the tube collapses. It seemed apt to describe both my artistic goal and recent developments in the media business, which was my home for about 15 years.

I spent three years running the editorial operations at TVWeek, a television-industry trade publication.  Before that, I was the bureau chief in L.A. for Bloomberg News. Before that, a couple trade-press gigs in DC and Baltimore.

D of C

This project couldn't happen without its Director of Cinematography Camera Monkey, also known as my wife. I haven't secured consent to use her name, so until then, it's D of C to you.

The blog is constructed on the SquareSpace platform, and I encourage you to use its social networking functionalities. You can follow Spat on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The RSS feed is another great way to keep up.

Greg Baumann, Dec. 11, 2009