Filmmaker Gillogly fields ‘Gidget’ flick

What does a surf-crazy and movie-mad kid do during summer vacations in Southern California? When Brian Gillogly wasn’t hitting the beach, he was showing surf movies in SoCal’s high school cafeterias.

"There used to be a whole cafeteria circuit of surf movies, and that was the way to see them," said Gillogly. "Back in the days before digital downloads!"

Gillogly is in town to premiere his documentary, "Accidental Icon: The Real Gidget Story," along with Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, who, as a surf-struck teenager, was the model for the character in the books and movies. It’s part of the Honolulu Surf Film Festival now under way at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Gillogly, a video jack-of-all-trades, did virtually everything on the hourlong documentary. It took nearly a decade to make.

"That’s because it’s an epic!" laughed Gillogly. "Actually, I knew Kathy and liked her and thought her story would make an interesting subject, so I started interviewing and collecting footage. Some stuff just happened, like when we were shooting a book-signing and a bunch of old surfers just came out of the woodwork. Others I knew only by telephone. Don Stroud! I just had lunch with him and we met for the first time, but we’ve probably talked on the phone 40 times.

"Then, in 2006, the Malibu Celebration of Film occurred, and that was enough reason to assemble a premiere cut."

Gillogly thinks of the film as a meditation on the nature of pop culture, told through the practice of surfing and film commerce. It’s not a "surfing movie."

Because Columbia’s film archive is owned by Sony, Gillogly got a one-time license from the film giant to use clips from the various "Gidget" movies made over the years. "Although Sony made us quite a good deal for subsequent use, it was still really high. Our Sony debt was incredible. So we shelved the project for three years."

His wife believed in the project and kept his spirits up. Then Gillogly discovered that the First Amendment allows "fair use" of clips from popular entertainment, and the project was back in the pocket.

"It’s very specific and defined, but essentially the commercial clips have to be presented in a context completely different than the original entertainment film. Plus, you can only use so much."

How much to use, and in what context, became a fascinating guessing game. Jack Lerner, a law professor at the University of Southern California and head of the school’s Intellectual Property and Technology Clinic, advised Gillogly and enlisted the help of students to work through multiple edits of the film until it was suitable for an affordable license from Sony.

Lerner’s law students got an invaluable real-world lesson in how law interacts with art, and how commerce intersects with comment and criticism. "And by the time we were done, the law professor had become a surfer too!" said Gillogly.

"Accidental Icon" will be released Sept. 27 on DVD and as an iTunes download. No more high school cafeterias.

Fundraiser features movie and discussion

"Accidental Icon" will be the centerpiece attraction at a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer charity. The movie will screen at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Monarch Room of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The film will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Kathy "Gidget" Kohner Zuckerman, "Soul Surfer" actress Sonya Balmores and champion longboarder Joy Monahan.

Admission to the film is $25 ($15 for children). There’s also a "VIP Meet and Greet" that includes wine and an autographed copy of the recently republished original "Gidget" novel, beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are $40 and $25. There will also be a silent auction. There’s a $5 discount via Facebook. Guests can claim this by "checking in" to www.facebook.com/RoyalHawaiian and then, when buying admission, say "RHSM for charity" or show the deal on their mobile phone screen. For information, call 923-7311.