As much as I hate Instagram, as much as I believe it’s killing the spirit of surfing, the best surf related content of 2022 was only found on IG. The Quiksilver/Roxy Pro G-Land was a little bit of a disappointment to many, mostly due to their own expectations of the waves. Nonetheless, we witnessed a behind the scenes episodic series presented by Quiky, hosted by Stace Galbraith, that will stand the test of time; JUNGLE TV.
With the G-Land Pro being the first event after the mid-year cut, many surfers showed up the island with a visible weight off their chest. Everyone looked loose and happy. The contest seemed to be the afterthought of the whole event. With the waves in the decent to shitty range, the most entertaining stuff to happen was on land, rather than in the water. And this is what surfing is all about. As Stab just recently pointed out, only 3% of our time “surfing” is actually spent riding waves. As fun as it is to watch absolute shredding, not every surfer can relate to the Tour Pros sessions. Everything that happens surrounding the 3% of ripping is what we can all connect to; the surf checks, the party, the shoey(bootie), the commentary, etc.
Watching the series live gave a lot of insight and background details into the event. Surfers personalities were shown freely, unlike a typical Wozzle post heat interview. The whole Quik team did a great job of skimming down what Box To Box did with Make Or Break, making it lighter and a bit more fun. Not so much, if any drama involved. I got a minute of Stace Galbraith’s time and asked him how his experience was hosting the series.
“We had a great time making it. To begin with was pretty nerve racking. I feel like whenever you’re walking around with a camera and a microphone, generally speaking, people don’t want to talk to you.”
While these nerves were never evident to the viewer, Stace admits the ‘cast’ was quick to warm up to the idea and atmosphere of Jungle TV.
“I must say after episode one or two came out, the surfers and the characters that we were trying to have conversations with could kinda tell we had a pretty relaxed approach.”
I think a few things led to the whole production being so fun yet so candid and revealing. As previously mentioned, all the surfers were free from worry about losing employment – missing the cut. Everyone had island fever; judges, coaches, surfers, deputy commissioners, etc. I also believe the Quik team brought a truly light hearted, enjoyable mentality to the project. Stace being such a respected and well liked contributor within the broader surfing community led to a real easy feel with everyone. He tells me it was much more of a team project than what appeared on camera.
“One thing I didn’t realize about the process of a social media account with such a big brand . . . was how involved everyone is. Creative Director, Art Director, Senior Team Management, everyone’s in on it. I always thought Instagram was almost like an afterthought, and when I saw how much work went into Jungle TV, it gave me a big appreciation for anyone that’s putting out quality content like that. You know from Tom Cole who was making it, he’s staying up ‘til midnight finishing the edit so that it could be posted first thing the next morning, and he did that seven nights in a row, among other things. So yeah, big effort from everyone to get that out.”
What an effort indeed, and an achievement at that. This series could be talked about longer than the surfing or the contest that went on at Grajagan Bay. With no exotic island Tour Stop on the calendar for 2023, Jungle TV was a one year run, for now. “We would definitely love to do something like that again,” said Stace. Instead, surfers above the cut line will be gifted with a wretched traverse 2 hours inland to KS Surf Ranch. Nice. Real great. Looking forward to that one.
Watch, or rewatch, and enjoy some of the highlight moments of 2022 below. Big thank you to Stace Galbraith and great work to the Quiksilver team. Can’t wait for the next series of JUNGLE TV.
Cheers,
-hwilsin