The Audience Responds!

“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

“I loved it!”
-- Jeff Sagansky
TV/Film Executive
(Sony, CBS, TriStar, NBC)

“Really enjoyed the show!”
-- Peter Townend
1st World Pro Surfing Champion
Former Associate Publisher, Surfing Magazine

“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

“What a great film!”
-- Darryl Stolper

“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

“I loved it!”
-- Kelly Meyer
Surfer/Environmentalist

“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

“I was delighted to attend the world premiere of `Accidental Icon: The Real Gidget Story.’ 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 2006 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
Board of Directors, Malibu Celebration of Film

“MCOF is honored to have world premiered your film AN ACCIDENTAL ICON: THE REAL GIDGET STORY. I can’t think of a better film to launch the first annual Malibu Celebration of Film than yours. We sold out the 450-seat theatre and had to add another screening, which approximately 75 more people attended. In fact, you should know that from the day the festival program guide was released to the public, we were inundated with calls and emails from people anxious to know when, where and how to buy tickets. The excitement was tremendous, more than for any other film we screened, and we screened some significant films. And at the screening, it was a treat to see such a joyous reaction from the audiences. They were thrilled and so were we.”
-- Kim Jackson,
Executive Director, Malibu Celebration of Film

“’ACCIDENTAL ICON’ is a REAL ICONOCLAST! Tonight I saw the premier of `Accidental Icon: The Real Gidget Story’ directed by Brian Gillogly at the Malibu Celebration of Film. It was a truly appropriate ending to the first year of this film festival: `Gidget’ who in real life is 65 year-old Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, was instrumental in Malibu’s emergence as the site of the Southern California surfing craze. But more importantly, 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 was shown to a sold-out audience at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre. It 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
Premiered: October 8, 2006, Culmination Event at the Malibu Celebration of Film
For more information, visit www.gidgetdocumentary.com