A new film about musician Jack Johnson called "SURFILMUSIC" hits theaters later this month with a world premiere in Hawaiʻi this Thursday.
It follows Johnson’s journey from surfer to music artist and weaves in his experience filming the 2000 Malloy Brothers flick, “Thicker than Water.”
The new documentary is an intimate look at Johnson’s life and the folks who supported him along the way.
The film is a blend of found home video, surf clips and live touring footage.
Johnson spoke with HPR about the upcoming release.
“I'm excited about the film, and it's fun, but it's also nerve-racking to have a film coming out that's kind of based around yourself,” Johnson said.
“And it just grew into a full-length film, which was a strange process. But even though I'm the through line, I guess the reason I decided to follow through, it feels like, to me, it's like a story about friendship and about making things. Collaboration felt like the bigger story to tell there,” he said.
Johnson added that the documentary blends surfing, film and music, which have all influenced his life.
“Growing up, everything that informed me were surf films,” he said. “So surf films definitely shaped my style of music. And then later in life, I found myself writing music for the films. And then later, later in life, I found myself making albums that were all written while I was on surf film trips. You know, like the images from the surf films were informing the lyrics that were on 'Brushfire Fairytales' and on and on, like I wrote most those songs on surf trips. And so anyways, that had a lot of meaning for us, the 'SURFILMUSIC' thing, even though it was a fun little gimmick of the blend."
Johnson will be releasing a companion album this Friday. Catch the documentary along with a talk story and acoustic performance at the Blaisdell Concert Hall on May 14 and 15. The film hits theaters later this month.
This story aired on The Conversation on May 12, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
