Surf Ninjas - Production

Production

Surf Ninjas was filmed during the summer of 1992. Filming locations included Thailand and Hawaii. The second half of the film was shot first, and the crew moved to Los Angeles to film the first half. New Line Cinema and Sega of America established a financial relationship in which a Sega Game Gear video game would be developed for the film. Game designers began developing the video game Surf Ninjas when the film was only in its scripting phase, receiving creative input from director Neal Israel. In turn, Sega partially financed the film. Screenwriter Dan Gordon said that he wrote action sequences that would both suit the film and serve as a springboard for the video game. In the film, one of the lead characters is shown playing the Surf Ninjas video game on a Sega Game Gear. The video game was released before the film's release, and it was considered the first movie-based video game to be developed concurrent with the movie and it was also the first to precede the film itself.