By Thomas Chau in New York City

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As summer draws to an end for most of us in the United States, there’s a film opening in theaters soon that remind us that somewhere in the world, there’s an old saying that holds true: Life’s still a beach.

“Step into Liquid,” directed by Dana Brown, rolls into cities nationwide beginning on August 8th. Dana is the son of Bruce Brown, who in 1966 directed “The Endless Summer” and is considered one of filmmaking’s foremost directors on surfing. Following in his footsteps, Dana delivers a jaw-dropping, but poignant look at surfing and the surfing culture. As he travels around in the world in search of incredible and fascinating surfer stories, he also takes us into the waves of the beaches, and allows audiences to experience the excitement of the sport with some of the most spectacular shots of boards on waves ever captured. With no stuntmen or special effects, “Step into Liquid” reminds us that reality is always more interesting than fiction.

I spoke to Dana on the phone about the movie, the surfing culture, and riding that “perfect wave”…

TOM: Your father’s “Endless Summer,” among other films, was and still is considered one of the world’s foremost documentaries on surfing. Do you mind the comparisons between drawn between you and your father, or are you out to sort of step on your own?

DANA: Well, I guess it’s two-fold. I’m out to do my own thing because why else would you do it, right? Although I certainly don’t mind the comparisons at all. I understand him and complement most of them.

So why did you decide to do “Step into Liquid” now?

It had come up over the years and it was just after I did “Endless Summer 2” with my dad ten years ago. I was doing other small videos, TV series, stuff like that. It kind of dawned on me that no matter what I can say about myself, I am a surfer. There was something left for me to say, which was to kind of figure out what that meant. That was kind of what the seeds of “Step into Liquid” became.

How did you go about finding some of the surfers and stories to feature in your film?

Asking around, actually. Just asking friends, acquaintances, and bringing them up in stories. People knew offbeat stories. [I didn’t want] stories like a surfing chimpanzee or anything like a circus trick, but something a little more off the beaten path, which is what I think we found with Dale Webster, who surfs everyday [for the past 27 years], or the guys who surf with the supertankers.

For you to find these stories, because these stories literally went around the globe, must have involved a pretty extensive network of surfers. Why is that? Why is there such a close kinship among surfers?

I’m not 100% sure why. I’m not sure if there is a nice, concise spiffy answer to that. But I think it’s just that shared passion of surfing. It cuts through so much prejudgment maybe. When you’re talking to someone, you both understand and appreciate this simple, silly thing that you can have a good time talking about. It’s like Mets fans in Shea Stadium. They have nothing in common but they can gripe about Bobby Valentine.

How did you get some of spectacular shots in the documentary? Like how many people were on the crew, how long did it take you to film…

It was two and a half years of filming…

Two and a half years? Really?

We’d film, and then we’d come back to edit and see where we’re at to decide where the next mountain may be - that, and the fact that you have to wait on surfing slightly, like the right time of year, etc. We wanted to make sure that we gave ourselves enough time [so] that we got good stuff, which nature doesn’t always cooperate with you. You can stay at a place for a month and not get a good surf.

As for the crews, it would vary depending on the places we went. With Tahiti, because it breaks so far out to sea, you need water cameramen and boat cameramen. The best cameraman in the world, or arguably the best, was Jack McCoy. He was from Australia and that’s who we had in Tahiti. As much as I’d like to take credit, I think the genius is hiring the right guy. (Laughs) We’d talk about some of the shots that I envisioned that were very broad. We’d talk “slow mo” but then I’d give him frame rates. Jack’s a very innovative guy so he’d come up with his own [crazy] ideas, whether it’d be sitting in the back of a jet ski or shooting the gals and whatnot.

At a place like Jaws, we had a ton of cameramen because we had helicopters, maybe two boats, and three on the land. So I think we had eight cameras for those two days there. At a place like Cortez, I wish we had something like that. We just had one camera cause we didn’t know that was going to work. But with a very nice hydro-stabilized mount, we would set it to horizon and it would try to keep the camera at the horizon level, and they were very bumpy days too. Without that, it would have just looked [worse]. My director of photography researched and came up with that.

