CLUB VASS OSCARS: BEHIND THE SCENES
CLUB VASS OSCARS: BEHIND THE SCENES
CLUB VASS OSCARS: BEHIND THE SCENES
Ever wondered what happens when you mix windsurfers, Greek wine and wildly ambitious film plots? Welcome to the ‘Club Vass Oscars’… where the acting is questionable, the behind-the-scenes chaos deserves its own documentary and wigs and lycra are mandatory. Let’s face it you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at…and in the name of entertainment… the Club Vass team have gone above and beyond to keeps their guests amused!
If you’ve been to Club Vass, chances are you’ve experienced the much-celebrated Club Vass Oscars. At the very least you’ve probably heard of them and possibly seen some jaw-dropping clips on YouTube. ‘Oscar Night’ with its unique blend of windsurfing culture, ingenious filmmaking and unfiltered creativity has become a much-loved highlight of the season. The crew put in an extraordinary amount of effort, juggling coaching with camera action to bring these blockbusters to the beach. After many weeks of intense filming, the epic productions are shown on a big outdoor screen at the legendary Friday Night BBQ. They always pull in a big crowd of guests, staff, and many other enthralled spectators from nearby centres and Vassiliki village.
Starting Out: Stars in their Eyes
The origins of the Club Vass Oscars are a little hazy, like many a Club Vass BBQ night! Back in the early days, the BBQ always included some form of entertainment, starting in 1987 as a somewhat impromptu staff-and-guests talent show. When Club Vass relocated to its current site and hotel, the ante was well and truly upped.
Club Manager Ollie Scott long-time mate, Beach Manager Tom Peel, with his thespian roots, were very much involved in the evolution of this movie madness. With the help of creatively inclined staff, including graphic designer “Mountain Bike” Mark Thurgood, Aussie Pete Lotz and Andy Wellbelove, they began creating short, quirky sketches. They came up with iconic filmed sketches like “What Goes into the Punch?” and “How to Make a Windsurf Instructor”, low-tech, high-humour pieces filmed on the same hand-held camcorders used for coaching. Over time these became increasingly ambitious and gradually evolved into Oscar Night as we know it today.
The Early Days: Raw Brilliance
Long before smartphones, TikTok, and Instagram turned everyone into a filmmaker, the Club Vass crew were putting serious graft into their homegrown productions. The effects were simple, but the effort and imagination were next level. Some stand-out early efforts included the original ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Forrest Gump’ as well as pun-heavy creations like ‘The Man with the Golden Buns’, Club Vass Boys Vs Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders – Call Me Maybe
and ‘Gay Watch’. Many of these masterpieces were truly inspired, but some are possibly best left in the archives as testimony to less ‘woke’ times.
Lights, Camera, Chaos!
So how do they go about making these cinematic gems? A huge amount of behind-the-scenes work goes into the creative process. The team thrive on the ‘work-hard-play-hard’ ethic of the place, but they’re more than ready to step up the pace when there’s Oscar glory at stake. Somehow, they find time to write, shoot, direct, and edit full-blown mini-movies. The ideas usually hatch organically… often over drinks at the bar, on the beach, or mid-rigging session. There’s no obligation to join in, but there’s never a shortage of volunteers, from directors and scriptwriters to costume designers, prop builders, and of course, the fearless cast. Filming is fitted into the team’s ‘spare time’, often with early morning starts to take advantage of the dawn light and sometimes whole scenes shot at night in the bars in the village to the wonder of tourists and, to a lesser extent, the locals …they are pretty used to the Club Vass crew’s antics!
Bring in the Pros
Among the squad are some true professionals, including long-time team member and BBC cameraman, Eoin McLoughlin, who has helped raise production values with serious kit and know-how. Amateur dramatist Tom Peel is renowned for his directing skills, particularly in pulling off a spell-binding performance from Vangelis in Joker. And, while the Oscars are all about entertainment, they’re taken pretty seriously. There are storyboards, shooting schedules and even the occasional “cast dismissal” for lateness or other misdemeanours. All in good fun, of course.
