Watch and read: Harry Triglone // Fun Boys 2
Several weeks back, NSW North Coast filmmaker, Harry Triglone, released the second installment of his light-hearted Fun Boys Entertainment Systems film series, opening the file up for download on his website for a small fee.
Fun Boys 2 has had a relatively soft and prolonged launch. There's been a local premiere or two and a gentle spray of social media promo, yet it’s remained an underground release compared with other films flaunting a cast of this calibre.
What calibre, I hear you ask.
Here’s the lineup: Creed McTaggart, Wade Goodall, Shaun Manners, Josh Sleep, Garrett Parkes, Jay Davies, Dion Agius, Beau Foster, Dakoda Walters, Ozzy Wright, Noa Deane, Jack Freestone, Ryan Callinan, Tyler Warren, Gareth Budge, Steven Sleep, Hayden Richards, and Duncan Macfarlane.
Oh, and Kelly Slater, though he only appears for the one cylindrical water shot.
So, there’s a few lesser-known identities in there, but that’s the magic of the Fun Boys enterprise. It’s basically a home movie starring a bunch of mates hanging out chasing waves, but it just so happens that some are world tour surfers and others are up-and-comers and underground hellmen. With that you can expect a few bong jokes, foamies, kneeboard rides, and incredible high performance moments.
“It’s extremely important to keep things light-hearted, it’s at the core of what it means to be a fun boy,” says Harry of Fun Boys and its place in the hyper-serious world of modern surf culture. “The whole sport element of surfing is pretty fucked.”
Overall it’s a thirty five minute effervescent documentation of good times, colourful music (from Gerry Rafferty to Pat Benatar, Geto Boys to Bruce Springsteen), and solid surfing. It’s a DIY production by one man, who merely asks for a tenner to help chip in for petrol.
Paying for digital content is a touchy subject nowadays. With so much free material available at the stroke of a key, we’ve been programmed to expect it should all be that way. Thank you Facebook and Instagram...
We jolt at the idea of plugging in sixteen digits for an intangible item. The dark side of this is that we’ve come to devalue longer form productions, some of which take monumental amounts of time and energy.
Personally, running a fledgling record label, I’m a big believer in communities supporting small business. I think there ought to be more effort put into direct financial support for micro biz owners, content creators, and talent - both performers and producers alike.
A small fee of $5 to $20 shouldn’t pull your legs out from under you, and if you don’t dig it, next time, spend elsewhere. Reap the seeds you sow.
I probed Harry on the issue.
“I put it up for sale because I needed to make some money to survive and pay for a trip I had planned. I feel like people are keen to support independent surfing films because it just helps make it possible for the filmmaker to make more stuff."
"So much time and effort has gone into it, and personally I really like having to wait for something that has taken a while to make.”
If you’re feeling it you can head to the Fun Boys website to buy the film, maybe even grab some clobber to support the cause.
Comments
Blowin?
No.
You may notice the fundamentals of grammar incorporated into the piece. That counts me out.
?
I'm feeling the dee-eye-why, but I'm not feeling the title.
assuming the Swellnet new boy wrote this?
it's a bit rich to blame the punters for devaluing long form surf vids when these sponnos have been putting them out here on Swellnet for all to see free for years because Billabong or whoever paid the bills.
didn't this cat put his last one on here for free?
Wasn't there a Creed edit shot in South Oz and elsewhere just dropped for free in the last month?
btw, did he pay for the soundtrack?
no biggie to me if he didn't, but musicians might take a dim view of it.
Good luck getting a pay day out of it.
Didn't you notice the acknowledgment of the author, at the top of the article?
did now, I don't think it was up there when it was first published.
Yep, Rick wrote it.
Reckon it's a fair cop myself. Same deal is happening across all media, a collective, if subtle, realisation that free content, whether it be journalism or entertainment, comes at a cost.
Blowin, a beautifully punctuated point.
Blowin can write. As a trained wordsmith, I see it.
That para he did on the 1 week Mentawai trip being the one thing holding the surfing middle class punter together really deserves to go to Swellnet's Pool Room.
Wait, are you saying that I’m a Creative ?
Where’s my money !
see negative interest rates example below :)
I did and I enjoyed it.
Shit is about to get weird !
I get the feeling that the period 2008-present is the monetary explosion before the great IMPLOSION !!!
PS In order to make this relevant to the clip , let me just say that I find Harry Bryant entertaining. Great surfer , light hearted delivery and when I witnessed his dog try to piss on a bloke’s leg at Sharkies car park near Wollongong a few months ago , he handled the embarrassment with just the correct combination of slight embarrassment and sly smirk. Good work.
I read it that Rick was having a go at Facebook and Instagram, not the punters.
"We jolt at the idea of plugging in sixteen digits for an intangible item. The dark side of this is that we’ve come to devalue longer form productions, some of which take monumental amounts of time and energy."
We?
The punters.
Who has done the devaluing though?
I'd argue it's the sponnos themselves.
FR76 - your obviously not a creative in this era.
Freeride is probably the best writer of surf getting around.
nah mate, couldn't be more wrong there (OHV500).
I've done it pretty much my entire adult life, and worked real jobs.
