The Skisherman short film from Chandler Kauffman on Vimeo.

Welcome to the official website of The Skisherman, an ongoing documentary film project about an unusual and dangerous form of fishing and the characters who practice it in the waters off of Montauk, NY. The film follows Frank Blasko, a man seemingly built for adversity who finds peace and contentment in conditions that send other fishermen heading home or even calling the Coast Guard.  Skishing is a contraction of skiing and fishing, and involves floating in the open water with a rod, fins and some impressive custom made gear, with buoyancy provided only by a wet suit. So called because a hooked large striped bass tends to drag around a bobbing human before tiring and giving up the fight, skisherman usually target off shore rip tides where the choicest predator fish tend to congregate. It should be mentioned of course that this is mostly done at night and in miserable weather.

The above is a short film we cut out of the footage shot during last year’s skishing season. We are screening it at festivals and using it as a showpiece to get funding and support as shooting continues this fall with the goal being a feature length doc. So far we won the Documentary Competition at this year’s Film Series at Cine Gear Expo at Paramount Studios in LA, an Honorable Mention at the LA International Film Fest and were selected to screen at The Vancouver International Film Festival, Starz Denver, Big Bear Lake, Topanga Canyon and Coney Island Film Festivals. Stay tuned.

For more info about me visit http://chandlerkauffman.com/ 

email me at ck@chandlerkauffman.com