Where do I begin in saying just how proud of my brother that I am?
The premiere of Shredtown’s first full-length film has been met with an overwhelming response. Drop the Gun has arrived. Do yourself a favor. Drop what you’re doing and watch Drop the Gun.
My brother, Andrew, has a spirit of passion– for greatness, for success, for excellence – in all that he does.
I will never forget sitting at our family’s lakehouse one summer day when Andrew plopped down at the barstool next to me with a logo in hand. The Shredtown logo. He had just been playing around and created it. It’s the same logo they use today.
See, while I may not have thought much about this logo, I’m sure Andrew did. He had a vision. And he took that vision, and he put his heart and his soul into it. And together with Chris Abadie and Davis Griffin, these three boys have truly revolutionized the wakeboarding industry.
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Andrew Adams
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Chris Abadie
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Radical. Cutting-edge. Trendsetting. Innovative. Visionary. These are the words I think of when I think of Davis, Chris, and Andrew.
It should be no surprise to me that Shredtown has become such a huge success considering Andrew has been each of these things since he was very young. He’s been an extremist and a daredevil his entire life. Literally. He started climbing to the top of our fort with our sister when he was one. His fourth birthday gift was a dirtbike. And he had eight concussions in about as many years.
He has given his career as a wakeboader and his vision for Shredtown his all. And very quickly he made the March/April 2010 cover of Alliance Wakeboard Magazine.
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| read the article here |
Andrew most certainly has given Drop the Gun his all. I have seen first hand the amount of time, effort, and meticulous editing Andrew put into this film. When Andrew, Chris, and Davis weren’t planning a rail, they were building one. And when they weren’t shooting footage of them “hitting” the rail, Andrew was editing said footage… for hours on end.
And it has paid off. Clearly. This article from their debut premiere in Orlando is evidence of that. This summary from iTunes says it well:
Wakeboarding has come a long way since the day of surf boards with straps behind grandpa’s fishing boat. Drop the Gun is a new age professional wakeboard film unlike any other. The film takes you into the minds of three dedicated athletes as they transform features left unnoticed by society into a shredding playground. Travel across the country with Andrew Adams, Davis Griffin, and Chris Abadie as each portray their unique outlook on what wakeboarding is, and what is possible when rules are ignored and limitations are lifted.
The part about ignoring rules is spot on. One of my favorite “throwback” videos from the early days of Shredtown is “He’s Back” in which Andrew expertly and discreetly frames up the Lake Athens water patrol/authority – who is berating them for trespass – in front of the 15-foot teepee Andrew and the boys built by hand. My family still quotes this video… Really some great life lessons in there such as, “This ain’t. A park.” And my personal favorite, “That’s the wrong. Thought. To think.”
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| Watch “he’s back” here. |
As much fun as these boys have and as much trouble as they can get themselves into, I couldn’t be more proud and more inspired by their hard work, dedication, and passion.Remember that time MTV shot a Shredtown pilot? I still think that would have been a great reality show. (Though I would have never would have actually been filing my nails on a banana boat – nor would you guys have been eating actual bananas on the banana. Hence, we learned the important life lesson that no, “reality tv” is not so much “reality.”)
This film is delightful – for both the wakeboarder and non-wakeboarder alike. Andrew, Chris, and Davis had me laughing (as per usual) within the first sixty seconds of the film all the way through the final credits.
The opening crash reel proves just how much these boys literally put their lives on the line for the sport they love. Not gonna lie, there was a split second I found myself go from laughing to feeling sick to my stomach as I watched Davis yank an unconscious Andrew out of the water. But that’s just the protective sister in me.
What these boys do is truly amazing. The level of precision and skill it takes to successfully execute such complex set-ups with which they are not familiar, and the amount of courage it takes to take that first run are inspiring.
Not only is the content of this film amazing, Drop the Gun is full of artistic visuals and beautiful shots. And Shredtown never ceases to impress with one unique and original set-up after another. The attention to detail does not go unnoticed – i.e. the greenery they planted along the edge of one of their builds.
Having had the privilege of watching these boys firsthand, I have so much respect for the sheer amount of time that Andrew, Chris, and Davis put into this film. Drop the Gun – and every other video Shredtown makes – is like any other normal movie in that it takes an incredible amount of time to get the right footage for an edit. Unless you are in the entertainment industry (or wake industry) you may not realize that you have to do “take after take” to get a wide variety of shots and angles to then edit together to ultimately create each individual “scene.” The twenty-one minutes you see in Drop the Gun likely represent well over twenty-one thousand minutes of grueling days, sleepless nights, and hours spent in the hospital giving Chris’ doctor father business for which he’ll never get paid.
Andrew, Chris, and Davis, I am beyond proud of each of you. Drop the Gun is such a rewarding culmination of the twelve years the three of you have spent as a team wakeboarding together – from the early days on Lake Athens to the winching revolution you’ve created.
It’s been quite a journey to watch your journey. Where there is no path, you make your own. Where there is territory uncharted, you blaze a trail. And where most people see landmarks and monuments, you see jumps and rails. Thank you for sharing your passion, your vision, and your gift with the world through your truly epic film, Drop the Gun. I’m sure I speak for more than just myself when I say… I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with next.
To my Shredtown boys, Chris, Davis, and Andrew, thank you for some of the best memories throughout the years.
And to my brother, Andrew, I am so thankful to have gotten a front row seat, to have watched closely from the sidelines – or the boat, if you will – as you discovered your passion for wakeboarding, as you cultivated a vision, and as you ultimately turned a dream into reality. I can’t wait to see where God leads you next. I love you.
