32. An inconvenient truth - Demi Taylor

The phenomenal Demi Taylor is founder of the London Surf Film Festival, author of several surfing books and producer of The Big Sea - this years break out film bringing to light the darker side of the production of Neoprene, and therefore, much of the surfing industry.

This was a phenomenally interesting conversation, not least because your assumption would be that brands who are so keen to push their green agenda in the surf space would be on board with the shift to environmentally friendly wetsuit solutions on hearing the news that the production of Neoprene is giving a whole community cancer.

But, despite the team on the film trying to involve many of the central brands in the industry, many of them have simply ignored its message.

There's a lot to get through, so this episode is a bit longer than usual.

Episode highlights:

• The Big Sea - the juxtaposition between the stunning visuals and the hard hitting story

• How the film came about

• The hope to bring brands on board

• “We think we’re activists just because we surf, and we’re not” - overcoming complacency in the surf community

• Demi’s journey in to surfing and how she and her partner Chris came to write iconic surf travel books

• Demi’s role as a mid life woman in the industry

• Starting the London Surf Film Festival and the importance of storytelling in driving change

• Can Caroline find a natural rubber medical cover for her cast?

More about Demi:

@imaybesurfing

@londonsurffilmfest

thebigsea.org

Mentions in this episode:

Looking Sideways with Matt Barr

Join the Board Women movement:

boardwomen.co

@boardwomen

Host: Caroline Keylock

Producer: Selma Chalabi

Photography - Clare Keylock

Artwork - Rozi Wan Rimli 

Music - Brother Brother by Benjamin Caleb Johnson, performed by BENSON

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