From Award-winning Bra Boys director Macario de Souza, IN PIECES TOGETHER follows 3-time world record breaker, endurance surfer, mental health advocate Blake Johnston’s record-breaking surf and mission to spark a national conversation about mental health and suicide, narrated by Luke Hemsworth.
Before this new Australian documentary premieres on Fox Sports available on KayoSports and Foxtel, as well as BINGE, at 8.30pm AEST on May 13, Nick L’Barrow spoke with director Macario de Souza and surfer Blake Johnston about the importance of conversations around mental health, and the impact making this documentary had on their own journey’s.
Nick: I just wanted to say off the bat that this documentary is fantastic. For decades, people have held onto these traumas and have not had an outlet to discuss mental health, and using a format like a documentary to destigmatise the conversations around mental health is so powerful. How has media played a role in being able to open up conversations around mental health?
Macario de Souza: Yeah, when I look at other films that have been made in this space, a lot of them have felt quite clinical. It’s professors, psychiatrists, filmmakers who all have a very eloquent way of speaking. And they’re very educated. But sometimes the protagonists of their stories are everyday people that others might not have heard of before, and it may not always resonate. So, I guess I had an approach and a strategy with Blake. He has a great network of followers and people that look up to him and admire him who we wanted to bring into this. We could cross over a little bit and create a medium, where unfortunately you need to have these days, that needed to spread the word far and wide through the people who are in it. So it can be a part of the wider conversation. The beauty of long form, and why I love it so much, is that it lives forever. It’s a legacy piece that can always be revisited. We want it to be something where if you have a mate who is down, and you don’t know what to say to him, you can show him this film. Allow them to watch it in their own time. It’s a powerful medium, and it’s the form of storytelling that I’m blessed to be able to do and collaborate with Blakey and his family.
Nick: Blake, how did Macario and this project come to you? Had you already prepared to do the world record breaking surf before the idea of this documentary came about?
Blake Johnston: It was super organic, hey. We raised $100,000 before I even paddled out, so it was already like something special was happening here. People were believing in it before I even caught a wave, and it was just beautiful. The foundation and my wife that were organising it said we should get someone down to film down here. And luckily we did, because all of that footage we got with the surf over those two days, it was crazy that it even happened. And it’s actually my story. It’s real life. It’s surreal thinking that was all captured on film. I remember telling my wife, “This feels scripted!” Like, everything just fell into place exactly how it should. It was a really unique experience.
MDS: When I connected with Blake, his family had reached out and we had a sit down and chatted about the world record, which had already happened and the footage existed. So, it was really about watching that footage and getting a sense of what the story is. And like Blakey said, it’s almost like it was scripted. There were so many highs and lows, ebbs and flows of what he went through, mentally and physically, and it gave me an idea of how we could piece the story of this journey together. It was really just super organic.
BJ: It really also was the perfect mirror of mental health. I was struggling. I was elated. There were all of the emotions through this. I think visually this doco really spoke to what mental health is about – being resilient and able to adapt to your environment. I think that will resonate with everyone who watches it.
Nick: There is so much vulnerability in this documentary. And I feel like it’s a huge step for anyone to be vulnerable, but it’s a whole other thing to be vulnerable on camera knowing people will see you talk about this. What were the conversations like with everyone who was a part of this documentary about opening up on camera?
MDS: Yeah, that was the trickiest part of the whole thing, to be honest. It’s one thing being friends with all of these people who you can speak to about these things off camera. It’s another thing to commit to it and record it in front of a camera for the public to see. We had to approach it with a lot of caution. I spent a lot of time on the phone to guys prior to coming in and shooting the interview, making them feel super comfortable. The thing with filmmakers and producers, sometimes they’ll just do whatever it takes to capture what they need for the sake of drama in the film. I just want it to be clear, that’s not what I was trying to achieve here. It really was about earning that trust. There were a lot of super high profile people who were close to getting involved, and at the last minute, feeling like they were ready. They were still dealing with it and processing it themselves. But, the ones we did speak to, they were brilliant. They were open. Most of them already spoke in the public domain about their stuff, and they do this to help others. But it was still tough. I found it particularly hard with the Braith [Anasta] and Kobi Dee interviews because I’ve known both of those guys since I was really young, growing up around Maroubra. And to see them break down, you can’t help but break down yourself. Some days we did five or six interviews back to back, about two hours for each one. It was quite emotionally draining. But one of the big reasons I wanted to make this film was to learn how people process and deal with their traumas, particularly Blake. It’s been a big process for me and I’m very grateful for that.
Nick: What were the things you both learned from the other people featured in this documentary?
BJ: It is something I’ve thought a lot about. I’m very self aware and empathetic to other people’s experiences with grief, even with how me and my brothers have dealt with it in different ways. Unfortunately, we’ve all dealt with grief and suicide in our family, and there is no one way to deal. We shouldn’t judge or make comparisons to how anyone is healing. I said last night at the premiere that you don’t fail at grief, you just learn to carry it better.
MDS: I’ll be honest – I was so desperate for help and I wasn’t sure how to get it. I’d done the same old routes of therapy and some medication. And when I was doing these interviews, particularly with Blake, I was writing down so many notes on my phone. And the biggest thing I got from Blakey was that when you’re desperate, you look for that one thing that can fix everything. But that’s never the case. It’s ongoing. It’s like training. It’s about managing and coping with things that happen daily. And physical training is a big part of that. I really respect that Blake makes the time for it by getting up early and gets his training done before the kids get up. If we could spend every single minute with our kids we would. Sometimes I feel guilty leaving the house to train. But it’s also important to do those things that will help with mental health. And I learnt that from Blakey.
Nick: I’d love to ask about the world record itself. When you first found out about Josh’s record that you were trying to beat, and you heard numbers like 30 hours and 466 waves – what were those first reactions?
BJ: I think my approach to it all was definitely reckless [laughs]. I’ve always been known as a good surfer, and I love to challenge myself. But I did have to build up this self belief to do hard things and not be too critical or hard on myself while doing it. And that really came through as an attitude where I knew I had to do whatever it took. I accepted that and trusted the process, and that was an amazing mindset to be in. But there was definitely a bit of reckless ambition there.
Nick: Is “reckless ambition” something you can also relate to from a filmmaking perspective, Mac?
MDS: Man, I wake up every couple of weeks and go, “I should have been a bloody tradie.” [laughs] Honestly though, once I’m locked in, I’m locked in. I live it and breathe it until it’s done. I definitely juggle being a creative first and foremost with the business side of this industry. You know, since COVID, it’s been harder to make films in this country. And there was recklessness to this film where we tackled it head on because we loved it. Normally, a movie is kind of made before you even film it. You have pitch decks to sell your idea and get funding, then you go out and shoot it. That’s the safest way to do it. But that’s what I love about our production company, Hype Republic, we have this approach where if we’re in, then we’re all in, by any means necessary. And there are always hurdles, but we get through it. That’s how we made this movie.
Thank you so much to Blake and Macario for their time, and Hype Republic and Sally Steele for organising the interview. In Pieces Together premieres on Fox Sports and Kayo, as well as Binge, 8:30pm AEST on Wednesday May 12.
