On Credit began in May04. I was in $19,500 debt after two years competing on the WQS, and about to embark on another 5 month journey... when, a thought popped into my head, "why not document my trip!".

At the time, my 4 credit card limit was $24,000, so I took a punt, going with my gut I purchased a $1500 Panasonic NV-GS15 (the handycam pictured), leaving me with only $3000 left on credit... I was in for some surprises!

On Credit travels all over the globe, following the World Qualifying Series, to countries like Bali, Hong Kong, Maldives, South Africa, Europe, Canary Is, USA, Brazil, etc, surfing some of the best and worst waves the world has to offer.

I (Johnny Abegg) am an aspiring Professional Surfer, trying to fulfill my surfing aspirations, yet making a film at the same time. All I used to tell myself travelling was "film everything Johnny, you never know what you'll need".

The name On Credit came to me mid way through the trip, the huge credit card debt coming off positively for a change. A unique story angle was surfacing, but I still thought it was all a bit of a joke (being a total newcomer to filmmaking and all), but I stuck with it...

The rest of the trip unfolded...

In my last week travelling, Dad phoned me saying "the National Australia Bank has offered you a $3000AUD increase!". Music to my ears... So an Apple G4 laptop later and a new credit debt of $27,000AUD, I had a start... Let the filmmaking begin!

First step was to learn how to edit, having no experience what so ever, I started playing with iMovie to get the feel for editing. Within a few weeks I made the jump up to Final Cut Pro, needing the added features and learning headaches to make On Credit come to life!

There I was, surfer turned computer nerd, spending over 8 hours a day, everyday, cutting, pasting, cross dissolving, fading, splicing, the whole shebang! Not having a clue what I was doing, but with a goal in mind... I had a story to tell, learning software programs was just part of the process.

Halfway through, getting happy with the message I was portraying and the sections I'd created with "mainstream music". I ran into music copyright. Thinking I was down and out, but thanks to advice from some filmmaking friends, I steered away from a potential suing and decided to make the music myself!

Lucky, I had some experience here. Thanks to my clunky desktop PC, a music program called Reason, a midi keyboard and a shit load time, the On Credit soundtrack was born! Reason is my tool of choice, my flavour is "doof doof" music, so to compose multiple genres of music to suit mood changes within the film was a nightmare, the most difficult part. I ended up writing 33 songs for On Credit, adding another 3 months to the process...

Narration was another drawback. Living in a noisy area, kids at the nearby daycare, cicadas outside... I'd jump from my garage to a bedroom, mum's car to the bathroom, trying to get some sort of sound proofing was interesting.

In total I spent 10 months, rolling 17 hours of footage into a 56 minute movie. I ended up filming/directing/writing/ narrating/editing/producing and composing On Credit, from a simple thought of buying a handycam! The whole process has been one big learning rollercoaster, well worth the effort and the gambles!

The movie was also financed On Credit, having paid a minimum of $561 a month in repayments during the entire On Credit period, which totals 15 months! From someone with no experience in movie making, I have gained so much out of this process and I'm psyched to do more projects... An On Credit sequel is planned for 2007.

I hope you enjoy On Credit as much as I have making it... support the cause and buy a DVD, see the journey for yourself!