Damon Walker has turned his love for ocean fishing into a career as a commercial fisherman and charter boat captain in the Northern California coastal town of Santa Cruz. In the short doc Doormat Harvest, he patiently walks us through the step-by-step process of fishing for halibut, which started as a hobby, but is now Walker’s sole source of income. Walker’s love for the sea and his concern for his community is reflected in the Doormat Derby, a halibut-fishing tournament in Santa Cruz whose proceeds are used to support the local community of small commercial fishers – whether this means the family of a colleague killed in a dispute over catch, or an NGO fighting the establishment of a  Marine Protected Area they fear would shut down access and decimate their community.

Kevin Mannens
Kevin Mannens was born in 1976 in Aalst, Flanders, Belgium. As a director and writer, he is known for his documentary shorts The Taking of Harris Neck (2023), Marsh Clouds: The Oysters of Harris Neck (2022) and Doormat Harvest (2026). Mannes has also had a long and successful career as a technical director and visual effects designer and has been a principal artist on close to a dozen Hollywood blockbusters. He currently teaches in the Animation & Illustration Design Program at San Jose State University in California.