How did surfing, which prizes a laidback coastal lifestyle of philosophical oneness with the ocean, become so commercialised that 15-year-olds are already fretting about the trajectories of their professional careers?
That’s what I wondered as I watched Surviving Summer, a ten-part young-adult series made for Netflix by Joanna Werner (Dance Academy, The Newsreader) and Josh Mapleston (Beat Bugs, Maximum Choppage). To appeal to international audiences, the titular protagonist is sassy Brooklyn skateboarder Summer Torres (Sky Katz), who moves to the fictional Great Ocean Road surf town of Shorehaven.
