R.J. Thomas, a Connecticut native, arrived in Hermosa Beach in 1993 with dreams of pursuing a career behind the camera as a motion picture director.

After spending almost eight years as a free-lance camera assistant working on commercials, films and television shows, Thomas took a break to fulfill his dreams by directing, producing and writing his own independent romantic comedy entitled, “Learning to Surf.”

Although Thomas admits the plot does contain several autobiographical elements, he said the script is mostly a work of fiction.

“I always wanted to make a film, but I had to make it on a budget,” said Thomas. “I basically wrote the entire story at Java Man. Ironically, coffee plays a part in the film and I’m not really sure if that was unintentional or not.”

With a budget of $100,000, Thomas shot the film in 12 days in the cities of Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and Malibu. The number of crew members varied from day to day consisting of anywhere between three to 25 people, while the cast comprised less than 20 people.

“I shot a lot of the film in my own living room, and my wife lived out in the garage for a while. She was such an angel about it,” he said. “I also filmed at the Ocean Diner (Hermosa Beach), Becker (Hermosa Beach) and Video Outtakes (Redondo Beach).”

The story centers around the main character, Bill Wood — played by Craig Watkinson — who moves from a small town to Los Angeles in the hopes of breaking into the entertainment industry. Wood meets Riley Fuller, played by Joe Michael Burke, who has guest starred on such television series as “CSI,” “7th Heaven” and “Beverly Hills 90210.”

In the film, Fuller teaches Wood how to surf as Wood becomes caught in a love triangle of sorts. Learning how to surf becomes symbolic for the character’s life and future goals.

The film also features William Katt (“Carrie” and “Greatest American Hero”) and Summer Altice (“The Scorpion King”). Thomas even plays a small role in the film.

“I didn’t want to act in the film, but one of my actors dropped out at the last minute,” explained Thomas. “Learning how to surf is a metaphor of what happens to the main character in the film. It is a sweet story with a happy ending.”

Thomas added that his experience as a director was quite a contrast to being a camera assistant. But his earlier career was a big help for him.

As an assistant, Thomas was responsible for setting up all of the equipment and the job required him to be on the set all day. Thomas learned a great deal about making a film in what he calls, “the mechanics of a film,” which include creating a shot, putting actors in front of the camera and using the entire day in a productive manner.

Working as an assistant, Thomas was responsible for helping to carry out someone else’s vision, but as a director, he was in control of his own creative concepts.

“At the end of the day, you’re responsible for everything and everybody,” he said. “One of the misconceptions about directing is that people think it’s easy, but it’s not. It takes a great deal of concentration and focus, and you have to be aware of every minute of every day within the big picture. I think a lot of people get into this profession thinking it’s easy.”

With the help of his fellow producers — Kelly Amato and Mark Sikes — Thomas hopes to show the film locally and eventually feature it in a few film festivals, including IFP West Los Angeles and next year’s Sundance Film Festival.

“Raising the money for the film and selling the film becomes the hard part,” Thomas explained. “Everything else is relatively easy, but now it comes to the time when I want to get it into festivals and hopefully sell it to distributors.”