The writer nearly drowned at Sandy beach, Hawaii in a rip current. The story was inspired partially by this moment. The other inspirations came from true stories on the North Shore.
The crew was fortunate enough to be shooting on 15 December 2004, one of the largest swells in recorded history. From a helicopter at the famous spot "Jaws" in Maui, they would capture the largest wave surfed that year, a 70-footer.
This film will take two years to produce because of the Mother Nature factor. Production actually began in 2004 and will continue into 2006.
Within the film industry, no one understood the vision of the film at first since the director wanted the waves to be the only "bad guy". Then the tsunami hit on 26 December 2004, and every company came knocking.