On Location
The team are always pretty creative when it comes to finding the perfect settings for scenes. The watch tower and rescue boats were obvious choices for Baywatch. The Club pick-up has been seen various guises and been a perfect prop on many shoots. For a few years, the half-built hotel next to Club Vass, known locally (tongue firmly in cheek) as the ‘Crack-Den’ lent itself perfectly for the more urban or horror-inspired productions, for example Batman and Joker. It has just been totally developed as the uber-luxurious ‘Cross-shore Apartments’, now available as part of Club Vass’s accommodation (contact details below for more information). No doubt this deluxe complex will inspire future high-glam mini-movies…
All-Time Classics: Magic Moments
Over the years, some productions have become Club Vass folklore. Fan favourites include:
Top Gun Maverick
The initial idea was to use mini model planes (as in the original Club Vass Top Gun), but the guys came up with the genius idea of using windsurfers as fighter jets, with hindsight a no-brainer for a windsurf school! One issue was that the protagonists had to wear headgear to look like pilots and the best available option was motorbike helmets, not ideally suited for forward loops, but anything for their art! Shooting was pretty challenging as filming had to take place during cross-shore, when the stars were busy teaching & running the beach and of course multiple takes were needed to get that precision synchronisation that makes the finished production so polished and jaw-dropping.
Joker
Tom Peel: “Perhaps the trickiest part of filming was the motorbike tracking scene.
We needed to capture lead actor Vangelis on his motorbike, driving through a packed Vassiliki in full joker costume. I was in front of Vaggi, navigating a moped, with Eoin on the back, the wrong way round, trying to film the scene through a bewildered crowd of holidaymakers; it was totally chaotic but hilarious! We then headed over to neighbouring sailing club Wildwind to crash their live band night to film the crowd party scene. All in a day’s work on the Oscars set!”
Barbie
Props are not always easy to source in Vassiliki, luckily some staff were flying out just in time and thought nothing of wearing the required pink cowboy hats for the entire journey!
Some newcomers to Club Vass may have been bemused to see Ollie and Sarah carving it up in pink tutus for Barbie, but long-time clients barely batted an eyelid. In fact, many guests are always keen to get involved from playing crowd scene extras to lending their hotel rooms for specific sets.
JuVassic Park
One stand-out filming moment was Max Rowe blasting across the bay in a full inflatable T-Rex costume. And who can forget the mesmerising performance by bar manager Matt when he first encounters the prehistoric beasts one early morning up in the hills of Lefkada.
Batman
During shooting, a fully suited Batman appeared on the roof of the half-built hotel (‘Crack-Den’) next to the club, causing mayhem in KidsClub. The little ones were awe-struck at the convincing vision of Ed Seatter, fully costumed up in the middle of a heatwave; “Look, it’s the real Batman!” they gasped.
There are too many magic moments to recall, but few can forget Colin Dixon’s compelling performances as Sharon Stone in ‘Basic Instinct’ and Captain Barbossa in ‘Pirates of Vassiliki’. And Lucas Booth and Jasmin Park, both aged about 5 totally stole the scene as the young Forrest Gump & Jenny.
If this has inspired to discover or re-visit this hotbed of talent, you can check out some of the true Club Vass Oscars greats on the Club Vass YouTube Channel…
Coming Soon
Excitement is already building for the 2025 Hollywood themed BBQ (AKA ‘Oscar Night) on the 9th August. Production is already in motion, but this year’s selection is a closely-guarded secret. If you haven’t already booked your place, get in touch now and start planning your fancy dress outfit for a star-studded night in Vassiliki – and some epic windsurfing of course!
Oooh and don’t forget to book an unforgettable holiday to Club Vass where you can meet these Hollywood stars in real life …details below!
www.clubvass.com 00 44 1992 874566 info@clubvass.net
That’s all folks!
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