100 Foot Wave
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100 Foot Wave is an American documentary television series directed by Chris Smith, revolving around big-wave surfer Garrett McNamara as he traveled to Nazaré, Portugal with the goal of conquering a 100-foot wave. It premiered on HBO on July 18, 2021.
The third season premiered on May 1, 2025.
Plot
McNamara's career as a big-wave surfer is chronicled. The series focuses on his time in Nazaré, where he hopes to find and conquer a 100-foot wave. He works alongside Nazaré locals to transform the town into a surfing destination known for its immense waves. Other big-wave surfers are also profiled.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | ||
| 1 | 6 | July 18, 2021(2021-07-18) | August 22, 2021(2021-08-22) |
| 2 | 6 | April 16, 2023(2023-04-16) | May 21, 2023(2023-05-21) |
| 3 | 5 | May 1, 2025(2025-05-01) | May 29, 2025(2025-05-29) |
Season 1 (2021)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Original release date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Chapter I: Sea Monsters" | Chris Smith | July 18, 2021(2021-07-18) | N/A |
| Professional big wave surfer Garrett McNamara begins "tow surfing," using jet skis to be able to get on taller and taller waves. After McNamara is filmed riding the barrel of a 20-foot wave at Hawaii's famous Jaws surf site, the video gets shared around the world and a resident of Nazaré Portugal reaches out to Garrett to try to get him interested in the mammoth waves that crash onto Nazaré's shore. McNamara goes to Nazaré and builds a team of like-minded surfers in hopes of catching the mythical 100-foot wave. | |||||
| 2 | 2 | "Chapter II: We're Not Surfers" | Chris Smith | July 25, 2021(2021-07-25) | N/A |
| McNamara and his team return to Nazaré for another season of surfing. The team struggles through a number of accidents and challenges but eventually develop a set of safety procedures that enable them to surf Nazaré's wave with less chance of injury or death. The struggles pay off when McNamara catches a nearly 80 foot tall wave that catapults him to international fame and makes him the holder of the world record for largest wave surfed. | |||||
| 3 | 3 | "Chapter III: Mavericks" | Chris Smith | August 1, 2021(2021-08-01) | N/A |
| After losing his drive to continue surfing at Nazaré, McNamara decides to return to competitive surfing at other big-wave sites. In order to compete in a tournament at California's Mavericks surf site, he must surf there regularly, something that he has done many times in the past. McNamara returns to Mavericks only to suffer a horrific injury on a wave he should have aced. | |||||
| 4 | 4 | "Chapter IV: Dancing With God" | Chris Smith | August 8, 2021(2021-08-08) | N/A |
| McNamara recovers from the injuries he sustained at Mavericks and begins training to return to Nazaré for another season. While surfing at Indonesia's G-Land site, Garrett suffers more injuries that threaten to take him off the waves permanently. Meanwhile, a friend of Garretts catches an 80-foot wave at Nazaré, taking the world record from McNamara. McNamara resolves to continue his hunt for a 100-foot wave. | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "Chapter V: The Circus" | Chris Smith | August 15, 2021(2021-08-15) | 0.205 |
| As dozens of top surfers from across the world arrive in Nazaré to train and prepare for a major big-wave competition, Garret continues to struggle with his physical injuries and mental preparedness. He knows he is not ready to surf in the competition but seeing the other surfers makes him consider competing anyway. Garrett also has misgivings about the state of safety plans at the competition, and tries to convince the organizers to beef up their plans. | |||||
| 6 | 6 | "Chapter VI: More Than Just a Wipeout" | Chris Smith | August 22, 2021(2021-08-22) | 0.197 |
| The day of the Nazaré competition has arrived, and Garrett decides not to compete but instead support his long-time friend and teammate Andrew "Cotty" Cotton. The competition does not go smoothly, with a major accident that has secondary effects on Cotty. After the competition, Garrett tries surfing at Nazaré again and realizes that he can resume big-wave surfing. The episode concludes with retrospectives from a number of the surfers who appeared on various episodes throughout the season. |
Season 2 (2023)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title 20 | Directed by | Original release date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | "Chapter I: Epsilon" | Chris Smith | April 16, 2023(2023-04-16) | 0.121 |
