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Joshua Leonard "Josh" Pomer (born April 8, 1973) is an American film director, screenwriter, film producer, and executive producer. He grew up on the west side of Santa Cruz, California.
Early life
Pomer was born on April 8, 1973 in Boston, MA, the son of economics professor Marshall Pomer and feminist studies researcher and author Susan Pomer. When he was three, he moved with his parents and younger brother, Jeremy, to Gainesville, FL. Five years later, they moved again, this time to Santa Cruz, CA, where Pomer's father acquired a teaching position at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Pomer attended Santa Cruz High School where he was first introduced to still photography and video production. At the age of 16, he began filming his friends surfing, partying, and performing humorous and creative skits. "I filmed everything," Pomer said of the time. Pomer soon acquired a distributor, and his surf films drew worldwide attention to his group of friends, many of whom subsequently became professional surfers. Their surfing adventures took them all around the world.
Pomer graduated from Santa Cruz High School in 1992. He later studied film at the University of California, Santa Barbara and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies in 1998.
Career
In a career that started at the age of 16, Pomer's films have covered many themes and genres. His early documentary films were seen as surf adventure films. In later years, his films began addressing such issues as broken homes, drug addiction, and recovery. Pomer is considered one of the most popular contemporary surf filmmakers. He is the director, writer and creator of "The Westsiders"—an award-winning documentary about a Santa Cruz, California surf tribe. As the director and writer of "The Westsiders" he won Outstanding Achievement in documentary filmmaking at the Newport Beach Film Festival 2010, Golden Lobster Award for the best feature film at the Portland Maine Film Festival 2010, Honorable Mention at the 2010 LA Film Awards, Aloha Accolade Award 2010 at the Honolulu International Film Festival, Best Story 2010 at the California Surf Festival, and Best Documentary 2010 at The Santa Cruz Film Festival.
Pomer's next documentary film, "Discovering Mavericks" (2013) stars Darryl Virostko, Jeff Clark, Peter Mel and Tom Powers. It explores the history of Mavericks including the death of Mark Foo and Sion Milosky, as well as updating the true story of Mavericks surfer Jay Moriarity who was the subject of the film Chasing Mavericks.
References
- Rogers, Elizabeth (February 4, 2011). "The Westsiders". Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ "The Adventures of Wardo". Surfer. Carlsbad, California. July 22, 2010. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
External links
- Joshua L. Pomer at IMDb
- Surfing Magazine Article on The Westsiders
- Huffington Post Article on Joshua Pomer
- Article on The Westsiders
- Josh Pomer Website
- Joshua Pomer on Director's Panel at Newport Beach Film Festival
- The Westsiders Website
- Review of The Westsiders
- Good Times Film Review
- Drift Film Review
- Josh Pomer Press Release
- Interview with Joshua Pomer
- Article on Joshua Pomer and The Westsiders
- Report on Josh Pomer
- Metro Santa Cruz Article on Joshua Pomer
- Santa Cruz Sentinel Article on Joshua Pomer
- ESPN