What’s your name and what fills your time?
I’m Josh Hansbrough and I’ve lived here in the Jacksonville area most of my life. Today I live in Nocatee with my beautiful wife Quincy, and our 2 kids Keaton and Kora. Starting a family has been really heartwarming and fun. I’ve learned to embrace the chaos with little kids running around.
I grew up in Mandarin, then lived on the St Johns River, then made my way towards the beach. It was then I started surfing and skateboarding, and I met Mitch Kaufmann who produced the Radical Side TV show, and I wanted to learn how to add music over my home videos of my buddies surfing and skating. Mitch started helping me learn the ropes of video production and let me use some high-end equipment early in my career. I graduated from UNF and turned video production into a career. Some of my friends became pro surfers (like Ryan Briggs and Karina Petroni), and we collaborated on projects as our careers blossomed.
I parlayed that action sports career into focusing on documentaries that had a social and environmental impact. Today I’m still fortunate to be a cinematographer and create all kinds of videos and short films with my production company, Birdman Filmworks. We create commercials, short documentaries for non profits, corporate videos, and I film for tv shows and streamers like Netflix and Discovery Channel. I’ve been blessed to work with some talented people. To name drop a few: Kelly Slater, Karina Petroni, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Alex Morgan (Female soccer star), Katt Williams, Common, Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy), Gardner Minshew, etc.
Anything special going on for this summer?
I’ve been having fun with the family this summer doing little adventures around Florida and trying to pass on my love of surfing to the kids. I’ve photographed the HEAL surf camp for many years, and it’s a fun couple days to share the stoke with kids on the autism spectrum. I’m also working on a film about removing plastic pollution from the ocean with 4ocean.
Any hobbies or interests worth telling us about?
Surfing, Golfing, filmmaking, and family time are my main hobbies, and I’m always striving to be better at those. I’ve been really lucky to travel the world surfing and filming.
Our family went to Gainesville recently for Father’s Day to look for sharks teeth in the creeks there. It seems random, but it’s similar to looking for teeth on the beach here, it’s just in the center of the state. You feel like you are sifting for gold in a river.
What’s one thing (funny, different, cool) that many might not know about you?
I’m born on St Patrick’s Day, and I’m pretty lucky, I feel like I have the luck of the Irish with me. For my 40th birthday, we went to a Mexican restaurant with some friends, I learned people wearing sombreros can’t kiss!
What’s the best part of living here on the First Coast?
I think it’s a great place to live and raise a family. There’s a lot of options if you like an outdoor lifestyle with its beautiful beaches and good people. The First Coast has some really cool hidden gems in all of our Park system.
There’s also the PGA TOUR Headquarters here which provides unique opportunities for artists in the creative community. Their signature golf tournament, The Players Championship, has donated a lot of money to local charities in the last 50 years, and I’ve really enjoyed being a part of it the last few years.
Anything else that you would like to tell the community?
Spread the Aloha my friends!
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Mike is a native First Coaster and was a leading figure in surfing and skateboarding for most of his life. After promoting music for many years on the local music scene, Mike now brings a unique perspective to FirstCoast.Life as a contributing writer.
