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Here is some of the publicity for DRIVEN.The ITV Westcountry News Feature is on a seperate button.

Nelscott Reef, Tow In Classic, Lincoln City Oregon

Nelscott Reef, Tow In Classic, Lincoln City Oregon Al and Cotty have recently been invited to compete in North Americas only Tow in Surfing event of the year. The duo caught the eye of contest organiser John Forse through their continued pioneering approach to big wave surfing in Europe. The team will be competing against fellow competitors from an international field in the event scheduled for a waiting period of October through December 2008. A paddle in event will be running along side the tow in event in which 5 of the tow teams were given the choice to put forward one of their team members to compete against 5 local surfers for an automatic seed into the event for the next year and a cash purse. Al and Cotty decided to put Al forward to represent their team for this years paddle in event. Al said “ Both Cotty and I are ecstatic about our inclusion in this event. We have been quietly surfing big waves here for quite some time now and to be recognised at this level is very humbling for us both. When John contacted us with an invite, it sent a shiver down my spine!”

http://www.surfersvillage.com/surfing/35278/surf-news.htm

Al, Cotty and Occy - XXL Awards

Both Alastair Mennie and Andrew Cotton were nominated for the 'Ride Of The Year' in the Billabong XXL awards this year. Footage from Driven was used in the 'years big wave round up' film at the start of the night including the incredible wipeout. To be nominated in the same category as the likes of Shane Dorian and Carlos Burle has been a great experience for the team and has proved that Ireland has some of the best wave potential in the world. Shane Dorian won the 'Ride Of The Year' category with an outrageous barrel at Teahupoo and Mike Parson's won the 'Biggest Wave' category with possibly the biggest wave ever ridden, at Cortes Bank. A great year across the world for big waves. Here are Al & Cotty with awards presenter and surfing legend 'Occy'.

Driven has just won the Motion Plynouth Film Festival 'Most Commercially Viable' award:

It's not often the North Coast holds a movie premiere but when the subject is surfing there could be no more appropriate location. 'Driven' charts Castle Rock surfer Alastair Mennie's mission to surf the biggest waves the Atlantic has to throw at us. Billed as one of the most exciting surf stories to come out of Britain and Ireland, the documentary already has a guaranteed audience of local surfers eagerly awaiting the year's best conditions, likely over the coming weeks. But the movie also promises non-surfers a facinating glimpse into a subculture more often associated with Calafornia or Hawaii. With the discovery of giant waves on Ireland's West Coast a few years ago, Mennie teamed up with Andrew Cotton from Devon and began a year long project to train for, then tackle the biggest waves the Atlantic had to offer. The film follows the two surfers through all their highs and lows, from their first experiences as a tow team, training sessions, big waves - both 'tow' and 'paddle in', one of the most incredible wipeouts in world surfing and many huge wave sessions since.

On Wednesday (October 3) an invited audience attended the film's launch at Flowerfield Arts Centre and a review will follow in next week's Chronicle. For more information go to www.drivendoc.com.

The Herald (Plymouth Newspaper) - Sat October 13th 2007

Feature on Herald Website

SURFING THE RED CARPET

The thrill of going to a film premiere is seeing the stars of the show, so when I received an invite to the latest British surf offering, Driven, I replied "Yes, please" quicker than Linford Christie leaving the blocks.The movie documents the quest of two guys to become tow surfers on the unforgiving west coast of Ireland. Held at the Plymouth College of Art and Design, the screening was the first in the UK. * Alistair Mennie and Andrew Cotton are the tow team documented by Mr B Productions, and through the course of the show develop from talented surfers into a highly credible tow team. * The opening sequence gives a glimpse of their most momentous rides, and unveils the overwhelming swells the Atlantic throws at the west coast of Ireland. This did initially make me think of the Billabong Odyssey, but I quickly remembered this was local guys doing it on their own, without safety boats and helicopters to film from.

The movie details Mennie and Cotton's partnership, and where they're coming from. Cotton was born in Plymouth, while Mennie went to Plymouth University. * Both competition surfers, they realised their shared passion for the extreme while competing on the BPSA tour. Conveniently, Mennie lives not all that far from the infamous big wave spot Aileens, so in no time the duo began to train for massive Irish surf. * For me, the craziest part of the movie is Andrew Cotton's wipeout: not that it's in the biggest surf ever captured, but that it's most definitely a near-death experience. * Bad luck and a building swell put jet ski driver Cotton inside a monstrous set of waves, and forced him to bail. With the ski chasing at an alarming rate Cotton only just escaped with his life. * With this in mind, I asked the duo if they ever got emotional after surfing, like big-wave legend Laird Hamilton. Both sniggered, but admitted a good ride or a bad session could obviously impact on their mood. Mennie then pointed out that Cotton should have cried when their jet ski washed ashore a mere wreck. * The documentary also puts the reality of big waves in context, with the team landlocked at one point because the surf made negotiating the slipway impossible, despite perfectly clean giant waves rolling into nearby breaks. * Another great segment was seeing the team suit up on a freezing morning, only for the wind to turn onshore - proving pro surfing isn't plain sailing.

At the end I also caught up with Mr B, AKA Anthony Butler, and discussed his motivations. Mr B was horrified when I asked why he chose surfing as his medium, rather than another action sport, explaining, "I'm a surfer; there was no option." For Mr B surfing came first when he started in the mid-Nineties, but by 1998 he began to make his own amateur surf videos. A developing love of film soon had him studying for a foundation degree focused on fine arts in new media, which led into another in moving image production. * This time in academia really gave Mr B the focus to become a serious and dedicated surf videographer. * As an independent, Mr B first impacted on the UK and Irish surf scene in 2006 with his movie Performing Monkeys, which is a showcase documentary about the best British and Irish surfers around. * If you haven't seen it, the movie offers the best waves, and a level of performance many people doubted was present in the UK. Mr B has also worked with the BPSA and Slide to produce short DVDs. * During his many hours in the water, he spent considerable time shooting the BPSA tour at home and away, and he soon became aware of Alistair and Andrew's quest for big waves. * With the seed of a new film in the making Mr B embarked on his big-wave expos??. The gritty realism of surfing heavy waves in brain- freezing conditions is a nice angle, and far enough removed from the likes of Riding Giants. * The influences of Taylor Steele and Jack McCoy are more remote than they were in Performing Monkeys, as there's no romance surfing ice-cold skyscrapers. The film communicates a steely determination by all parties, braving the elements with budgets that are minuscule by Hawaiian standards. Nonetheless, I strangely felt more admiration for these surfers and film-maker Mr B because they were risking everything.

I'd definitely recommend watching, and I'm pleased to say Mr B says he already has 50 hours in the can for his next movie. Find out more via www.mrbproductions. co.uk, plus look out for Driven in local surf stores soon.

Size matters! - The first big wave surfing film made in Ireland was released this week and one of its stars is a Castle Rock surfer.

Peter Winter reports - EVERY surfer knows the temptation to exaggerate size. But some have a genuine urge to risk their lives riding waves which must be seen to be believed. Until a decade ago big wave surfing was the exclusive preserve of Hawaiians - for 50 years house-sized waves have been ridden on the island's north shore but only recently have surfing in less exotic locations been catching up. Rest to come...