Spotlight Sessions - Ep. 04 - Ben Weilend

August 20, 2024

Welcome to the First Light Surf Club Spotlight Session Episode 04, where we dive into conversations with creatives, entrepreneurs, and people we admire both in and out of the water. Today we have the privilege of speaking with an award-winning filmmaker, storyteller, creative, surfer, cold-water enthusiast, husband, and future father Ben Weiland.

Ben has carved out a unique niche in the surfing world by documenting waves in some of the coldest and most remote coastlines, including Norway, the Falkland Islands, and Alaska. His film Island X recently won Best Surf Movie of 2022, and he's now gearing up to premiere his next project, Search For Volcano Island, set to debut at the end of August through September.

We hope you enjoy this conversation with Ben Weiland as we discuss his passion for surf filmmaking, the thrill of exploring remote surf spots, and the stories behind his most captivating projects.

Listen on ~ SPOTIFY ~ or on ~ APPLE PODCAST ~

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ben weiland, arctic surf, alaska, Filmmaker, island x, video, cold water, search for volcano island, movie premiere

FLSC - Could you give us a brief overview of your background?

Ben - Sure. I was born and raised in Germany until I was 11. My parents were missionaries, so I grew up speaking German, had all German friends, and went to public school there. When I was in fifth grade, we moved to the States—first to Dallas for two years, and then to San Diego because of my mom’s work. When I turned 16, I got my driver’s license and started surfing. I wasn’t really into team sports, but once I got my first surfboard, everything changed. I was obsessed and surfed every chance I got. I even joined my school’s Surf PE class, which is funny to think about now. I went to college at Point Loma Nazarene University, mainly because of the surf.

FLSC - You went to Point Loma and studied graphic design, but how did your passion for design and creativity develop?

Ben - I was always into art as a kid. I would spend hours drawing, filling reams of paper with doodles and artwork. I’m an only child, so I spent a lot of time alone in my room, just drawing. My parents kept me supplied with paper and encouraged me.

When I got to high school, I started thinking about career paths. I always wanted to be an animator or work for a company like Disney, but that didn’t seem practical, so I shifted towards graphic design. When I looked at colleges, I chose Point Loma because they had a design program, which was rare at the time. The program was small but phenomenal, with talented professors and a great community. I made lifelong friends there.

FLSC - How did your love for cold-water surfing come about?

Ben - I studied abroad in New Zealand during my junior year of college. A buddy of mine had been there the year before and told me to go to the South Island, specifically Dunedin, which gets snow in the winter. I went with two close friends, and by the end of the semester, it was snowing, and the waves were pumping. It’s a place where you don’t just park your car at the beach—you hike in, and it’s wild. Some spots even have penguins on the beach. It felt like an adventure, discovering places that weren’t well-known. That was really exciting for me.

FLSC - Growing up in Germany, with your family background, do you think your adventurous spirit came from them?

Ben - Definitely. My dad’s side of the family has a history in mountaineering. My grandpa climbed peaks on six of the seven continents and would come back with stories and slideshows. My uncle moved to Alaska as an ice climber and pioneered routes there. On the other side, my grandpa was into hunting and fishing in Northern California. So, I was exposed to the outdoors from a young age, even though I was more of a timid kid who liked staying inside and drawing. But when I discovered that surfing could intersect with being in wild, remote places, it felt like the perfect fit—like two worlds colliding.

FLSC - The surf culture has definitely evolved, with more emphasis on exploration and finding lesser-known coastlines. I’m familiar with your story, particularly the Google Earth challenge. Can you tell us more about when that happened during your college career?

Ben - After I graduated, I couldn’t find a job in graphic design, so I worked for my uncle’s door and window business in Oceanside. During that time, I started a blog called Arctic Surf because Surfing Magazine had this Google Earth challenge where you could submit a surf spot you found on Google Earth, and if it won, they would take you there to surf it. The idea was to find undiscovered waves. I figured everyone was looking at warm-water spots, so I started exploring colder regions like Alaska and Iceland on Google Earth. I found some promising spots and submitted them, but I didn’t win—no surprise there since they probably preferred warm locations.

FLSC - Do you remember which spot won?

Ben - There were a few. Skeleton Bay was one of them that was “discovered” through the Google Earth challenge. There were also spots in Mexico and a couple of others.

So, I didn’t win, but I kept searching for cold-water spots as a nerdy hobby. One of my best friends suggested I start a blog to share these findings. I wasn’t sure because blogs were already considered passé in 2009, and I didn’t have much content. But with my graphic design background, I got into designing the site, branding it, and writing little articles. The posts were semi-fiction and tongue-in-cheek, playing up the absurdity of surfing in these remote places. The whole idea was a bit of a joke.

