An Interview with Maya Gabeira & Stephanie Johnes from ‘Maya and the Wave’

Maya Gabeira in Stephanie Johnes’ MAYA AND THE WAVE.

Maya Gabeira is easily the best surfer on the planet, and Stephanie Johnes is a highly accomplished documentarian. They come two very different worlds but worked together to chronicle ten years in Maya’s life to create the documentary, Maya and the Wave, and we here at NTG sat down with both of them to discuss their incredible fim.
 
John Betancourt: Maya, what inspired you to tell this story. Because you didn't have to. You're literally the best surfer in the world, but you had a story to tell.
 
Maya Gabeira: Well, I think that that was Stephanie's work. You know, she found a go and she was interested in a story that nobody really was. And I think not only through the sport, you know, big wave surfing was still very unknown, and female athletes were very, not really seen at the time, and I think she tapped into something. And to be honest, I wasn't really the best surfer at that point. I don't think, I think I became the best surfer throughout those 12 years. And I'm sure that, you know, by telling my story and by continuing to be engaged in the project, it also inspired me to reach higher, you know, I think, especially when I look at the petition and the work we did to really pull that record out of the Guinness and the WSL (World Surfing League), I don't think I would have done it alone. You know. I think it would have been too big of a job if I didn't have somebody that I loved and I cared for and was depending on that to finish a movie, you know? And so, I think that that really kind of helped everything, to be complete, and to happen.
 
Stephanie Johnes: Well, I'm a very mediocre surfer, and I'm a, you know, a very recreational athlete, and, you know, I've worked in film for most of my life, and documentary, specifically, and some sports films, and so I always think that's an interesting landscape to explore. And I was really curious about big wave surfing. I didn't know anything about it. And being a woman, I was especially curious to know that there was Maya, who was really one of the only women performing at a very high level in this sport. And this was 10 years ago when I met her, so I was just, it's just curiosity, like, what is it like for her to surf giant waves and, yeah, you know, filmmaking is like a, you know, it's a wonderful way to explore something that you don't know about. So, I reached out and we connected, and then just started down this road that neither of us knew was going to take a decade. But here we are.
 
John Betancourt: What kind of challenges went into creating such an ambitious and sprawling project?
 
Stephanie Johnes:  I mean, the boring answer is, resources. Making an independent film is extremely challenging. You know, this was not a studio production. So, I mean, in a sense, that's why I was able to continue year after year after year. But this is a pretty unique style of filmmaking. This is truly a Cinema Vérité film, where you just explore a person and a subject without knowing what the outcome is going to be. It's not like a retrospective biography of someone. And so, from the beginning, I just thought, “Wow, this woman is amazing. She's in an amazing environment. Let's see what's going to happen.” And that's like, a pretty rare type of film to be made. And, you know, it took a lot of dedication to stick with it year after year, pretty much as a personal, you know, project, and so that that's super challenging. And then, you know, you can see the movie. There's a lot of technical challenges. Like surfing is very complicated to capture, and Maya had obviously, a lot of experience doing that as a professional surfer, that's woven into what she does. So, she could help me, you know, connect with people and figure out the right way to, you know, capture what she does. And there's just so many surprises along the way that we just didn't anticipate things happening, you know. And that's what's exciting about this kind of film, is like, you don't know what's going to happen, but you gotta really run to try to capture it when it does happen? So, for the most part, we did.
 
John Betancourt: Now for Maya, what kind of challenges wind to being so vulnerable? Because you really open yourself up in this film, and you don't see a lot of that when it comes to sports documentaries.
 
Maya Gabeira: Yeah, for me, it was just that Steph was working independently, right? So, she was a one-person kind of production. And I think when you have just one person doing it all, it's easier to connect with the person and the human being in a level that she wasn't really a filmmaker at a lot of those moments. You know, she was my friend, and I needed her, and so sometimes, you know, when she when she would -- I think there's a scene that for me is very strong when I'm in in the room, and I had to ask her, what room was it, and where were you? Where we were together when we were in Lisbon, I was doing in Cascais, I was doing a speech, and where I cry, you know, and I tell her that I'm really tired and that I don't know what's happening, but I'm really sad and I basically, you know, I didn't say that to the camera, you know, I said that to my friend. I said that to the person that was on this crazy journey with me, and I was just really tired, you know, I was like, working against so many forces that I was just depleted. And, and I think that's how she captured the moment, but I think as a whole, that's how she captured the movie. And by working alone, I was able to connect with her at a personal level. And by working independently, she was able to connect into a freedom of creativity that really kind of kept the movie rolling, you know, into the direction it should.
 
John Betancourt: There's a lot in addition to the inspirational portion of it, this is a movie that really talks about a lot of things we don't see in sports documentaries, honestly, ever. Because I don't think these stories ever talk about the psychological side of what happens in sports, at least not enough, if anybody does. And not to mention, you know, I mean, look, just call it what it is, the wanton sexism that Maya encountered. And I'm curious from each of you, what went into the decision to showcase this other side of sports, if you will.
 
