SPECIAL EVENT: Q&A after the screening featuring Director David Johnson and pro beach volleyball legend Sinjin Smith.

In the late 1980s to mid 90s, professional beach volleyball was more than a sport, it was a cultural phenomenon waiting to happen. On the beaches of Southern California, a rebellious group of athletes, promoters and larger-than-life personalities transformed a simple game played in the sand into one of America’s most unlikely entertainment spectacles. The crowds grew. The money followed. Rivalries became legendary. And the players became stars. At the center of it all were competitors like Karch Kiraly, Sinjin Smith, Randy Stoklos, Tim Hovland, Mike Dodd and a generation of athletes who helped define what professional beach volleyball could become. They weren’t just playing for championships. They were building a sport from the ground up, navigating rivalries, egos, promoters, sponsors, television, money and the relentless pressure to keep the party going. For a brief, exhilarating moment, it seemed like beach volleyball was destined to become one of America’s next major professional sports. But success brought its own set of problems. As the sport exploded, competing interests, personalities and business decisions began pulling it in different directions. The same forces that helped make professional beach volleyball exciting and unpredictable also threatened to tear it apart. Within a few short years, a sport that had seemed unstoppable found itself fighting for its very survival.