Narrated by Jorja Fox (“CSI”) and produced by Brian L. Gillogly and Robert Masters, ACCIDENTAL ICON explores the largely untold story of the real “Gidget,” Kathy Kohner Zuckerman.  Kathy’s account of surfing Malibu in the mid-50’s became the basis for a best-selling novel by her father Frederick Kohner and the hit 1959 “Gidget” movie, which introduced the modern sport of surfing to a world-wide audience.   Surf legends and present-day “surfer girls” set the stage and take the Gidget story full circle.  Prominent actors and directors, many of whom brought Gidget to the big and small screen, provide an often enlightening behind-the-scenes perspective.  Some of them include:

Sally Field - Oscar winning actor (TV’s “Gidget”)

Cliff Robertson - Oscar winning actor (“Kahuna”)

James Darren - Actor/Singer (“Moondoggie”)

Gregory Harrison - Actor (“Ed,” “North Shore”)

Caryn Richman - Actor (“The New Gidget” TV series)

Paul Wendkos - Prolific director ( “Gidget”)

Layne Beachly - Seven-time World Champion

Summer Romero - Women’s Longboard Champion

Jericho Poppler Bartlow - Former US Champion

Kassia Meador - Top Longboarder/Roxy Model

Belen Kimble - Top Longboarder

Carla Rowland - Malibu Champion

Sophia Sarlo - Top Malibu Surfer

Allen Sarlo - Veteran Malibu Surfer

Lance Carson - Surf Legend (”Endless Summer”)

Mike Doyle - Surf Legend/Former US Champion

Mickey Munoz - Surf Legend

 

Together with Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, they weave an entertaining and ultimately life-affirming true story of a young girl coming of age amongst the waves at Malibu’s fabled Surfrider Beach—and how a somewhat idealized version of that girl became a true American icon.

Click here to see the introduction of the documentary on stableroad.com

The Audience Responds!

“Shown in a marquee about two hundred yards from First Point, Noosa, in front of a sell-out crowd of Gidget fans, and with Kathy Kohner (Zuckerman), Layne Beachley and Director Gillogly special guests, the Australian premiere of Accidental Icon was a smash hit at the Noosa Festival of Surfing. Fast-paced, funny and often touching, Icon hit exactly the right note as the drenching rains abated and the surf started to pump. It was a magical part of the Noosa Festival experience in 2010.”

--Phil Jarrat, Organizer/Coordinator

Noosa Festival of Surfing

 

"`Accidental Icon’ is a truly artistic piece of work documenting Kathy 'Gidget’ Kohner's time on the beach at Malibu and the characters and early beach culture of the time.  The fictionalized book and subsequent movie changed surfing as we knew it forever and the documentary captures that time perfectly with film clips and interviews with the characters that inhabited Malibu and the shack.  It was interesting to hear the comments from a successive line of `Gidgets’ who followed in Kathy's footsteps, some of whom never knew the true origin of the word Gidget.  All in all a well filmed and documented story of a young girl who could never have imagined her impact on the world of surfing.”

--Mal Sutherland, Chair

Surf World Gold Coast Australia 

 

“`Accidental Icon’ is a great film that highlights a moving and unique father-daughter relationship. The historical, emotional, and pop culture phenomenon that was created by the Kohner family endures and is a significant part of California to this day. I found it a moving and original addition to the 2010 Newport Beach Film Festival and I hope to have more films from Brian in the future.”
--John Jameson
Feature Film Programmer
Newport Beach Film Festival
2004-2010

 

“Brian created a film that many different generations can and will relate to. I enjoyed it tremendously!”

--Jane Schmauss

Acting Director

California Surf Museum

 

“An amazing work!”

--Lisa Hunter

PhD, University of Queensland

 

“I loved it.”

--Jeff Sagansky

TV/Film Producer & Executive

(Sony, CBS, TriStar, NBC)

 

“It’s a blast from the past!  A story showcasing an eclectic group of surfers, then and now—and Kathy `Gidget’ Zuckerman, the surfer who spawned a whole movement of Surfer Girls and liberated a whole generation of young women.  The film has cross-over demographics and charms audiences of all ages.”

-- Lin Bolen Wendkos

Former NBC VP

 

“Never a dull moment…it made the audience feel alive. We don't get that anymore in movies and TV.”

-- Gina Calabrase

 

“Sooo exciting!”

-- Frank & Renata Lenart

Berlin, Germany

 

“Enchanting!”

-- Jerry Sussman

 

“Fantastic job!”

-- Brian Thompson

Actor

 

“Wow... that was one great movie!  I really enjoyed it!”

