Image by @ChristinekNg

The Newport Beach Film Festival Presents the World Premiere of THIS IS BRIGHTON

 A coming-of-age sports documentary about Brighton Zeuner, one of the best female contest skateboarders of her generation

Brighton Zeuner / Premiere of THIS IS BRIGHTON ~ Photo Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word

We caught the World Premiere of THIS IS BRIGHTON on Saturday at The Newport Film Festival and we have to say, you need to see this documentary. We were around during the six-year time frame that the doc was being filmed so we thought going in we knew a lot, but there was so much else happening privately and this film sheds light on a lot of that. Being a pro skateboarder at a young age and having so much pressure on you as you head into the Olympics takes it toll. Brighton’s documentary is full of positive moments, but also a serves as cautionary tale for those on the outside looking in, as skateboarding heads to its second Olympics.

Featuring:
✨Brighton Zeuner @brightonzeuner
✨Bryce Wettstein @brycewettstein
✨Poppy Starr Olsen @poppystarr
✨Jack Zeuner @jacksonzeuner
✨Chris Gregson @tweestopher

THIS IS BRIGHTON is a coming-of-age sports 93-minute documentary about Brighton Zeuner, one of her generation's best female contest skateboarders. As skateboarding becomes an Olympic sport, this character-driven film reveals the anxiety and pressures of competition, the effects of social media, and how a global pandemic upended the promise of a young skater destined to be the best. Nearly six years in the making, by an all-female film team, the documentary features Newport local teen Brighton Zeuner as she figures out who she is and what skateboarding means to her. On Saturday, October 14, THIS IS BRIGHTON will make its world premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

"For six years, this amazing team of women have been documenting the skateboarding journey of my youth," said Zeuner. "I am so excited this film will be presented in my hometown at the Newport Film Festival in Newport Beach. Hope to see you there!"

When/ Where:  Wed, Oct 18th, 5:30 PM @ Big Newport 4

Tickets: Purchase tickets for Wednesday’s Show HERE

About the Filmmakers

Director, Beth Aala

Beth Aala is an award-winning Filipina-American documentary filmmaker with her hand in all aspects of production. In addition to directing and producing, she shoots and edits. She has won three Emmy awards and a Peabody Award for her documentary work at HBO. Beth recently directed and produced the feature documentary Made in Boise. The film premiered at AFI Docs in June 2019 and was the season opener for PBS's 2019-2020 award-winning Independent Lens series. It was honored as a 2020 News and Documentary nominee. Other film credits include Rancher Farmer, Fisherman, which she co-directed and produced and premiered at Sundance in 2017, and Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (A&E IndieFilms), which she directed and produced with comedian Mike Myers and Academy award-winning producer Caroline Waterlow. Supermensch is an intimate and entertaining portrait of talent manager Shep Gordon, the most famous man you've ever heard of. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2013 and was nominated for the 2015 News and Documentary Emmy Awards, and won the 2014 Hollywood Film Award for Best Documentary. Beth has been supported by the International Documentary Association, Chicken & Egg, and ITVS and is an honored recipient of the NYSCA Artist Grant, a proud member of ADOC, Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Filipinx Filmmakers, and is a Wyncote Fellow. Her work has been featured on HBO, PBS, A&E, Discovery, and MTV.

Producer, Caroline Waterlow

Caroline Waterlow is an award-winning documentary film producer based in New York City. Waterlow produced O.J.: Made in America, an ESPN Films documentary directed by Ezra Edelman and winner of the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 89th Academy Awards. Most recently, she produced QUALIFIED, an ESPN Films 30 for 30 documentaries about race car driver Janet Guthrie, the first woman to qualify for the Indy 500. Feature documentaries include Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon, directed by Beth Aala and Mike Myers, which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, and the Academy Award-nominated documentary Cutie and the Boxer, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013. In 2013, she was the senior producer of content for MAKERS.com. From 2006-2012 & she contributed to multiple award-winning HBO documentaries, including Brooklyn Dodgers: The Ghosts of Flatbush and TEDDY: In His Own Words.-30-

Bryce Wettstein hitting the rail at teh Bigfoot Magazine party - Photo Ian Logan

When you put out the word that Bigfoot Magazine, a non-traditional skateboard magazine is having a party to raise funds for issue three, and it’s announced that USA Olympic Women’s Park skateboarder Bryce Wettstein will be skating and singing, you get an incredible crowd of diverse people showing up!

Quinne checking out Issue 2 of Bigfoot Magazine - Photo Ian Logan

Instead of just the typical skateboard peeps, there were musicians, artists, some of the Moxi Rollerskating crew, neighbors wanting to support, and quite a few mini shredders from the skateboard scene. Parents let their kids roam free, skating the sidewalk (complete with a rail) out front of Bigfoot Magazine’s offices, and Bryce showed them a few tricks, which was the start of a really fun evening.

Justice, Klara, Mayzie, Bryce & Quinne - Photo Ian Logan

Later, Bryce and pro skateboarder Amy Caron took to the stage to sing and play, and the songs ranged from some of Bryce’s original material to old favorites like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” People danced, sang along at times, and just took it all in. Their voices were beautiful, and the acoustics inside were perfect.

Bryce Wettstein playing and singing for the crowd - Photo Ian Logan

Last but not least, the evening ended with a raffle, and all sorts of great prizes were given out. The kids went home tired and stoked, their parents enjoyed themselves, and the rest of us had a fantastic Saturday night meeting new people and knowing that Bigfoot Magazine Issue 3 - will be going to press soon.

Keeping media and brands that are run by and focused on non-traditional skateboarding is so important - thanks to everyone that came out to support!!

All Photos Ian Logan

Our favorite skate mag, BIGFOOT, is having a BENEFIT SHOW SATURDAY SEPT. 24th from 5-8 pm AT THEIR LONG BEACH STUDIO

Come on down and sing your heart out along with shredder/musicians BRYCE WETTSTEIN and AMY CARON‼️

⚡️Raffle and rail jam going down too 🎟🛹🥰

⚡️Funds go directly to printing Issue #3‼️(BIGFOOT is an independent, 20-year dream that has been manifested mostly by hard work- gardening and pouring beers, ask Migzy more.)

⚡️Suggested donation, but nobody will be turned away for lack of funds (can relate 😂) Want to volunteer instead? Hit BIGFOOT up on INSTAGRAM

SEE YOU THERE!!

Sakura Yosozumi, Sky Brown, Cocona Hiraki - Photo Chris Ortiz for Dew Tour

In some ways, the Dew Tour Women’s Park finals were almost a replay of what we witnessed at the X Games last weekend. Sky Brown and Sakura Yosozumi battling it out for the top two spots, Cocona Hiraki following right behind, and the USA skaters ending up solidly in the middle of the pack.

Sakura Yosozumi

Cocona Hiraki

Mami Tezuka

It was good to see USA’s Jordyn Barratt back in the mix, she held her own and threw down a great first run. Bryce Wettstein brought her own brand of magic to the comp and nailed it on her final run to secure that 5th place spot. As you can see, there was a big jump in scores from the podium skaters to the rest of the field. With Sky Brown absolutely knocking it out of the park on her third and final run it put Sakura at a bit of a disadvantage, had she made that 540 and the rest of her run she may have overcome Sky’s score. Stay tuned because the battle between these two will undoubtedly continue on through the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Sky Brown

Another surprise was Allysha Le in the announcers booth. So great to have a female pro skater in there calling out tricks and talking about their fellow skaters. We hope this momentum keeps going!