My relationship with helping to tell the story of surfing as therapy started 10 years ago. Big Dog Surf Camp was helping Eddie Donnelan and Tim Gras, care workers in the Bayview / Hunters Point area of San Francisco introduce underserved kids to surfing. I documented the collaboration, which was eye opening on many levels. 

Eddie and Tim went on to found MeWater Foundation, which works to address adjustments of trauma and stress in young people from backgrounds of poverty and violence. They do this by providing a different way of relating to the world and communities they live in, all through the power of nature and the ocean.

In 2021, I was approached by Eddie to make a film for MeWater. I felt very strongly that the narrative should be from the POV of one of the kids. No talking heads, no explanation. Just an abstract and atmospheric expression of their lived experience.

With the help of some trusted collaborators, I made ‘Float’. The film has been watched by tens of thousands of viewers and was awarded a Vimeo Staff Pick. It has been shown at various film festivals and media outlets, including the SFO museum.