'Soul' survivor
Champion surfer Bethany Hamilton’s movie contains a message that a South Pasadena couple believes in
By Carl Kozlowski 03/25/2010
It was a story that rocked the world in 2003: A 14-year-old surfer had been attacked by a shark off the coast of Hawaii and lost her arm. On the way to the hospital, she lost nearly half the blood in her body. If she lived, certainly no one believed she’d ever ride the waves again.
But no one outside of her family really knew Bethany Hamilton. The teenager had been surfing nearly her entire life, outclassing her opponents on her way to being ranked second in the world. That strength and determination — along with her unshakable Christian faith — helped her not only come back despite the severe setback of a missing arm, but also take the title of world champion.
Hamilton’s life has been a whirlwind ever since, earning her guest spots on the Larry King and Oprah Winfrey shows while inspiring a memoir that sold a whopping 900,000 copies in the US alone, plus another 600,000 in Europe, Australia and Japan. And now her life is being turned into a $15 million movie called “Soul Surfer” by Sony Pictures, starring popular teen actress Anna Sophia Robb as Bethany, Oscar-winner Helen Hunt as Bethany’s mom, Dennis Quaid as her dad, and “American Idol” champ Carrie Underwood as her youth minister.
And a South Pasadena couple is right in the heart of all the filming action. Michelle Lindsay is the film’s production coordinator, with her husband and boss Kenny Burk working as the film’s unit production manager (UPM). The duo is the unseen glue behind the scenes, holding together the operations of hundreds of crew members on numerous locations and dangerous shots across the Hawaii coast.
On a recent visit to the set by a PW reporter, Lindsay described the hectic nature of her often 16-hour days, which have been long and busy ever since touching down for advance prep work for the film back in December.
“We put together all different parts of the movie and disseminate info among all the different parts of the team,” says Lindsay. “The UPM decides on the crew, who works with everything from cameras to wardrobes, and he hires all different departments. We make sure everyone is on the page with what’s going on and disseminate all scripts, call sheets, schedules … make sure all departments are communicating. We pick out locations for scouts to check, making sure scouts and transportation departments are on the same page. We order equipment of all different kinds — cameras, lenses, all different packages different equipment for makeup.”
Lindsay entered her profession about eight years ago and has steadily worked her way up the chain from TV through indie films to “Surfer,” her first major-studio production. But she can already tell that there’s a different kind of selfless spirit on this project than she’s experienced on most sets, which she attributes to the fact that the film is considered a “faith-based” work and the real-life Bethany and her family are a constant presence on the sets.
“The fact that it’s faith-based definitely had an impact on me,” says Lindsay. “I thought it was a very powerful story with the potential to be very powerful and motivating. I was way more motivated to work on it than the average film. Hawaii is definitely very alluring — I’ve been here since Dec. 6 and I’ll be here ‘til the beginning of April.”
Of course, it’s hard for Lindsay or anyone else involved in the production to complain about the hours and months devoted to the set. After all, they are shooting in paradise. But yet, there has been an odd sense of spiritual uplift throughout the film’s history, as Oscar-winning writer Ron Bass (“Rainman”) came aboard to write the final script, and world-class surfing documentary director Sean McNamara took the reins on his first dramatic feature.
Its main producer, a bear of a man named Rich Peluso, was drawn to the Hamilton story due to his position as vice president of Sony’s faith-based wing, Affirm Films.
“We were drawn to Bethany, her family, and ‘Soul Surfer’ right away,” says Peluso. “It’s a powerful story of perseverance and determination which features a great cast and is being told by filmmakers who share our desire to make inspiring films that can be enjoyed by a broad audience.”
For her part, Bethany seems surprisingly unfazed by all the attention. She has the sunny, laid-back attitude of a girl who has spent her entire life in the water and sun. She appears to have fully accepted the loss of her arm as just another part of life, and genuinely seems to wonder what all the fuss is about.
“[Youth minister Sarah Hill] came and visited me in the hospital, and gave me the Bible verse Jeremiah 29:11, which means, ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,’” recalls Hamilton. “That gave me peace because it told me God is in control. He’s going turn this into something, and it ended up being something amazing and good. Of course I can’t say I didn’t ever get frustrated because, yes, I did. But eventually I moved on. And I hope this movie can show people the way to do that in their lives.”
Depicting Bethany’s dad — a former teenage surfer turned born-again Christian named Tom — also had a profound personal effect on Quaid. The 52-year-old with a 30-year career as a leading-man is also the father of 2-year-old twins who were given what should have been a lethal dose of Heparin after their birth.
Speaking to PW while sitting between takes in a house serving as the set for the Hamilton home, Quaid poignantly noted two factors that drove him to agree to play the role of Tom without even reading the script. First, he believes that the “millions of prayers worldwide” for his babies saved their lives. Second, he noted that watching the real-life Tom Hamilton day after day, “walking his faith,” finally compelled him to embrace God himself.
“When I read a script is the only time I can see a story like the audience itself. This really got me. It was uplifting, and I hope people see that,” says Quaid, who accepted the offer immediately after Hamilton’s story recounted on a December episode of NBC’s “Today” show reduced him to tears. “We all have problems that we live with in life that are so huge to us on a daily basis, in our daily grind. Seeing this film and hearing this story makes you want to let go and let God. There aren’t any big problems in life, really — just a bunch of little details.”
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT