GTC sponsors RED announce REDIRECT Surf 2015

RED Digital Cinema and Surfer Magazine have come together to announce the official launch of REDirect Surf 2015. This is the second installment of the REDirect series – a competition and celebration of filmmaking visionaries across the globe, highlighting varying genres. RED and the Berrics joined forces early last year to launch the first ever REDirect, and after an extremely successful collaboration and film festival showcasing 12 of the most renowned skateboarding filmmakers in the world, the focus now turns to the art of capturing surfing.   

A total of 12 contestants – selected by Surfer and RED – will be participating in the competition. They will be judged on both their “Best Moment in Time” – a captivating still pulled from their motion footage – and their “Best Highlight Reel” which is their finished short film project.

At the core of each EPIC camera package the contestants have received is the power of the RED DRAGON sensor – boasting 6K, over 19 megapixels, and incredible dynamic range – ready to capture surfing in an industry changing way. Packaging it all together is the DryZone 200, the world’s first waterproof, soft-sided camera backpack from Lowepro. These ergonomic backpacks come with a harness with CollarCut™ straps, waistbelt and sternum strap for custom fit adjustments – perfect for the conditions these filmmakers will be in.

“We are unbelievably excited to be rolling out the second series of REDirect with Surfer,” said Jamin Jannard of RED Digital Cinema. “The amount of talent in this competition is absolutely incredible, and we can’t wait to see what they do with DRAGON in their hands.”

Once filming has completed, each participant will be responsible for all editing and post production. REDCINE-X PRO provides RAW workflow and now features A.D.D. (Advanced Dragon Debayer), a new algorithm for DRAGON that carefully analyzes every pixel to create the best frame possible. Supporting the filmmakers in post are G-Technology’s G-RAID and the newly released G-DOCK ev™ with Thunderbolt storage solution – a two bay, swappable drive system with user configurable RAID 0,1 that is designed to optimize the digital content workflow. 

Viewers will be able to check out the finished films released over a three month period, and will have the chance to vote for a “Fan Favorite” on Surfermag.com. The Grand Prize winner will take home the EPIC DRAGON package they were shooting on during the competition valued at over $50,000, with additional prizes for second and third place winners, and the Fan Favorite.

“We’re so excited to be partnering with RED to give the world’s best filmmakers a platform to showcase their talents, using the best equipment available,” said Brendon Thomas, Editor-In-Chief, Surfer. “Surfer is known for the quality of its content and these 12 films, aired exclusively on Surfermag.com and RED.com over a three month period, will continue that tradition.”  

Whether it’s the best wave of the day, a deeper look into the surf lifestyle, or an artistic representation of what surfing means to one person, this competition will bring together world class filmmakers and world class surfers – with an end result that is sure to thrill audiences all over.

Be sure to check out RED.com and Surfermag.com for information about the contestants and updated news as the contest takes off.