"Birth of The Endless Summer": Official Trailer

"Birth of the Endless Summer: Discovery of Cape St. Francis," a feature documentary from director Richard Yelland and production company Curtis Birch, makes its worldwide digital debut on June 20, 2025.

The Emmy-nominated film unearths a little-known origin story behind "The Endless Summer," the seminal surf film from Bruce Brown Films that helped shape global surf culture and defined the California Dream.

The documentary follows surf pioneer Dick Metz on a steamship-hopping, train-jumping journey around the world from 1958 to 1961.

While in Cape Town, South Africa, Metz met local surfer John Whitmore, a moment that changed the trajectory of surfing history and ultimately inspired filmmaker Bruce Brown to make "The Endless Summer."

On a tip from Whitmore, who would later become affectionately known as the "Oom," or uncle, of South African surfing, Metz would also discover Cape St. Francis, later immortalized in Brown's film as the "perfect wave."

"If Dick hadn't met Whitmore that day in 1959, The Endless Summer and the explosion of global surf culture that followed in its wake might never have happened," said director Richard Yelland.

"Dick Metz was a catalyst for the birth of modern surfing, and I wanted to make sure this history wasn't lost."

Produced in association with Bruce Brown Films and made possible through a partnership with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center, the world's largest surf photo and film archive founded by Dick Metz, the film has earned numerous honors on the festival circuit and received a 2025 Los Angeles Area Emmy Award in the Independent Programming category.

It is currently airing nationally on PBS, following its successful theatrical run in the U.S. and Australia.

It is being distributed globally by Monkey Wrench Films and Garage Films, a division of Madman Entertainment.

Starting June 20, "Birth of the Endless Summer" will be available worldwide on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube Movies, Fandango, and Vimeo on Demand.

Footage and Documentary: Curtis Birch / Monkey Wrench Films