-- Kirsten Powell

 

“Inspiring!”

-- Buck Labadie

 

“I loved it.”

--Kelly Meyer

Surfer/Environmentalist

 

“A wonderful tribute to Kathy `Gidget’ Kohner and her father.”

-- Mike Fiche

 

“What a great job in capturing the essence of Gidget, the `real’ Gidget.  The infectious enthusiasm of surfing was captured beautifully.  What great inspiration for girls and the girl surfers in all of us!”

-- Susan Wagner

 

"Bitchin' movie!”

-- Glenn Buchan

 

“A wonderful film.  It really shows what an impact the `Gidget’ story has had on surfing in general and the empowerment of women in the second half of the twentieth century.  Incredible!”

-- Joanne Fish,

TV Producer

 

“We felt privileged to be allowed a peek into Kathy’s young life.  We think everyone on the planet that matters should see this movie.”
--Stephen & Sherrill Smith

 

“The documentary was so well done. It was interesting, historical and humorous,

so that it really kept the audience's rapt attention.”

--Mary Lou Furnas
 
“Brian Gillogly and Brian Denny did a fantastic job. Entertaining and good pace. Great editing.”

--Thomas Duncan

Producer

Spectral Media

 

"`Accidental Icon: The Real Gidget Story’ is a documentary well worth seeing. Written, directed and produced by Brian Gillogly, the one-hour film is the real story about `Gidget,’ a.k.a. Palisadian Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, and the `Gidget’ phenomenon that started with a book by Frederick Kohner and led to several movies, a television series and a huge invasion of new surfers.

         

Interviews with Zuckerman and surf legends like Lance Carson and Terry `Tubesteak’ Tracy, as well as some of the actors who played Gidget, such as Sally Field, add to the reality and the myth. `Gidget’ was not the first female to surf Malibu, but she is the one who opened the gate for others to follow.”

-- Darryl Stolper

A native of Pacific Palisades, Stolper was Sally Field's surfing instructor

 

“A mark of most good ideas is that you wonder why it had not already been done.  In retrospect it seems `obvious’ that someone should have done a film on the cultural influence of `Gidget.’  Producer and Director, Brian Gillogly, also found an inspired `device’ to connect the relationship of `Gidget’ and popular culture.  To connect fantasy and reality.  To connect fiction and fact.  He developed his story around the `real life’ Gidget, Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, and her similarities and differences with the `reel life’ Gidget of books, films, and television.  (The fifteen year old Kathy Kohner was the source and inspiration for her father's books about `Gidget’.)  The juxtaposition of the `real’ and `reel’ was both diverting and informative, entertaining and thought provoking.  From the vantage point of (today), the original Gidget, Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, was frankly, much more interesting than the dated cinematic versions.  However, the irony did not escape me.  The modern `surfer girls’ inspired by the Gidget films and television shows, were in fact much more like that feisty real-life Gidget, than the fictional Gidgets that had inspired them.  The film provides a fascinating time machine back to that original Malibu-surfing young woman, and captures how that young Kathy Kohner's spirit of independence and elan has been iconic.”

-- Michael D. Gose, Ph.D.

Professor, Humanities, Pepperdine University

 

“As the documentary makes clear, Kathy Zuckerman is not only an icon for the surfing world and its opening to a female presence, but she is an iconoclast in her breaking the stereotypes we have of `older women,’ especially in a part of the world obsessed with looking young.  Kathy is `real’ in that she has not undergone the knife to change her appearance, and she also represents what many women of her age and cultural backgrounds are in real life:  active, engaging, and great mentors.

 

In a world where many young women have few role models, Kathy Zuckerman is an inspiration not only to the actresses who have portrayed her but to young women who want to be athletic and meet the challenges of learning and sometimes also competing in surfing.  She is also a lively speaker who has told the story of the beautiful relationship with her father (who wrote HER story) to learners of many ages at universities, retirement communities and charitable events.

 

The documentary will hopefully go on to be shown to audiences of all ages:  the young, the middle-aged who grew up with Gidget on film and television, and elders young at heart – as spirited as Kathy and those who could use the inspiration her life offers.” 

-- Connie Corley, Ph.D., LCSW
Professor, School of Social Work
California State University, Los Angeles

 

“Totally bitchen! It reminds people what surfing is all about.”

-- Mark Schulman

“ACCIDENTAL ICON: THE REAL GIDGET STORY,” A Documentary

Executive Producer: Robert Masters

Writer/Director/Producer: Brian L. Gillogly

Editor: Brian Denny

For more information, visit www.gidgetdocumentary.com

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Photo by Ernest Lenart