The Rockaway Times – April 17, 2015
by Katie McFadden
Arts, Columns Director, filmmaker and Rockaway Beach resident, Thomas Brookins, is putting the final touches on his latest film that will give people a deeper view of New York surfing and firefighting history.
For the majority, the last thing people think about when they think of New York is surfing and very few know the ties between surfing and firefighting, unless of course, you grew up in a beach community like Rockaway. Wanting to shed some light on this, Brookins started filming “Fire and Water” in 2011. Originally wanting to make a short 20-minute film about some of his surfer buddies who also happen to be firefighters, the project grew into something much bigger than expected when Brookins met legendary Long Island surfer and firefighter, Don Eichin who unveiled a treasure chest of old surfing clips from his days of surfing with friends in Hawaii in the late 1950’s and early ‘60s. Eichin gave Brookins free reign to use the footage, which has never been publicly viewed.
“Fire and Water” follows the story of Eichin as a young man, surfing the Banzai pipeline in Hawaii, his journey into becoming a New York firefighter, and how he passed his legacy on to his own sons and others in the community, helping to contribute to the brotherhood of firefighter surfers that are a common thread in beach communities across the country today.
“I don’t think anybody can become a firefighter. Because surfing is so ingrained in the people of Rockaway, Long Beach and Montauk, you’ll find hundreds of firefighters who are all surfers. They started surfing as kids, worked as lifeguards and went on to take the test and became firefighters. It’s part of their family,” Brookins said. “Surfing is changing in New York in its own way and firefighting has a lot to do with that. If you’re living on a coastal environment, it’s a natural path for surfers to become firefighters and pass that on.”
The film incorporates Eichin’s vintage surf footage, which would leave any non-surfer in awe and any surfer envious, as well as modern-day footage shot by Brookins in New York, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and California. It features more than a dozen interviews from surfers or those connected to the surf community such as Rob Machado, Kassia Meador, Rochelle Ballard, Rusty Miller and more local guys such as Eric and Randy Eichin, Brian Walsh, Lou Romas, Mikey Detemple, Casey Skudin and more. The interviews, footage and background music tell the story of a brotherhood of people who brave the elements of fire and water, as both firefighters and surfers in New York.
While making the movie, Brookins has braved some unexpected elements as well, which has led to some production delays. In the summer of 2011, Brookins received news that no one should hear. “Before I went to film in Hawaii, I wasn’t feeling right and I had some bumps in my throat. I went to have it checked and they did a biopsy,” Brookins said. When he returned from Hawaii, he got the results. “You have cancer,” the doctors told him. Brookins underwent surgery and radiation treatments for his thyroid cancer and by the summer of 2012, he was told he was in the clear. “I met with the doctors and they asked me, ‘do you know how lucky you are to be sitting across from us? We’ve only seen a few cases like yours and you’re a very lucky man to be here.”
“That was awesome. I couldn’t be happier. I came back thinking I beat cancer at a time that was very difficult. My wife, Jessica and I, just bought our house in Rockaway and had a one-year-old son when I was diagnosed. It’s not easy when you’re facing your own mortality and you’re looking at your child and wife and you’re supposed to be this healthy, energetic surfer. My wife works so hard. I don’t know how she did it. We came out of that feeling like kings of the world,” Brookins said.
Then Sandy happened. The entire basement of the house they had just bought a year previously, was destroyed. “As brutal as Sandy was, it was a great diversion from thinking of mortality,” Brookins said. However, between Sandy and his illness, Brookins’ film production slowed down. “That really threw a wrench into the machine. Between cancer and Sandy, it took up so much of my time, that I could only work on little bits at a time, making connections and setting up interviews on my cell phone,” Brookins said. However, he says the movie was also a good way to keep his mind off of everything. “The movie was there for me. It was my tool to focus on something other than stress,” Brookins said. “When I put the shovel down at the end of the day, I’d pick up the phone and find people to film.”
The film also took a financial hit. When starting the movie, Brookins held a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise more than $10,000 to support the film, but early travel expenses to film around the country depleted the funds and Brookins has paid out-of-pocket since, which has been a challenge on top of unexpected life events.
Brookins is ready to put “Fire and Water” to bed. With just four more interviews left, to fill in some missing connections in the movie, he hopes to have it finished by May. “It’s been very hard. I’m very tired and I just want other people to finally see it. I want to see the looks on their faces when they see their town or state represented this way. I hope when people watch it, they enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed making it.”
Brookins says he hopes his movie will change the way people view New York. “I want people to look at New York differently and the beaches here differently. We need the city to realize what we have here. We have this natural environment that should be treated as any beach culture outside of New York. The city keeps dumping garbage here instead of taking advantage of this natural environment. I’m hoping my movie will help open the minds to the beach culture in New York State and how important it is to the rest of the world,” he said.
Brookins is a self-taught filmmaker and director, but his professionally produced work shows that he’s no amateur. His previous film, “Shadows of the Same Sun” earned him a New York International Film Festival award for Best New Director in 2010. Another film he contributed to, “Living for 32” was shortlisted for an Academy Award. His talents are sure to impress when “Fire and Water” is finally released. “Fire and Water is the movie that I’ve always wanted to make,” Brookins said.
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