Big Wednesday - Surfing and Friendship

John Milius turned to a subject he considered the most important in his life; his days surfing and growing up in Malibu.

Milius had at one time envisioned Big Wednesday as something he might write as a novel. Realizing the visual magnificence inherent to surfing, he brought in childhood friend and surfer Dennis Aaberg to remember everything they could about their youth and to write a screenplay together. Warner Bros. agreed to produce the memoir to the tune of $12 million. With an eye on casting actors who "all looked kind of heroic," recreational surfers Jan-Michael Vincent and William Katt were selected, as was Gary Busey.

To substitute the actors for the big wave sequences, Jay Riddle & Billy Hamilton, Peter Townsend and Ian Cairns doubled for Vincent, Katt and Busey respectively, while Jalama and Cojo Bay - both near Point Concepcion in Santa Barbara County - stood in for Malibu.

Though the film was ignored at the box office, many surfers came to regard it as the best ever narrative about their sport. Other moviegoers caught on as well, including Quentin Tarantino, who put Big Wednesday on a short list of his favorite movies of all time. An event commemorating the film's 20th anniversary drew 8,000 fans to Santa Monica.