ADAM PESCE
I’m a documentary film director turned copywriter.
While studying Diplomacy and World Affairs at Occidental College I stumbled on an image of a Papua New Guinean boy riding a broken surfboard smiling ear to ear. The idea for Splinters was born.
With no training I left for Papua New Guinea with two cameras, hundreds of tapes and a vow not to return without a film. Living in Vanimo Village without a translator I taught myself the national language and had a few bouts of malaria. For six out of the total nine months of production I shot alone.
Splinters is my first film and Variety called it a “noteworthy debut.”
As a copywriter with Ad Age A-List agency experience, I’ve worked on Fortune 500 brands and the world’s largest charity.
SPLINTERS
Splinters is the first feature-length documentary about indigenous surfers in Papua New Guinea. Edited by Oscar nominee Kim Roberts (Food, Inc., Waiting for Superman) and produced by Emmy winner Perrin Chiles (HBO’s Autism: The Musical), the film world premiered at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.
From sold out screenings at mom-and-pop surf shops to the most prestigious all-documentary festival in the world, IDFA, the story has resonated with surfers and non-surfers alike. Splinters won best documentary at the Hawaii International Film Festival and the Surfer Magazine Poll Awards, earning the surfing industry’s highest honor.
Television broadcast on sports giant ESPN followed. In addition to appearing on Netflix, Splinters was the number two documentary on Apple iTunes in March of 2012.