Were there any points during the shoot that became dangerous, especially at the end where you go miles and miles off shore?

There were a couple of moments, especially during the shooting of the Cortez, that were pretty hair-raising. There was one wave in particular because were just on a boat but the boat’s not anchored - it’s moving all the time. We tried getting closer and closer but we weren’t looking behind us. The waves were breaking all over the place and surely enough, there was the wave coming from behind and we just barely made it over with. It was cresting so the boat was airborne when it made it and landed really hard. Everybody was OK. But it was one of those moments where you think back, and you say, “God, another six seconds, we would have been really hurting.” There was another boat there to pull us out but certainly it would have wrecked all the equipment.

It must be nerve-wracking to think that you have all this expensive equipment and it can be all wiped away in a second…

Oh, absolutely, always in the silliest ways you can imagine. When we were shooting the supertanker surfing, where it gets really shallow, we were [filming] in front of somebody surfing. It was great shot and all of a sudden, our boat ran aground. The water gets teaspoon deep, I guess. And we all stopped and lurched and all of a sudden, here comes this wave that is going to go right over our backs. We literally threw our bodies over the camera! Cause you know the insurance is going to go, “You did what with it?” They tell you not to get it near saltwater and sand, but you’re shooting a surf movie and you say, “Oh yeah, no problem, Mr. Insurance guy.”

Do you think that with recent pop culture trends, such as the movie “Blue Crush” and MTV’s “Surf Girls,” that surfing is reaching a whole new audience that otherwise wouldn’t be interested in it?

Yeah, I think in good ways and bad, but I think mostly good this time around, which is nice.

Why do you say it could be bad?

I think it gets harbored with certain stereotypes that I don’t think it necessarily deserves or reflects in surfing - maybe the drug culture or slacker culture. I went to school with guys and they did hang out at the beach but they weren’t surfers. They were stoners. It took a long time to get rid of that [stereotype]. If someone asked you “What are you doing?” and you said “I’m going surfing,” that would be like saying, “I’m going to go smoke a bunch of dope and try to pick up underage girls.” It wasn’t necessarily a good thing to be a surfer so you kind of hid it sometimes.

One of your goals in the documentary is to document what people from all walks of life think about surfing. What does surfing mean to you?

It’s not everything, but then it is. It’s a building block. It’s so simple, that I find myself, no matter what I’m doing, whether it’s a movie or in the water, that I’m reverting back to lessons I learned while surfing. I know that sounds semi-Yoda like (laughs) but the older I get, it means health, it means simplicity and kind of getting back to a simpler frame of mind. Some people go for walks or take out a dog. It’s just that feeling of blowing all the crap out of your noggin and to be able to focus on this admittedly silly and simple act. It’s fun and it seems to make the world get into perspective.

In the film, you talk about finding that “perfect wave.” Are you still looking for it?

I think I’m still looking for it. We all are. You’re probably looking for that “better article.” (Laughs) There are days you feel like you got it, and they’re the best days you ever have. But I hope I’m still looking for it. I’d hate to think I’ve found it and that I’ve become somebody that’s telling stories.

Well Dana, thanks a lot for chatting with me. I found myself, after watching the movie, completely infatuated with the idea of the sport, and how it’s always dynamic – you never get the same waves, you always have to cooperate with mother nature. It’s not like in skateboarding where you’re always in control of what you’re doing.

You just hit on the point that I was thinking of earlier: The nature thing. That’s what I think reflects life to me. Go with the flow with what’s going on. So that’s really true. That’s bitchin’ that you got that out of the film, that’s really neat for me. Thanks.

"Step into Liquid" opens in limited release this Friday, August 8th, and expands to theaters nationwide in August and September. Check http://www.stepintoliquid.com for your nearest city.