Orange County

Shaun Brumder (Colin Hanks) is an intelligent teenager from affluent Orange County, California with little interest in his education, leading a carefree SoCal lifestyle of surfing, drinking, and partying. Shaun's best friend Lonny (Bret Harrison) is killed in a surfing accident, leading Shaun to rethink his life. He finds a novel on the beach by the author Marcus Skinner, which inspires him to become a writer. Upon learning that Skinner is an English professor at Stanford University, Shaun makes it his goal to attend Stanford and study under him.