Soul Surfer is a 2011 American biographical drama film directed by Sean McNamara, based on the 2004 autobiography Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board by Bethany Hamilton about her life as a surfer after a horrific shark attack and her recovery. The film stars AnnaSophia Robb, Helen Hunt, Dennis Quaid, and Lorraine Nicholson with Carrie Underwood, Kevin Sorbo, Sonya Balmores, Branscombe Richmond, and Craig T. Nelson.
The earliest stages of pre-production on Soul Surfer go back to 2004, months after the shark attack (and subsequent recovery) that the film centers around. Nothing was solid until January of 2007 when Sean McNamara had been officially penned as the film's director. In the years following before casting had been finalized and production had begun, director Sean McNamara, producer David Brookwell, Hamilton's manager Roy "Dutch" Hofstetter and Douglas Schwartz were raising funds to ensure and solidify the furthering of the film's production. Before the film entered production, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired distribution rights for North America and most other territories. The production companies Mandalay Vision, Brookwell McNamara Entertainment and Life's a Beach Entertainment collaborated for the production, with Enticing Entertainment and Island Film Group providing financing.
Soul Surfer was filmed on 35mm film and shot across Hawaii and Tahiti - additional scenes were shot in Tahiti in August 2010 while primary filming took place over the span of 40 days much earlier in the year in Hawaii between February and March 2010. All of the surfing scenes in the movie that take place after the shark attack were done by Hamilton herself.
Bethany Hamilton on hand-picking AnnaSophia Robb to play her: "She was actually my suggestion. I'd seen her in several films like Bridge to Terabithia and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and thought she could play me really well. She visited me in Hawaii and my surf coach and I taught her how to surf, so she at least looked like she knew what she was doing!"
All information from Wikipedia.
Clips of this B-Roll taken individually from traileraddict.com and merged using Windows Movie Maker.