Stephanie Johnes: I guess, from my perspective, I'm a documentarian and a humanist first. And I think sports is a very visual, wonderful landscape to explore, because it's just, you know, it lends itself to film much better than, you know, historical things. It's just made for film. So as a filmmaker, it's a great landscape to be in. But I think I'm a humanist first, and I think human beings are interesting, and that's, you know, what I wanted to explore. And the this, the films that chronicle athletes that I really admire, when my favorite movie is The Crash Reel, really do have that texture of humanity and family and background, which, you know, was what I was trying to accomplish, rather than just like a, you know, splash reel. But that's why we're on earth together, is to understand each other as humans. And sports is a great vehicle for that. But it's not the end, you know, it's not the end game.
 
Maya Gabeira: I said, look, it's your movie. You know, it's my life, but at the end of the day, it's your movie. And you know, you have to do what you have to do, and you're gonna grab on to whatever you think it's important to you and what’s important to the story. And I wanted her to feel that freedom and know that whatever you know, path she chose, and whatever she felt with, you know, whatever we experienced together, she was free to use it.
 
Stephanie Johnes: Yeah, in a way, I think it's also like the, you know, there's always the flip side. You know, with a lack of resources, you have a lot of big, you know, Maya has been filmed by a lot of big productions with 10 person crews and lot of lights, a lot of interference, and that's a very different way of approaching someone when you're filming them, and it yields a different result. And so maybe our very, you know, our independent approach, and you know, minimal resources and minimally invasive style of shooting yielded a different result.
 
Maya Gabeira: It was, the only way to get this type of result. You know, if you're trying to make it splashy and big and expensive. You don't get to the core of human beings, you know, it's the opposite of what our nature is. You know, that's all the pools that we have from society. But you don't get deep.
 
John Betancourt: Now, this is premiere week. Congratulations on that. What does it mean to have this out to the masses?
 
Stephanie Johnes: I wouldn't say the masses. I mean, I would say we're still going very small here, I mean, for me, it's exciting just to, you know, have the public release. We had a huge success on the festival circuit, and so to have a, you know, Oscar qualifying run in New York City is a big deal. So that's exciting. But honestly this, you know, we are still on the independent path, which just means, you know, night by night, bookings on a film tour and hopefully gaining fans and inspiring people. And, yeah, as far as a, you know, digital release, we don't have a plan for that, but we're hoping that we find a home for the movie. I think we're probably going to be independent for a little longer. And we just, yeah, we appreciate you, and we appreciate people that connect with the story, that help us share and spread the word.
 
John Betancourt: It’s my honor and let me narrow that down better by asking what it means to have people finally see this?
 
Stephanie Johnes: Oh, it's rewarding. You just feel good, you know… 10 years is a long time to work on something, and you imagine one day we're going to be in a theater with an audience, and that's, you know, the process is part of it, part of the enjoyment, but you also anticipate the joy of sharing it with people. And they just really, they love it, they really connect. They're moved, they're wowed, they're appreciative. You have a lot of people saying, “Thank you for making this film,” and that just feels great. It feels really good. And you have a lot of people, you know, for Maya, she doesn't -- for what she has accomplished, the recognition in her life doesn't match, because it's a smaller sport and for the reasons you see in the film, it was never, it was never really properly celebrated or recognized. And this is, this is part of our moment, to be able to celebrate and recognize what she does, which you know, her accomplishment is on par with Billie Jean King winning “The Battle of the Sexes.” I mean, that is one of the most legendary, historic stories in sports, and that has been told over and over again. And what Maya did is equally as impressive but has not yet been celebrated on that level. And so, I'm hoping that this film will, you know, help celebrate something phenomenal.
 
Maya Gabeira: To me, honestly, at this point, it's kind of a vehicle to hopefully realize some of Steph's dreams and the whole team's dreams. You know, I think they deserve it. I think they worked really hard. I think they deserve recognition. And to me, you know, is the more famous the film gets, the more good I can do, you know, in the world, and the bigger of a voice I get, too, and I know what to do with it. So, I hope it goes as far as it can go for me to do what I want to.
 
John Betancourt: Last question I have for each of you today. What are you each most proud of when it comes to this project?
 
Maya Gabeira: Pushing through, never giving up and believing, you know, we really, we both believed in it, and I think that's a hard thing to do when you have so many obstacles. It was so hard, you know, and the fact that we kept believing and we kept holding on to each other and holding on to everyone that believed in us, too, I think that was the magic.
 
Stephanie Johnes: I would say the same perseverance. I'm very proud of the artistry of this film, and I'm also very proud of the perseverance, and, you know, I'm proud of the ecosystem, the relationships of people that are around us in this movie, and we've just worked with and connected with some really phenomenal people, and that's a gift to be able to connect with people through the filmmaking process.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
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