Target reached!
We surpassed our initial goal of $45K with your generous support - woohoo! Thanks fo...
The Cigarette Surfboard
United States
Aim
The Cigarette Surfboard is an award-winning, policy-changing environmental documentary – and we need your help to cross the finish line!
This immersive documentary takes viewers around the world (via surfboards built from thousands of littered cigarette butts) to learn about the importance of the ocean and what an inspiring cast of professional surfers are doing to protect it. Taylor Lane’s Ciggy Boards become the symbol of a grassroots campaign to hold Big Tobacco accountable for their toxic, plastic cigarette butt waste. The film is solution-driven with an optimistic outlook for the future of our planet – it opens up the dialogue for audiences to explore what anyone can do to take action in their personal lives and local communities. Surfing is the medium, but the message is universal.
The film and project have helped influence environmental policy in a very tangible way. On October 8th, 2024 the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to pass an ordinance banning the sale of single-use cigarette filters, the first law of its kind. And on June 10th, 2025 the City of Santa Cruz followed suit and passed a similar ordinance. Together with our local community, and using the Ciggy Boards as the symbol of this grassroots campaign, we are making real change from the ground up. We’re thrilled to see Santa Cruz take the lead with such monumental policy on behalf of our ocean and planet.
In the past year, we've screened the film more than 80x – at film festivals, independently organized community screenings, and at high schools, community colleges, and universities. On the film festival circuit, we received Audience Awards at Bend Film Festival and Cambridge Film Festival (in the UK), as well as Best Documentary Feature at Richmond International Film Festival and Oceanside International Film Festival, among more. We've also hosted educational screening events at University of California San Diego, University of Georgia, and Coastal Carolina University, to name just a few. See our full list of screenings and awards on the homepage of our website here: https://www.thecigarettesurfboard.com/
We are now looking to get the film online and further out into the world – and the only thing stopping us are some costly music license fees (our one year in-person licenses have expired). We have an incredible soundtrack featuring artists such as Jack Johnson, Fela Kuti, and Hugh Masekela. Your contribution would allow us to secure these music licenses in perpetuity and bring this inspiring film online and out to the masses.
How much will these music licenses cost? We have to raise $45K to pay for music license fees. None of this funding will go towards our personal time!
Why should I contribute? As our ocean faces mounting threats, we as surfers and concerned citizens have a responsibility to protect it. The Cigarette Surfboard documentary has already inspired a new generation of ocean activists, and will continue to catalyze the movement for bans on single-use cigarette filters, from cities to counties to states. And with your contribution, we'll be able to get the film online and reach a broader audience – to educate people about this pressing issue that affects us all, so we can start to address one of the many global problems plaguing our ocean, one butt at a time.
Can you help finance the final stage of our film? Any donation amount is deeply appreciated – we expect it will be a collective of people that truly believe in the film and its environmental message that will help us bring this final phase of our project to fruition. If a contribution is not currently within your means, we'd be very grateful for an introduction to anyone in your network who might be able to help us reach our fundraising goal within the next few weeks. If you are able to share this campaign page with family and friends who might have the capacity to donate that would also be amazing.
This project successfully funded on 27th August 2025