| 8 | 2 | "Chapter II: The Circus is Burning" | Chris Smith | April 23, 2023(2023-04-23) | 0.100 |
| 9 | 3 | "Chapter III: Jaws" | Chris Smith | April 30, 2023(2023-04-30) | 0.155 |
| 10 | 4 | "Chapter IV: Partners" | Chris Smith | May 7, 2023(2023-05-07) | N/A |
| 11 | 5 | "Chapter V: Lost at Sea" | Chris Smith | May 14, 2023(2023-05-14) | 0.083 |
| 12 | 6 | "Chapter VI: Force Majeure" | Chris Smith | May 21, 2023(2023-05-21) | N/A |
Season 3 (2025)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Original release date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 1 | "Chapter I: Risk" | Chris Smith | May 1, 2025(2025-05-01) | N/A |
| 14 | 2 | "Chapter II: Undertow" | Chris Smith | May 8, 2025(2025-05-08) | N/A |
| 15 | 3 | "Chapter III: Cortes Bank" | Chris Smith | May 15, 2025(2025-05-15) | N/A |
| 16 | 4 | "Chapter IV: The Eddie" | Chris Smith | May 22, 2025(2025-05-22) | N/A |
| 17 | 5 | "Chapter V: Family Business" | Chris Smith | May 29, 2025(2025-05-29) | N/A |
Production
Smith was approached by Joe Lewis to direct a documentary feature film about McNamara. However, when the first cut of the film turned out to be six hours long, Smith felt it would be better suited as a docuseries. In February 2021, it was announced that a 6-episode documentary series would be produced by Topic Studios and distributed by HBO.
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | American Cinema Editors Awards | Best Edited Documentary – (Non-Theatrical) | Connor Culhane, Adrienne Gits, Abhay Sofsky, and Brandon Valentin (for "Chapter I: Sea Monsters") | Nominated | |
| Cinema Eye Honors | Outstanding Broadcast Cinematography | Chris Smith, Jerry Ricciotti, Mike Prickett, and Laurent Pujol | Nominated | ||
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series | Joe Lewis, Chris Smith, Maria Zuckerman, Ryan Heller, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Bentley Weiner | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program | Mike Prickett and Laurent Pujol (for "Chapter IV: Dancing with God") | Won | |||
| Producers Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Sports Program | 100 Foot Wave | Won | ||
| 2023 | Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series | Maria Zuckerman, Ryan Heller, Joe Lewis, Chris Smith, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Bentley Weiner | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program | Antoine Chicoye, Mikey Corker, Vincent Kardasik, Alexandre Lesbats, Chris Smith, Laurent Pujol, João Vidinha, and Michael Darrigade (for "Chapter VI: Force Majeure") | Won | |||
| Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program | Alex Bayer, Alex Keipper, and Quin O'Brien (for "Chapter III: Jaws") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera) | Max Holland, Eric Di Stefano, and Kevin Senzaki (for "Chapter V: Lost at Sea") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-Camera) | Keith Hodne (for "Chapter V: Lost at Sea") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program | Zach Rothfeld (for "Chapter V: Lost at Sea") | Nominated | |||
| 2024 | American Cinema Editors | Best Edited Documentary (Non-Theatrical) | Alex Bayer, Alex Keipper, and Quin O'Brien (for "Jaws") | Nominated | |
| Cinema Audio Society Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television – Non-Fiction, Variety, or Music/Series or Specials | Keith Hodne (for "Chapter V: Lost at Sea") | Won | ||
| Golden Reel Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Non-Theatrical Documentary | Keith Hodne, Max Holland, Eric Di Stefano, Kevin Senzaki, Eli Akselrod, and Mika Anami (for "Chapter V: Lost at Sea") | Nominated | ||
| Producers Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Sports Program | 100 Foot Wave | Nominated | ||
| 2025 | Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series | Ryan Heller, Michael Bloom, Maria Zuckerman, Zach Rothfeld, Joe Lewis, Chris Smith, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Bentley Weiner, and Vincent Kardasik | Won | |
| Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program | Michael Darrigade, Vincent Kardasik, Alexandre Lesbats, Laurent Pujol, Karl Sandrock, and Chris Smith (for "Chapter III: Cortes Bank") | Won | |||
| Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program | Kevin Senzaki, Eric Di Stefano, Max Holland, Eli Akselrod, and Mika Anami (for "Chapter III: Cortes Bank") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program | Keith Hodne (for "Chapter III: Cortes Bank") | Nominated |
External links
- at IMDb