FLSC - At this point, you were working for your uncle’s company, doing photo shoots and designing brochures. Did you have any idea that Arctic Surf would go anywhere?

Ben - It was just a joke, and then I got an email from Chris Burkard. He was one of the photographers on staff at Surfer magazine, and I knew who he was—one of the best travel photographers in surfing with incredible images. The email came in not long after I started the blog, and I thought it was my friends playing a prank on me. I thought, "There’s no way this is real." So I responded pretty cheekily. He said something like "Hey, I’ve seen some of the spots you’re posting. We should chat sometime and maybe plan a trip to one of these places." And I was like, "Oh yeah, sure, let me see what my schedule looks like."

FLSC - Maybe that helped you out, made you sound more official rather than super eager.

Ben - Yeah, exactly. And I think the design experience I brought to the website made it feel more legitimate, even though it wasn’t.

FLSC - That kind of resonates with First Light Surf Club as a side project. Even if it’s just a passion project, doing it well and not cutting corners—keeping the aesthetic intact—can open up unexpected doors. You never know who might call you one day.

Ben - Totally. That first impression is so important. So yeah, it actually turned out to be him. We met up in a little diner in San Clemente and had a really long conversation, frothing out about locations. And here I am, never having been to any of these places.

FLSC - Were you upfront about that with him in the beginning? Did he know you hadn’t actually been to those places, or were you faking it?
Ben - No, he knew there was no way I could have been there. But he didn’t really seem to care. I was surprised, but he did ask me questions as if I had deep knowledge about these places. My answers were always like, "I don’t really know, I’ll have to look into that."

So, we decided to pitch a project to Surfer magazine, and the first one we pitched was the South Island of New Zealand because I had gone to school there, and I knew the area. There hadn’t been any articles published about it. So, we put together a pitch deck, gave it to the editor of the magazine, had a call, and the editor was like, "Yeah, this looks sick. I just got a photo across my desk of New Zealand, and it’s pumping down there. Let’s do this article." The photo he’d seen was from a completely different part.

FLSC - Did he ask who was going to write the article?

Ben - Yeah, and we didn’t have anybody. But I just said, "I’ll do it," even though I had zero writing experience.

FLSC - Was any part of you worried they’d find out?

Ben - I was shaking, sweating, terrified. But I volunteered myself, and to my surprise, there was no pushback. They didn’t ask to see any other writing of mine. I hadn’t written anything since a high school essay.

FLSC - It feels like things were different back then with the surf industry’s budgets. Today, they’d probably ask to see 20 years of work and really make sure you’re worth the money.

Ben - Exactly. Even the fact that Chris was a full-time professional surf photographer on staff is so rare nowadays. But back then, these magazines had full staff photographers focused on travel or the tour. It was very different. So yeah, that was the first trip.

I brought a little camcorder with me, and I had so much free time. As a writer, you’re not doing a whole lot except taking notes, and I wasn’t surfing much because the waves were too challenging for me. But the guys out there were professional surfers. So I filmed them on this camcorder that Peter Reis, one of the surfers, had loaned me. I actually submitted that footage to the magazine, and they paid me to make a little edit they put on their website. I thought, "Wow, this is crazy, they’ll actually pay me for this," and it was edited in iMovie.

FLSC - Have you looked back at that footage?

Ben - Yeah, it’s still on YouTube. It’s on Surfer Magazine’s channel, called "New Zealand Deep South." There are two episodes. It’s so grainy and shaky. (Watch: Part 1 / Part 2)

FLSC - Was that your first step into filmmaking?

Ben - Yeah, except I used to love making videos with my friends in high school. This was near the beginning of YouTube, so any video you put on YouTube was novel and exciting. People thought it was really cool—beautiful shots, crazy locations. After that, Chris and I did one or two trips a year with the magazine. Every trip, I’d try to learn something new about filmmaking or upgrade my equipment a little bit. I was pouring my own money into gear, trying to invest and level up, but I wasn’t really getting much back—just breaking even. But it was out of my own interest and creative excitement. As an artist, I don’t always make the best business decisions, but I was just excited to pursue this. So, I poured myself into it to see how far I could build it. A few years down the road, I eventually quit my job at my uncle’s business.

FLSC - How much time had passed before you decided to quit?

Ben - About five or six years. Then I quit and started doing video full-time.

