A creative studio built on the coast.
Surfside Studio builds websites, brand identity, visual media, and marketing systems for hotels, destinations, and coastal businesses — combining professional creative capability, a private library of local media spanning decades, and the kind of local knowledge that only comes from actually being here.
Cover photography — 2024 Mendocino County Visitor Guide, published by Visit Mendocino.
The founder of Surfside Studio, Anthony Wells, is from here — born and raised in the town of Mendocino, formally trained in media arts, and shaped by years of creative work across California before returning to build something genuinely of this place. That background informs everything: how we shoot, how we write, how we understand what a place means to the people who visit it and the businesses that define it.
That background spans more than website work. The studio’s production credits along the Northern California coast include hotel video production, DMO content and media licensing, and brand photography for some of the region’s most recognized hospitality names — including aerial cinematography for Gordon Ramsay Studio on Knife’s Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars (Episode 8, Apple TV+), website background video for The Beachcomber and Trailborn Mendocino, brand photography for Little River Inn’s paid ad campaigns, and a 2023/2024 retainer with the Mendocino County Tourism Commission covering on-call photo and video production, footage for the “Magic Is Real” OTT and Sonoma County Airport advertising campaign, and the cover of the 2024 Mendocino County Visitor Guide.
Surfside Studio brings those same capabilities to websites, brand identity, campaign strategy, and the harder work of defining what a destination means — the stories worth telling, the history worth preserving, the character worth protecting as a place grows.
Fort Bragg & the Mendocino Coast
We work here because we’re from here.
A few principles that shape every project.
Clarity
Clear plans, clear scope, clear communication. No surprises, no fine print that undoes the promise.
Craft
Every site is designed with care. Layout, typography, spacing, and visual polish are not afterthoughts.
Local
Born and raised on the Mendocino Coast. The knowledge of how this place works — its seasons, its community, its character — is not something that can be imported.
Substance
Not building for design awards. Building for businesses that need a presence that earns trust, communicates clearly, and generates real contact.
What the studio can bring to a project.
Surfside Studio is founder-led. Anthony works directly on every engagement — the person behind the camera, the copy, and the build is the same person you talk to. Specialist partners are brought in when a project calls for it.
A track record built on the coast.
Gordon Ramsay Studio
Aerial cinematography — Knife’s Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars, Episode 8 featuring Chef Matthew Kammerer at The Harbor House Inn, Elk CA. Apple TV+, premiered October 2025.
On location, Elk CA
Visit Mendocino
Fiscal year 2023/2024 retainer with the Mendocino County Tourism Commission — on-call photo and video production (library and field), media licensing, footage for the “Magic Is Real” OTT and Sonoma County Airport advertising campaign, and cover photography for the 2024 Mendocino County Visitor Guide.
Visit Fort Bragg
Content creation and media licensing
Beachcomber Hotel Group
Website background video production for three properties — Beachcomber Motel, Surf and Sand Lodge, and Beach House Inn
Trailborn Mendocino
Website background video production
Little River Inn
Brand photography for paid ad campaigns
Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden
Multi-year retainer — photography, content creation, and media production
Thanksgiving Coffee
Headshots, brand photography, and aerial content
Kelley Urbani Real Estate
Full brand identity, photography, video, and web for the coast's #1-selling agent — over $20 million in annual sales
KQED
Aerial and landscape photography for KQED News’ feature coverage of the Great Redwood Trail
“Working with Anthony is always a pleasure. His incredible eye for capturing the beauty of Mendocino County, combined with his exceptional photography and videography, has helped bring our destination marketing to life. In fact, the quality of his work was so outstanding that we selected one of his photographs for the cover of our latest visitor guide.”
Ramon Jimenez
Director of Operations, Visit Mendocino County
“Anthony's photography and video content completely elevated our hotel portfolio's marketing. We continue to use his pieces as hero images and videos across our websites, social media channels, and even our in-room welcome displays on guest televisions. His stunning drone work and unique style gave our brand the exact visual edge we were looking for.”
Jon Glidewell
Regional Manager, MSHT, CHA, Beachcomber Hotel Group
Ready to work together?
Tell us about your business. We will recommend the right approach and walk you through what the process looks like.