Hotpipe Hillbillies is a documentary about community, resilience, and finding joy in the most unlikely of places. Against the backdrop of Shoreham’s industrial shoreline, a diverse crew of surfers gather at an industrial outflow pipe to ride waves that are often messy, fickle, and short-lived.
This ain’t Cornwall. It sure ain’t California. But for this crew, it’s home. Through humour, grit, and an irrepressible love of surfing, they reveal what it means to find belonging in the water – and why passion, not perfection, is what keeps us paddling out.
On the south coast of England, where the water runs brown and the waves are shaped by concrete, the Hotpipe Hillbillies paddle out. This film follows a tight-knit group of surfers – lifers, blow-ins, shapers, parents – who have turned an industrial outflow pipe into their own version of Pipeline. From old-timers who remember the first boards arriving on the beach, to newcomers bringing punk energy and new stories, each has a reason to keep coming back to this most unlikely surf spot. The result is a love letter to community and resilience. Hotpipe Hillbillies isn’t about the quality of the wave. It’s about what it means to show up, again and again, even when the conditions are stacked against you. Because it’s not about where we surf. It’s about why we surf.
Featuring:
SHAUN ‘HADDOCK’ EDWARDS – the sage of the shoreline, mender of boards, keeper of swans.
JEAN ‘THE HACKMAN’ BROMFIELD – Aussie renegade, skater-surf icon, always in motion.
CLARE ‘THE URCHIN’ VENTHAM – Brighton lifer, fisherwoman, ray of sunshine.
ASHLEY ‘THE PAINTER’ GILL – artist in and out of the water; every wave a work in progress.
SAM ‘614 SHAPES’ NEWMAN – master craftsman, board shaper, family man, carving wood and waves.
ANDREAS ‘THE PIRATE’ PFEIFFER – sailor, fisherman, sea-dog, philosopher of the lineup.
PAUL ‘THE RANGER’ GORRINGE – rewilding ranger, father, local surf voice and elder.
Produced by @clareventham
Filmed by @boundy91
Artwork by @madisonroseellen
