Big Wednesday Cast Reunites Saturday as Coast Film Festival Opens Tonight
The eighth annual festival starts Friday at the Rivian South Coast Theater with films on Jack Johnson and Kelly Slater, then brings actors William Katt, Rick Dano and Robert Englund back to the 1978 surf classic that Laguna Beach filmmaker Greg MacGillivray helped shoot.
The eighth annual Coast Film and Music Festival opens Friday night in Laguna Beach, and its first weekend pairs three new surf films with a reunion built around a 1978 classic. The festival runs Oct. 16 to 25 at venues across town.
Opening night begins at 7 p.m. at the Rivian South Coast Theater, 162 South Coast Highway, with three films. The headliner is SURFILMUSIC, a 75-minute documentary directed by Emmett Malloy that traces Jack Johnson's path from North Shore surfer and surf filmmaker to internationally known musician. The film draws on rare footage and family archives and features Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Gerry Lopez, Ben Harper and G. Love, with music by Johnson and Hermanos Gutierrez.
Slater is also on screen in Kelly + Tahiti, which follows his return to competition at the 2026 Outerknown Tahiti Pro at Teahupo'o. The third opening night film, Lester, profiles an 83-year-old surfer, artist and craftsman. After the screenings, opening night guests move to the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center at 232 Ocean Avenue for the festival's opening night party, and admission to the party is included with an opening night film ticket. Online advance ticket sales have closed, with the festival box office handling remaining availability.
Saturday's draw is Big Wednesday. Laguna Beach filmmaker Greg MacGillivray, who spent months working on the film's surf scenes, said the screening came together when Hollywood Don't Surf, the documentary he co-directed, was scheduled at the festival and organizers proposed showing Big Wednesday on Saturday as a twin pairing. MacGillivray said actors William Katt, Rick Dano and Robert Englund will join screenwriter Dennis Aaberg and surfing stunt doubles Ian Cairns and Peter Townend for the screening, along with a panel discussion about the film and about making Hollywood sports films. "It will be a fun get-together," MacGillivray said.
MacGillivray's work on the 1978 film took the production to El Salvador, to Hollister Ranch in Santa Barbara County for several weeks, and to Hawaii for eight weeks. The film was a box office flop when it was released in 1978, but it gained cult status as a hit on home video. "It did really well on VHS. It set records," MacGillivray said. He credits fans in Italy, where festivals are built around the film, with helping drive its global cult following.
The reunion sits inside a 10-day program of dozens of film screenings and events covering surfing, snowboarding and the outdoors, with panels and musical performances alongside the films. The festival closes with three nights of Concerts in the Canyon at the Irvine Bowl, running Oct. 23 to 25, with Rainbow Body, Ben Harper and Amos Lee headlining the three nights.
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