FLSC - So you spent those five years gradually building your craft during vacations, then finally decided to leave your full-time job. What was that process like? How did you become comfortable enough to take the leap into freelance videography?

Ben - It was terrifying, to be honest. I was constantly on edge, questioning whether it was foolish to leave a stable job for something with no clear path. It didn’t seem sustainable, and for a long time—maybe seven to ten years—I felt like I was just wandering without knowing where this would lead. I never knew what I’d be doing even a month or two ahead, but new projects kept popping up, and I just kept doing them. I invested so much of myself that turning back wasn’t an option anymore.

FLSC - Did you ever feel like maybe you should’ve gone for a more stable career like your friends?

Ben - Definitely. I’d see my friends landing stable jobs, and I’d wonder if I should be doing the same. But then, new opportunities would arise, and I’d think, “Why not see this through?”

FLSC - Would you say it was your passion for videography that drove you to take that leap?

Ben - More than videography, it was the storytelling and the adventure. Filmmaking was just the vehicle to tell those stories. The adventure and exploration were what really motivated me.

FLSC - Was there a moment when you realized that you’d made the right decision?

Ben - In retrospect, yes. But it wasn’t until maybe six years ago when I felt confident enough in my skills to do client work and had enough connections that jobs would come to me. One particular project with Chris Burkard, called Under an Arctic Sky, was a turning point. It started as a magazine trip but turned into a feature-length film that toured worldwide. That’s when I realized this could be more than just a side gig.

FLSC - Do you think finding your niche in cold-water surfing films played a big role in your success?

Ben - Totally. It’s not just about finding the best waves or highest-level performance; it’s about the adventure, the location, and the challenges. That kind of storytelling resonates beyond just the surf community. It connects with anyone who loves adventure, whether they’re into skiing, mountain biking, or any other pursuit.

FLSC - So looking back at the trajectory you took, it was kind of a slow on ramp. And when you're talking to other aspiring videographers that want to get to like the level they see you at, what advice do you have to give them?

Ben - Be prepared to invest your own time and money to build your craft. It’s like going to college—you’re spending years and money to gain expertise. With creative pursuits, you often have to pour resources into learning and growing without expecting immediate returns. It’s a long process, but it’s necessary if you want to get to a place where people recognize your work.

FLSC - Have you ever wondered where you’d be if Chris Burkard hadn’t called you?

Ben - I have no idea. I had no plan after college once the design job fell through and didn't really materialize. That was the only thing I had in my mind that I wanted to do. I kind of just gave up on that and was just trying to find contentment in where I was in life. Just coasting along but I wasn’t very proactive.

FLSC - But you started the Arctic surf blog, fulfilling your passion for storytelling. That must have helped prepare you for when the opportunity came.

Ben - Definitely. If you don’t try, you’ll never know what could happen. I was willing to take the risk because I had prepared myself for anything, even if it meant working at McDonald’s. That mindset freed me up to take the leap.

FLSC - As you’ve traveled and worked on these film projects, meeting amazing people worldwide, how do you balance that with staying rooted in your home community?

Ben - Initially, traveling felt very disjointed. I'd meet incredible people from all over the world, but they weren't part of my community back home. It felt like I had my people here, and then I’d go off and meet these other folks I might never see again. I didn’t realize I'd be doing this for so long, but over time, those relationships deepened, and now some of those people abroad have become some of my closest friends. The two groups have merged, but it used to be very separate, which was tough, feeling split between two places. So, over time, I've consciously tried to merge those two worlds more.

FLSC - Has that changed since getting married a couple of years ago, and now with a baby on the way?

Ben - Oh, definitely. My mindset shifted as soon as I got married, and even more now with a baby on the way. I started thinking about what my travel looks like and how it will affect my family. I’ve never been one to want to travel constantly. Some people love being on the road all the time, but I’m very much a homebody. I was always trying to reduce my time away because it made me feel fractured if I wasn’t home enough to maintain solid friendships. Now, I’m focusing on fewer, bigger projects, making sure the time spent away is purposeful and reasonable. Instead of doing a bunch of short projects, I might focus on one longer one.

FLSC - Traveling introduces you to people from all over the world. How does the shared love of surfing connect you with others across borders and communities?

Ben - Surfing takes you to the strangest places you’d never visit if it weren’t for the sport. Especially cold water surfing, which narrows it down even more. I’ve met amazing people in Iceland, Alaska, and Norway—places I’d never imagined going. Surfing really does cross so many divides. When you find someone into surfing, especially cold water surfing, it’s like discovering something rare. I’ve made lifelong friendships in these places, and it’s special to share that connection.