As well as writing I've worked with Greenough, Kidman, Hoole, Mick Sowry, Derek Hynd etc etc.
It ain't easy to make a buck but I know exactly what goes into shooting and editing a film.
I watched the trailer. All I see is Billabong stickers.
And something similar to what he put out for free last time.
Something maybe not as appealing as the long form edit Creed put out this year, or Manners put out on Gnaraloo last year. Both for free.
It ain't Facebook or Insta who is devaluing the long form edit, nor the punters who watch them here on Swellnet.
It's the sponnos themselves, half or more of which are sitting on million dollar real estate up in Bangalow.
Fucked if I'm going to pay for their lifestyle.
The cunt wants to make a buck out of it, then tap the sponnos themselves, they are the ones benefiting from it, extending their careers.
Or bring something different to the table, something that isn 't being put out there for free.
Blaming Facey and Insta, I'm sure Rick didn't put much thought into that.
just mad cause there is no surf and everything is on fire, I really do hope he makes a buck out of it.
ps, fuck those cunts
G’day there free ride, Harry Triglone here.
You seem to have jumped to a lot of conclusions here based off of your viewing of the 1 minute trailer.
In some ways you’re right. It’s not that different from what I put out last time. It’s just surfing, it’s just a bit of fun and people are willing to pay for it.
Sure Creed and Manners put out videos for free. That’s because it serves as both an ad for Billabong aswell as an ad for the surfers personal brand and that is why those films were funded by the brands and put into the public domain.
Yes it was free last time I put out a full film but this time I thought I’d try and make some money back that it cost me to produce the film. Would you like it better if I spent my days creating free content for you? Maybe you could come and clean my house for me for free and I’ll tell you all the things you’re doing wrong and deconstruct why what your doing is the right thing?
You seem pretty angry. Maybe you should spend less time anonymously commenting on Internet forums and spend some time in the real world, cunt
Good luck to you Fun Boys. It’s cool. This very website charges for its premium content for largely the same very good reasons as you, which thermalben explained at length when they made the transition.
You are not stealing money from anyone. I don’t know why some people seem a little upset. People can make their own choice whether to make the modest purchase. Good on you. Getting paid for your work is kind of a noble thing. I guess most of the people here don’t mind some reimbursement when they are on the job.
I couldn't give a flying fuck whether you make free content for me or anyone else Harry.
You made the last one for free, how did you pay for that?
your mates are putting enough of it out there that I'll never have to worry about having a lack of free surf porn to watch.
Good luck if people are willing to pay for it,
Really mate, this will be forgotten in the next ten minutes.
good luck, seriously.
HA Awesome FB you nailed it and sumed them up with one little paragraph .
I hope the surf picks up so your not so grumpy. As you, I have worked with many of the above mentioned and with the surf companies. As you will know doubt understand, trying to be creative and make a dollar these days don't really go together ;)
Just don't think we should expect things for nothing. It takes a lot of effort and time (as you must well know) to make anything, whether it be good or bad.
And hitting up the companies for dollars these days doesn't really work, just look at the state of the surf industry. And as you have stated many times, you won't buy the big company gear - hence the problem with the industry :) And even crew like needessentials get a bollocking on here. So were does the $$$ come from ?
Just don't think you should rag a guy for giving it a crack !!
PS: I'm stuck in town and the bloody surf is pretty good :)
It's all churning and burning free content on social media, everything else is splashed with ads, logos and product plugs, often both, hence why we expect something for nothing more than in the past.
It's not 'punters' that got us here, it's changing culture.
I've nothing against it, most A grade content is backed by big biz.
Just means we need to make additional effort to keep the independent producer's head above water where we can so they can keep doing what they're doing.
Hope that clarified the point in some way.
If that vid is a sampler no way id pay, it really didn't show me anything i cant find on YouTube, its' not even so much about the money, it more just the hassle of paying.
If it's not instant gratification these days we click on, even if a clip takes one second too long to load, its click on to the next.
Good luck to him, hope he makes a few dollars out of it.
But there’s no way I’m paying for that. As already mentioned you can see that quality of clip for free every other day of the week.
Get the sponsored surfers you’re filming to support ya mate.
Ps, no angst about the area this is filmed in blowin??
Haven’t watched it.
That knee stance barrel roll is fuckn classic, yeeew
Suns out guns out, I’m getting some popcorn.
how about you pay me and I'll watch it. rates to be advised.
the world of negative interest rates approaches... watch everything you know turn on its head
(too cryptic? OK, imagine you have a Universal Basic Income of 2 grand a month. The producer of the vid pays you to watch it and runs up an account deficit on his Line Of Credit. Because the LOC has a negative interest rate of -2%, his balance of -$350,000 earns him $583.33 per month... Obviously, if he makes more films, maybe gets a diesel van and can get the debt to about 1.2Mn, he too will make about $2000 per month. On top of his $2K UBI. Get ready for some insane shit.)
so much angst amongst the natives, enjoy it or not, dont kill the film maker. why is everyone so upset? back in the day there was nothing.....
just a Friday afternoon flame out in silly season Bipola.
nothing to see here.
Hope Hazza does well with it.