Local’s film wins award

After premiering their surf documentary “Chasing the Lotus: The Lost Reels of Weaver and Wills” in Huntington Beach, director Greg Schell and cinematographer Greg Weaver took their film on a road trip to the X-Dance Film Festival, where hundreds of extreme sports film fanatics saw it.

And it even won an award.

Taking home the prize for best original score must have been quite a treat for Schell, Lotus being his second feature-length film.

The surf documentary also earned nominations Tuesday for best documentary and best film at X-Dance, just next door to the happenings at the celebrated Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

“Chasing the Lotus” was up against 32 other features shown over the weekend.

The film, narrated by Jeff Bridges, follows Weaver of Costa Mesa and fellow photographer Spyder Wills, of Laguna Beach, as they circled the globe to then-remote locales to film surfers and the people who inhabited the areas.

Weaver, a maitre d’ at the famed Arches restaurant in Newport Beach, almost did not get the time off to attend the festival from boss Dan Marcheano, since it fell during the city’s Restaurant Week.

But after finding out about the his employee’s project, Marcheano not only gave him the time off, but paid for his hotel accommodations.

Neither Schell nor Weaver could be reached Thursday to comment on the win.

However, both were more than confident that the film would have a solid run at the festival.

“Yeah I’m excited,” Weaver said in a Jan. 18 interview. “This is our little trip up to the plate.”

Lotus premiered on Dec. 14 at the Surf City 6 Cinemas in Huntington Beach.