Roger Nance Ohana Award

2025 Recipient Heather Hudson

Heather Hudson, the 2025 Roger Nance Ohana Award recipient, is a celebrated filmmaker and lifelong surfer whose contributions to the longboard community have left a lasting impact.

Heather vividly recalls the summer day in 1978 when she sat on the beach at Malibu’s Surfrider and watched her boyfriend glide across the waves — a moment that inspired her to pick up a surfboard and changed her life forever.

Now based in Santa Barbara, she is known for her graceful longboard style and deep connection to the ocean. After earning her Sociology degree from UCLA in 1984, Heather worked in advertising before founding her production company, Graciegirl LLC, in 2007. Her groundbreaking 2009 documentary The Women and the Waves, created with mentor Peck Euwer of Swell Pictures Inc., helped open new doors for women’s surf storytelling.

For more than 18 years, Heather has supported and served on the board of Heal the Ocean, a Santa Barbara nonprofit dedicated to ending ocean pollution. Her love for the sea and passion for surfing continue to inspire her films, which celebrate women’s experiences both in and out of the water.