FLSC - Traveling so much and facing tight deadlines can lead to burnout. How do you recharge and reset?

Ben - Just by being home. I love being settled and having quiet time to myself. Filmmaking has this rhythm where you’re in intense situations capturing footage, and then you get to come home and edit, which is more relaxed and creative. I love that creative time when it’s quiet and I’m just tinkering with footage. There are always deadlines, but when it’s not rushed, I spend my free time editing. It’s really refreshing for me.

FLSC - When does your creativity shine the most? During pre-trip planning, while shooting, or in the editing process?

Ben - Creativity comes out at different stages. When planning a cold water trip to a new place, there’s a period of imagining what the project could be, researching, and filling my mind with ideas. Then, when on the ground, things happen fast and are chaotic, but you’re composing shots and seeing new things. Finally, in the editing stage, you’re refining the story and trying to draw out what you captured. Each stage is creative in its own way.

FLSC - You balance your own passion projects with commercial work. How do you navigate that, especially considering that commercial work usually pays better but might limit creative freedom?

Ben - I do a lot of commercial work throughout the year, but for the last four or five years, I’ve always tackled one big creative project. The last one was Island X, a full-length surf film, and now I’m working on The Search for Volcano Island. I have a film production company, Filter Films, with Brian Davis, and we make these films together. We’ve been focused on Volcano Island for the last nine months, but we’ve done commercial jobs around that. Those commercial jobs get prioritized because they’re paying, but the bigger film project spans a longer time, and we work on it in between client work.

FLSC - Island X took about three years to complete, right?

Ben - Yeah, that one was crazy. We started before COVID, and then everything shut down, including flights to the island. At one point, I thought we might never go back. But we did another round of pitching to sponsors, and once flights resumed, we went back. It turned into a full-length film, which I didn’t initially plan, but it evolved over time.

FLSC - That film was incredible. I’m excited to see what you do next with The Search for Volcano Island. Could you share what makes this next film special?
Ben - This film is special because it takes place in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, a region so remote and dangerous that I never thought I’d get there. There are no planes, little infrastructure, and some islands are uncharted. It’s an area that hasn’t been properly documented outside of science, so we’re bringing something really unique to the table.

FLSC - Last year, you faced a major health challenge with a brain tumor. How did that experience change your perspective on life and work?

Ben - Yeah, two summers ago in Germany, I had a tonic-clonic seizure and was unconscious for a couple of minutes. It was a total shock—I’d never had anything like that happen before. When I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, my first thought was, "Wow, it’s over." But the initial feedback was that it might not be super critical, so we monitored it for a while. I was taking medication to prevent seizures, but after having another one while on tour for Island X, I decided to have surgery. It was a tough year, but it simplified life, narrowing my focus to what’s really important: faith, family, and friends. The surgery cured me, and now I’m back to life as usual, but with a new perspective on handling challenges.

FLSC - It’s incredible that you’ve been able to maintain your career through that. It’s clear that you’ve learned to lean into tough situations and grow from them. Looking back, how do you think your storytelling has evolved?

Ben - Initially, I was just psyched to get to these beautiful, scenic cold places. But now, that’s not enough to capture my imagination. I’m more interested in deeper storytelling—human stories about who we are, what motivates us, and why we go on these adventures. That’s the path I’ve been on recently, moving beyond just the shock value of surfing in places like Iceland.

FLSC - So your next film, Search For Volcano Island, can you share with us a little bit about what makes this video special and why you're excited to bring it to everybody?

Ben - Of all the places I've been to, this is a region in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska that I never thought I would get to. It's so remote. There's no planes that land there. It's super dangerous to go by boat. The islands have zero infrastructure. Some of those islands are still uncharted. They haven't really been documented outside of science. There hasn't been photography or filmmaking documentation of these places in a proper way.

Then on top of that, to think that there could be waves out there that have never been seen or surfed just blew my mind. So I kind of went with out much expectation except to document whatever happened, and it ended up becoming a full length film about that voyage. And so, yeah, it's it's a crazy one. The islands are all active volcanoes and there's glaciers, there's hot springs, there's crazy sea life out there. So yeah, it was just a surreal experience and I'm super excited to show the film. It's taken a lot of hard work over the last nine months putting it together and we're going to do some events in September.

FLSC - So how can people find out more about this film that is coming out and how they can watch it?

Ben - I'm going to have all the event dates on my website, FielderFilms.com, and also on my Instagram. I'll be sharing about that.

*This interview has been transcribed from it's original audio format.