Creative Projects | Irving Entertainment

Saltfree Stoke

(Currently in Production)

“Saltfree Stoke” is a feature-length documentary following surfboard shaper and lifelong surfer Josh Weisfeld and his wife Emily, a surfer and photographer, as they rebuild their lives after the devastating 2023 Lahaina wildfires in Hawaii. The fires destroyed not only their home but the creative businesses they had built. We follow their journey relocating and starting a family in Alpena, Michigan.

Far from saltwater, Josh and Emily discover a resilient and emerging surf culture along the fresh coast. As Josh rebuilds his board shaping business and Emily reclaims her photography practice, the film captures a story of renewal rooted in creativity, partnership, and place. Through community-driven shoreline restoration and the founding of the Thunder Bay Surf Club, the first surf club in Michigan’s northeast region, "Saltfree Stoke" explores loss, reinvention, and how surf culture and creative identity can transcend geography.

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"Saltfree Stoke" offers a timely story of climate displacement, cultural adaptation, and grassroots community-building. Highlighting how creativity and connection can emerge from catastrophe.

Be Part of the Story

by donating, you’re not just funding a film

you’re supporting a growing community, freshwater

conservation efforts, and a new chapter of surf culture on the Fresh Coast.

Help us keep the "Stoke" alive and join us on the journey.

Donate today!

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Jaw Surf

Thunder Bay Surf Club

Emily Skiba Photography

Lachine Machine Sound Studios

IE Studios

Help us on

our Journey!

This film is being made independently, with a small crew and deep roots in the community it documents. Every wave we capture, every shoreline restoration effort we follow, and every story shared on screen is made possible through the support of people who believe in stories of resilience, environmental stewardship, and creative rebuilding.

Why Your Support Matters

Your donation directly supports:

Ongoing production and field filming on and around the Great Lakes
Ethical, community-centered storytelling
Post-production, including editing, sound, and accessibility
Distribution, festival submissions, and community screenings

Blow The Man Down

A Short Film by Zachary R. Irving

(Currently in Post-Production)

Blow the Man Down is a haunting short film that unfolds in an empty small-town theatre after hours. When Jim, a weary employee, begins his nightly cleanup, he is stalked by the spectral presence of a drowned family—a little girl singing sea shanties, a dripping woman who vanishes without a trace, and a mysterious father who looks just like him. As the projector whirs to life on its own, Jim is drawn into a black-and-white nightmare of lighthouses, storms, and loss. The theatre becomes a gateway between past and present, and Jim must face the possibility that his fate is bound to theirs.