The making of Searching for Michael Peterson started 14 years ago in 2006. I met Mike Vanderfield at commercial production company 8com. A life-long surfer, he was interested in Michael’s story and put up some money to get it started. After that I went to AFTRS and made a short version of the film (included with this purchase), and with more help from Mike, his production company and Screen Australia, we produced this full-length version.

The filmed screened up and down the east coast of Australia, the east and west coast’s of the US and around the UK and Europe. It was a wild trip and I loved meeting the surfing community around the world. I will post images and stories from the making and release of the film here and, for those who purchase the film, I will start uploading some of the interviews which didn’t make the cut .There’s some great stories still hiding in there.

Thanks to everyone who helped me make the film, especially Mike - who evolved from commercial film business to growing maccas on the North Coast and surfing most days. This film exists because he took a chance on me.

See you all in the surf. Hope you enjoy the film. There’s a fine line between madness and genius.

Jolyon Hoff - Director