Craig Anderson Talks Biz Lessons, New Dad Life And FORMER’s Highly Anticipated Film Releases

If you’ve been waiting on FORMER to release a fully fledged film since stacking their team then your wait is nearly over.

Not entirely over, because DEFECTIVE UNITS // VOL #1 isn’t the full length, full roster film but it’s minutes enough to keep you going until the big release of DEFECT in July. For this one, you get twenty mins of Craig Anderson and Benny Howard in South America filmed by Jack Taylor. The low key maniacs duo who battled broken bones and relinquishing full control to spit out something magic. Expect a couple more of these units to drop because obviously the boys know you’ve been starved, but in the meantime, read our chat with the king of style himself.

Hey Sam!

Craig, how are you? How’s new dad life going? 

It’s fucking nuts. He’s three weeks old. 

Oh my god, fresh. 

Very fresh. Very long and skinny. 

Are you sleeping? 

Um.. no. Not really. We had a good night last night though but that is the best one yet. But yeah loving it. Huge adjustment. Just getting used to it. You kind of prep so much for the birth which was super radical. It went as well as it could have but yeah I dunno you kind of prepare for that so much and then that’s all you can think of. Then the baby is out and it's another form of radicalness. It’s cool. 

Well congratulations to you both. 

Yeah, I never really pictured myself as a dad. 

But here you are. 

Here I am. I’m stoked. 

Glad to hear it. Just quickly, I should know this but when was the last full FORMER release? 

Film release? We did a film called SYSTEM IS YOURS and that came out about three years ago. I don’t know if that counts as a full one. I wouldn’t say that was slapped together because there were some really cool trips in that film but that was more just a twenty-minute thing. We didn’t focus on making a surf film, it was more fragments of stuff from the team. 

Yeap okay. And then how many of these little episodes can we expect before DEFECT? 

Maybe like four? I don’t actually know. We have a tonne of footage, we’ve been filming for a couple of years. Just trying to encourage all the guys on FORMER to save all their best stuff. Dane’s been kind of putting everything on a time line and it has worked out to break each of trips to really encapsulate what was happening on them. 

Yeah that’s cool.

But DEFECT will be a full length high octane surf film yeah. 

Giving the people what they want. And tour it around? 

Yeah, yeap. Global first premiere will be in Ventura, then some more in the States, Australia, Indonesia, Japan. Maybe Europe. 

Exciting times. I know the team has had a fair few injuries - is everyone rehabbing properly? I know Shaun had the concussion he’s been dealing with and then you broke your leg? 

Yeah I mean when everyone is pushing the limits it’s bound to happen but we’ve all been beat up. Shaun hurt himself in Ireland and I bet it was heavy but I hurt myself on a two foot wave on the last day in South America. I was riding a tube and the backwash just pushed me into the back of the lip and had to get surgery. Then Dane broke his foot yeah and also walked into a glass door in Mexico. He’s usually the one that’s a bit more injury prone. Fell onto the reef in Indo and off a scooter  too(laughs), but that’s just a part of the parcel when you’re surfing and pushing yourself. But yeah mine was on a two foot wave which was pretty fucking annoying. Laid up for four months after surgery. 

Holy shit four months. 

Yeah that’s just the way it goes with injuries like that. Sucked.

Also see there’s a feature from Kai McKenzie to be expected in the full length, what a weapon. Shout out Kai. 

Yeah I met him through Benny Howard. He’s an absolutely beautiful person and went through a pretty tough time but to see him bounce back the way he has is so inspiring. 

Yeah I saw a clip of him in Ritual’s film. I think it was Ritual. I dunno sorry if it wasn’t but it was such an inspiring thing to see. 

Yeah I know the one you’re talking about. He is such an amazing individual. We’re hoping to get him on some trips and get him some clips just to showcase how much of a fucking unit he is. 

And James Kustino joining the team, first pro surfer from Fiji, how’s he faring up? 

So amazing. We got him a ticket to Tahiti the other day. 

Sick, he said he wanted to go there. 

Yeah he sent me a photo of him standing in a twelve-foot pit that he paddled. He’s been in Hawaii for the last couple of weeks. For a sixteen year old, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a talent that’s that age that is as comfortable and surfs with as much grace in heavy water. We’ve done a couple trips to Fiji and got so many good clips of him. I really want to work to showcase his surfing because yeah, he’s so talented. We really have such an amazing team. 

You do. 

And all over the spectrum of surfing. And everyone is really good friends and feels really a part of the brand. Everyone embodies it in a unique way. 

Do you, Dane and Austyn ever take stock on where FORMER is? 

I mean I feel like we’re still just going along for the ride and making it up as we go along. It’s been such a bizarre journey. The first couple of years there was a bit of a financial situation where we pulled back and moved into Dane’s garage. But the more people I talk to who work in brands and start up say it’s all a part of the journey. Just have to keep rolling with it. We have some really good people helping us out now and understand what we want to do with the brand, the people we want to support. The industry is in a pretty unique spot with the big conglomerate brands that all feel like they are owned by the same people and have lost their core value within surfing. I feel like we are in a cool position to be able to do what we want with the brand, to support surfers and keep putting out films. But it still feels like it is at the beginning. 

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt from FORMER?

Oh fuck, I have no idea. I’ve learnt so much. When I was at Quiky, it’s just going on surf trips, getting content and that’s it. So it’s been nice to dip my toes into the back end of the business and see how it functions. Being a part of that process is cool. But we still all have no idea what we are doing. 

Yeah no one does. 

Yeah no one knows what they are fucking doing but it’s fun. I feel like Dane, Austyn and I work really well together and have a lot of respect for each other. A lot of people say not to start a business with your friends but it's worked for us working as a team of mates. 

Do you think it’s getting harder to make surf films? Obviously, with the sport just getting bigger, waves getting busier or do you see it as an opportunity to try different things? 

I don’t feel jaded about it. There’s definitely more people in the water but I find if you sit there and wait your turn then you do get good waves. I love making surf films and going on trips and there’s obviously still frustrating sessions but you still luck in. I feel like we are very fortunate to go on trips and do what we love so won’t be complaining about it. 

Life is good.

Life is good.