How I Got My Work Published on Outside Magazine
How the project began…
This short video series actually didn’t start as a video project at all. I hadn’t seen two of my best friends from high school in over 5 years and we figured it was time to plan a surf reunion. As a surf photographer and surf cinematographer I figured it’d be fun to capture some moments of our trip since the last time I photographed and filmed these guys surfing was with an old GoPro Hero 4. We had originally planned on visiting my sister’s house in Spain since it would be cheap and easy for them to get to from the U.K. (where they’re based) and a fun free place to stay.
However, two days before we had set off to go to Spain we had a quick change of plans since a horrible storm of gnarly wind and rain put a bit on a damper on our already cold weather December surf trip to Spain. Ben, the strapping young man pictured in the thumbnail above, had the idea of just bopping down to Morocco instead of Spain since flights were cheap and we’d heard great things about the waves in Imsouane at the time. So after my last scheduled video production job in Boulder, Colorado (where I’m based), I hopped on a flight to Morocco.
Adventure Surf Photography
Like I said, this trip was not something I had planned on making a full documentary series about. I’ve been fortunate to have work as a surf photographer and surf cinematographer take me to some exciting waves around the U.S. and Latin America but this would’ve been my first time taking my camera to North Africa. I had studied abroad in Morocco when I was 16 for an Arabic immersion program (fun fact: I studied Arabic for 5 years and can hold a basic conversation) but the camera wasn’t a part of my life yet.
So, I was super stoked to get some destination and cultural surf photography to my portfolio. Although I spent most of my life living on the coast, I’m now working as a Boulder cinematographer and even though Colorado has some epic mountain surfing (…snowboarding/skiing), I always am drawn back to the ocean.
Why We Made A Video Series…
As you’ll discover if you watch the four part series, we had a lot of adventures in Morocco! One of the biggest, obviously unexpected elements to this whole endeavor was the fact that soon after we arrived the borders closed, our flights were cancelled and we were stuck in Morocco. I won’t spoil too much of what happens in the videos here but you should definitely check out all four episodes above or on Outside Magazine below:
Since we had so much happen, from meeting and chatting with a local goat herder to exploring the coastline and scoring some pretty fun waves I realized this wasn’t something we could put into a short 3-4 minute video. I was debating sharing it as a long form documentary and submitting it to film festivals but that process is slow and expensive - submitting a film to film festivals often costs $35 per submission which adds up if you send it to 10+ festivals - so I put out on a poll on my Instagram how I should share it… and an episode series won!
This was my first time creating an episode style series and after seeing it how it went, we’ll be doing lots more in the future! I released the video series every Tuesday in February, 2022 to create a weekly hype around it. I was just publishing it on social media, mostly for fun, to share the crazy endeavors that happened to me and my friends on our surf trip. I had put a lot of hard work into the editing and storytelling elements of this video series so it felt a bit like a passion project that would just showcase my ability to capture the excitement of outdoor adventures.
Then, I pitched it to Outside Magazine…
How Outside Magazine Got Involved…
I just sent them an email…
It’s not as exciting as you might imagine. I’ve never done a whole lot of editorial work before so this process pretty new for me. I’ve mostly been working in the commercial and branded documentary space so the idea of pitching a story to a publication was a little bit intimidating. I’ve never been too afraid of rejection and get a decent amount of emails companies turning down projects I pitch to them (fortunately that’s happening less than it did in the beginning of my career but still definitely happens) so figured I just wouldn’t hear a response. I literally googled “how to pitch outside magazine” and this article came up….
It seemed a little too good to be true but I just reached out with a short description of how our surf club got trapped in Morocco and put a link to the video series on my website. I sent the email and immediately forgot about it. Like I said, I didn’t think they would ever say yes. Then, THREE HOURS LATER (!), I got an email back from one of their journalists letting me know they’d love to feature our video series. They outlined specific information I needed to send over so after adjusting the video export settings to fit exactly with what they were wanting, I put it out there. Then, a couple weeks went by as the journalist uploaded the films to the website and BOOM! There we were!
What Happens Next?!
We realized this was a pretty incredible opportunity to be recognized by the gold standard of storytelling in the outdoor industry so we began to think through if this is something we should continue doing - surf adventure stories with impact. Me, Ben and Thomas were spread out all over the world when this went up. I was working as a cinematographer and adventure photographer in Boulder, Colorado. Ben was back in the U.K. working for the government studying coastal erosion. Thomas was in Kenya doing work with a non-profit doing healthcare in remote communities. We figured that we’re actually pretty well qualified to create an ongoing video series combining all of our passions and work. We get to benefit from Ben’s background in environmental conservation, Thomas’ background in humanitarian work and my background in telling stories with a camera.
This is just the beginning of the Goat Surf Club
So, this is the start of an ongoing project documenting the Goat Surf Club in our attempt to share positive, impactful stories in surf communities around the world…
Our main goal with this is to provide a couple of episode series a year, similar to this one we just did in Morocco, but with a more impact driven lens. A sort of travel/surf/environmentalism style show that can educate people on different cultures, social and environmental issues through the lens of surf tourism.
As we continue developing the next trip we’d love to hear from YOU! We’re hoping to partner with environmental nonprofits, social justice organizations or individuals making an impact in their coastal communities around the world to share their stories and surf alongside them.
Let’s chat!
Roo is a commercial/documentary filmmaker and photographer based in Boulder, Colorado but travels all around the world for his filmmaking career. He has produced films above 14,000ft in the Rocky Mountain West, filmed among indigenous communities in Peru and Ecuador, directed videos with professional surfers in Costa Rica and has received notable recognition in his hometown of Orcas Island in Washington State for his work telling stories in the outdoor space.
If you have questions or want to talk more about my life as a Boulder cinematographer, adventure surf photography, and/or adventure filmmaking please reach out! I always love connecting with new people and talking through how I can help them achieve their dreams in telling stories of impact.
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