Astrodeck Movies

Sonny Miller

July 18, 1960 - July 8, 2014

Harold Miller was born in 1960 in San Jose, California, Sonny was given his nickname by his father, Bud, who remembers him as “the happiest baby” he’d ever seen. “Even as an infant,” Bud says, “Sonny was always calm, happy, smiling, cheerful. Some people are just born that way.”

He began surfing at the age of 11 on the Pacific waves off San Diego and Orange counties, notably at the beach community of Cardiff-by-the-Sea in Encinitas, California, where he also became a familiar figure skateboarding the streets until dark and won a reputation as a "hardcore charger.

"​Sonny Miller was one of the most renowned cinematographers in the history of surfing, whether shooting from the beach, a jet ski, a helicopter or from among the waves themselves. Before turning to film he had been a still photographer whose close-up action photos were influential in the growth and popularity of snowboarding and skateboarding first, in the US and later around the world.​

Miller got his first covershot for Surfer Magazine using a flash water housing. Turning to the mountains, his dramatic image of snowboarder Damian Sanders became the cover of the first issue of Snowboarder magazine in 1986, helping launch the new sport to a wider public.

​In the early 1990s Miller produced some of the most iconic surf films of all time including Searching for Tom Curren (which was named Video of the Year by Surfer magazine in 1997) and directed the Search film series for Ripcurl which had a massive influence on the sport and turned him into almost as much of a legend as the surfers he captured.

​Miller's expertise also won him mainstream work, including in Hollywood and on the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day, for which, harnessed, he hung out of a helicopter to film Bond (in reality professional big wave surfer Laird Hamilton doubling for Pierce Brosnan) surfing in the dark towards a beach in what we were led to believe was North Korea.  Miller and his team shot the scene at Peahi, nicknamed "Jaws Beach" on Maui, Hawaii.​

"Keep smiling" was his motto, Cap'n Fun was his nickname and the favorite cry when Sonny arrived was "It's Miller time!"

Miller loved filming in 16mm and 35mm and he avoided video unless for lifestyle footage or his double mount camera system for dailies so the surfers could watch their rides after the sessions.  Sonny always had a camera in his hand and a smile on his face.