EPIX transformed into MGM+ on January 15th, and among the first new projects rolled out post-rebrand is Murf the Surf, with the first episode now streaming on MGM+ (the streaming service) and broadcasting at 10/9c on MGM+ (the linear cable network of the same name). Hailing from Imagine Documentaries and This Machine, the four-part series unravels the life of Jack Roland Murphy, aka “Murf the Surf,” a surfer known for his impressive tricks who later pulled off one of the biggest jewel heists in history, committed murder, served jail time, and became a priest. During a TCA press conference, director R.J. Cutler (American High) was joined by executive producer Ron Howard (Light & Magic, Willow) for a conversation about how the series came together.
(Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for MGM+)
“When you meet Murf, you get Murf,” R.J. Cutler revealed about the subject at the center of the series, who passed away on September 12th, 2020 at the age of 83 shortly after the project began. Thankfully, producer Ryan Gallagher had recorded several pre-interviews with the documentary subject, which ended up being used as the basis for the series. “You experience it in the series, but you also hear others talk about their experience with Murf. He was very intentional. He had a goal in mind. He had the goal that this series would tell his version of the story, the version of the story that he, as you see in the series, put in the script that he wrote. And he also was not shy about letting us know that this is what he wanted. He was firm. He was subtle in his firmness. He made it clear that he knew that I had a family. He didn’t say anything else about it. He congratulated me on my beautiful family, but there are instances in the series where journalists talk about him doing these things that would just put a little bit of a chill in the conversation. He was manipulative in that way.”
“Brian Grazer and I, and of course, Justin Wilkes, and Sara Bernstein who run the documentary group, have sort of picked up on what we’ve always been curious about, which is really just character first, and then who’s the storyteller,” Ron Howard revealed about how Imagine Documentaries chooses its project. “I was really about this character, the filmmaker’s point of view about it, and the journey. We were fascinated about the documentary version of Murf the Surf story in the same way that Brian Grazer was fascinated with the characters in American Gangster. So it really is that journey, and it’s presented in such a compelling, informative, yet really entertaining and insightful way.” The series uses a mix of talking head interviews, archival footage, re-enactments, and stylized animation to bring Jack Roland Murphy’s story to life. “I get the pleasure of being one of the first audiences to see this style come together. And, of course, it's an amazing use of archival footage, but it's also a real point of view.”
“We try to give full voice to the different points of view on it and demonstrate that there were many who believed his version of events and many who didn’t and, ultimately, we leave it to the viewer to see where they’ll end up,” R.J. Cutler shared about the film’s perspective. “I also want to mention Terry Rae Frank and Annelie Mohn, who were the two women who Murf murdered. It was important to us to examine the way that the media treated them in the moment, to honor the victims, and to understand their story more fully. And to understand the way they were treated in this genre in this context more fully. And the series gets into that.”
Ultimately, what inspired R.J. to tell this story was all of the questions Murf’s story raised about our fascination with true-crime. “What drives us to be so interested in these stories? Why is the Jesse James legend so much a part of American mythology? Why was [Murf] celebrated as a jewel thief? And that allows us to say he was television’s first true-crime celebrity. He really, truly was. And what is it in the American psyche that draws us to these things? There are other questions that the series raises about the American psyche that have to do with why we are so compelled by snake oil salesmen. Is it because we admire their gumption? Is it because we think maybe a drop of snake oil, if it cures all my ills, would be a wonderful thing to have? Or is it because we want to believe them? Why do we want to believe them? Even if we suspect that they’re not necessarily telling us the truth, this is a very resonant thing for this moment in time.”
New episodes of Murf the Surf debut Sundays, streaming on MGM+ and broadcasting on MGM+ at 10/9c.