The future is free

There is an increasingly diverse array of promotional mediums at the beckoning of professional bodyboarders. Once confined to a mere duo of magazine or DVD, the market has been sprouting heads like Hydra and now includes online mags, increased web options with sites like Vimeo, DVD magazines and the Podcast, which is where Dave Winchester chose to invest this year.

“People have always asked me when’s the Winny vid? I’ve always wanted to do a profile DVD but the time was never right and now that the DVD market is quiet I approached Boom Podcasts (ex-Waldron Bros) with an idea of doing a six-part profile Podcast that can be downloaded for free. They loved it, and my sponsors - NMD boards, Reeflex wetsuits, Stealth fins, bodyboarders.com.au (BSC) and Grand Flavour - all backed it, so here we go.”

The collaborators have tentatively scheduled the first release for November with each new episode to go live every fortnight thereafter. The work to date has seen Dave and filmer travelling around Australia gathering footage, not unusual except for the fact it’s a one-on-one experience as opposed to all previous photo/film experiences.

Ben Player mentioned recently that it was no longer enough to be the best rider, you had to align yourself with the best filmers as well because if you weren’t in – whether that be riding for their label or just down with the boys – then you wouldn’t feature in their film and would be denied access to the best promotional platforms.

Winchester doesn’t view the scene as quite so exclusive, but recognises the importance of being seen in the right places. “It’s always good to shoot with the best guys. When it comes to video you really get to see the rider’s style and personality, so you have to make sure you’re shooting with the best to get good exposure for yourself.”

The popular sentiment amongst the industry is that the traditional DVD has been dying for years now, but Chad Waldron believes the future lies somewhere between the paid DVD and the sort of sponsored online production that Winny’s series could be categorised within. “I think people will still buy DVD’s in the future but only the really good ones. Look at surfing, the production quality has to increase to justify the purchase. Even for those DVD’s being sold the Podcast or online source can play a part by creating hype for a release through teasers.”

“As far as dollars go,” continued Waldron, “the sponsored Podcasts seem to be where it’s at. We’ve got more sponsorship dollars for Winny’s Podcast series than for Ben Player’s DVD.” The thing with the Podcast series, as opposed to standard DVD formats, is that the possibilities for branded content are so much greater. The motto, pithy for one worked out just now, shall be ‘People no pay, people no say’. In other words, if they’re getting it for free then people won’t mind having multiple adverts or rider advertorials (for example, a clip where Winny spruiks the merit of his new signature model).

From Winchester’s point of view, the biggest plus to the Podcast is the increased accessibility and the possibility of an increased global fan base. “People can view them from anywhere around the world. This means a wider audience, plus you can have them on your computer, phone, whatever. It just makes viewing a lot easier.”

As for the actual Podcasts, the content will be very much in line with previous bio flicks. We assume it will recount the story of how a red headed boy overcame adversity to assume a seat on the mountain of the gods. Winny also said it will show his development over the past few years, some rad secret spots and a generous helping of insane surfing.