In Surf Girls Hawai'i, Mana Wahine Take Center Stage
From right to left: Monica Medellin, Brianna Cope, Ewe Wong, Moana Jones Wong, Maluhia Kinimaka, and Pua Desoto.
© Sea Maven Magazine
VENICE BEACH, CA — The evening Venice sun cast a golden glow as a small crowd gathered around a concrete runway, awaiting the stars of Amazon Prime Video’s new series. Onlookers peered through the greenery from the sidewalk. Camera crew shuffled cue cards. Mic check, one, two. The girls are here. As the five young women strode in, the moment was theirs.
The powerful presence that is 18-year-old Pua Desoto led the way, towering in heels, an elegant pantsuit, and striking plate jewelry. Maluhia Kinimaka followed in a custom white gown, draped in traditional shell leis. Ewe Wong and Brianna Cope were radiant in tones of purple and black. Moana Jones Wong, the surf world’s favorite barrel baron, was glowing and smiling ear to ear, tan lines peeking through her glam.
You can take the girl out of Pipeline, but you can’t take the Pipeline out of the girl.
For show creator and executive producer Monica Medellin, making this series was a dream realized. “As an indigenous Mexican-American director, executive producer, show creator and surfer, I’ve dreamt of making this ever since I was a little girl,” she wrote on Instagram.
A phenom in her own right who looks at ease on both sides of the cameras, it was Monica who gave Amazon Studios access to the world of these young surfers. The friendship and trust between them is visible. She expertly guided the girls through the step and repeat, serving as a seamless liaison between executives, crew, and talent.
This was it: Monica had successfully put the spotlight on Native Hawaiian surfing and given these young mana wahine (powerful women) center stage. At midnight, Surf Girls Hawai’i would go live in 240 countries.
“As an indigenous Mexican-American director, executive producer, show creator and surfer, I’ve dreamt of making this ever since I was a little girl.”
Pua and Maluhia owning their moment.
© Sea Maven Magazine
The four-part series follows the cast members’ daily lives navigating friendship, family, competition, sponsorships, sacrifice, and coming of age. Each of the girls has the chops to make a career out of surfing, but spots are limited; only the top five from the region will ascend to from the qualifiers to the WSL Challenger Series, and competition is fierce. It takes the support of your entire family and community, a few lucky lucrative sponsorships, and an insatiable hunger to make it.
Ewe, the youngest in the group, questions whether competing is for her in the first episode. She is able to tap into her fierce performance mentality while freesurfing, but during contests, anxiety runs high. A second chance at having a title sponsor on the nose of her board has given her renewed motivation to give her all in contests. But representing her Hawaiian heritage, speaking her language in the water, and taking her surfing to the next level drive her more than winning.
“I am a person that hit rock bottom and had to crawl all the way back up, and I did.”
Moana, on the other hand, lives and breathes competition. The Queen of Pipeline is far from satisfied; she wants to be the best female surfer in the world. As a young competitor, Moana dominated national championships, but an injury at sixteen brought things to a halt. She lost her sponsor, deleted her Instagram, and stopped showing up at contests. “I was heartbroken,” Moana said. “People thought I quit surfing. I was in college working three different jobs, trying to make rent, getting financial assistance from the government because I didn’t have enough money for food. I am a person that hit rock bottom and had to crawl all the way back up, and I did.”
Stills from the series.
© Prime Video
“I would like to be the first elite-level competitive surfer who is also a native Hawaiian woman with a PhD.”
Injuries are a harsh reality in surfing, and Maluhia’s career was interrupted at sixteen, too. Like Moana, she took the opportunity to pursue higher education. She earned her degree in aerospace engineering at Stanford. “Obviously I’m not a teenager anymore, so for this to be my first year attempting to get on the Challengers, 26 is quite old,” she says. But the journey brought her goals into crystal-clear focus: “I would like to be the first elite-level competitive surfer who is also a Native Hawaiian woman with a PhD.”
This career balancing act is one of several compelling storylines introduced in episode one. The series promises to grapple with the tension of competing against your best friends with life-changing opportunities at stake, explore the pressures of carrying family legacies, and highlight what it means to each of these young women to represent their Native Hawaiian heritage.
Surf Girls Hawai’i, brought to us by WSL, Hello Sunshine, Togethxr, and Amazon Studios, is streaming now on Prime Video.
