Andrew Kaineder
"Life was pretty up and down as a kid. My Mom was a single parent so we weren’t always financially stable, but I had a great childhood and never went without. It’s a funny thing being where I’m at now in my life and wondering how hard that must have been trying to grow yourself as a person while trying to raise a child on your own."
"I never grew up with my Dad, he left when I was one. So I don’t actually know what he does, I think he installs pools, but that could be utter bullshit!! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to gauge how much my mother did for me as a child and how difficult it must have been supporting a child by herself. I have been incredibly fortunate that she has given me the life I’ve had and supported me in every endeavour. She actually just moved home back to the east coast from living in Western Australia for nearly 10 years, and I just moved home from Germany. So it’s nice to be enjoying some time together after having been apart for so long. Mom is really organized and my life is in constant disarray, so it’s pretty funny sometimes."
"I went to school at Ulladulla High School, which is in a east coast town in Australia called Ulladulla. School was great there, I got really good grades until I started year 11. Then my attention to school waned. I hated conforming to such a strict routine and I think I picked a couple of wrong subjects. So I thought why be here and not put any effort in, I may as well leave. So I did. I became a chef and did that for 4 or so years. After that I packed the car with a couple of friends and drove across Australia, it opened my eyes to the world and I have not ever stepped foot back in a kitchen."
"My Mom said to me if I wanted to stop cooking I would have to go back to school and finish year 11 and 12. She never followed through on that, and I’m glad she didn’t. My Mom has been supportive my whole life but I still don’t think she understands how it all works. I will be booked on a job in some obscure location in the world and she still asks “are you getting paid”?"
"I have been filming my friends surf and making movies since I got my first camera as an early teenager. After the whole road trip thing, I approached a production company in Sydney for an internship. They said they didn’t take on interns, but because I had my surfing work they would give me an opportunity and see how it goes. They were great to me and I still work with them on occasion to this day. I can’t thank them enough for the opportunity and they knowledge they passed on."
"I’m not sure exactly of my first paying gig, but I guess my first breakthrough was working for quiksilver as a junior editor. They took me on after a short meeting, I assume from all my prior surf experience. I then worked on the first World Tour Surf event ever in New York, and then went to France for the next quicksilver contest. That was major and the first time I really ever travelled."
"I have been working a lot in surfing for the past couple of years. I currently freelance for the World Surf League for about half the year and use the other half to concentrate on passion projects. I travel a lot, about 75% of the year I’m away. The old cliché ‘to be everywhere is to be nowhere’, sums up the situation quite well. I travel the world, see amazing thing’s and meet incredible people while getting paid, it truly is the dream. But you sacrifice strong friendships at home, balance and any sort of relationship. So in that sense it’s hard, but I’m not willing to give it up just yet. I still need to learn how to switch my mind off."
"I really want to make a long form documentary in the near future. I’m hoping to use filmmaking as a tool to inspire people and initiate change for a healthier and happier planet earth. Inspiring change doesn’t always need to come from a documentary either. I think films have a huge impact on people’s lives and the perception of life in general. I guess I believe it’s a really powerful tool, and hopefully I can do it justice."