Surfing legend Spider Murphy’s story goes to Hollywood [Watch]
The documentary shares how individual surfers' lives had been shaped by Spider's boards.
A locally produced documentary capturing the legacy of legendary Durban surfboard shaper Spider Murphy, has been selected for the Silicon Beach Film Festival in Hollywood this month.
The documentary – The Spider Web – captures the story of Matthew Murphy known to have expertly crafted around 100 000 surfboards, used by both amateurs and professionals in the sport.
The screening of the documentary at the festival will be concluded on Friday and considered for an award.
Simbithi resident and Hellmot Productions director, Tim Hay, said he was inspired to tell Spider’s story after he was told of the opportunity to document the man’s life by friend and fellow producer, Mike Frew.
“Straight away I was keen, only because I have a passion for the anything to do with the ocean. I knew Spider had a great story to tell,” said Hay.
The documentary shares how individual surfers’ lives had been shaped by Spider’s boards. Hay, himself a surfer, said his second surfboard was one made by Spider.
Hay said the documentary began as a passion project and the decision to enter the documentary for an award only came later.
“My goal with these kinds of projects is to simply share a great story. Creating a compelling narrative story with amazing visuals gets me excited.”
Speaking on their connection, Hay said Spider serves as an excellent example of how one should live one’s life, beautifully reflected in the production.
“He has paved the way in surfboard shapes for all of us and has pioneered the design that led to world champions being made. I feel it’s important to pay tribute to him.”
As for the man himself, Spider boasts a career spanning more than 50 years, and even at the age of 76 continues to enjoy both surfing and skating when not working on boards for Safari Surfboards, Africa’s largest and longest-established manufacturer of surfboards.
Spider joined the company in 1972 and was the founder of War Surfboards, which he started after shaping his first board at the age of 16 in 1963.
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