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On Film
Magazine
1 May 2006
Rob Excerpt
Another
horror movie, 30 Days of Night, starts
shooting at the end of July.
Most of the 14-week shoot for the Columbia
Pictures-Ghost House Pictures production
will be in Auckland, with some exteriors in
Queenstown.
30 Days of Night takes its title from the
fate of a remote Alaskan town that's plunged
into darkness for a month each year when the
sun sinks below the horizon.
Cue a bloodthirsty gang of vampires bent on
an uninterrupted orgy, of destruction, with
only the small town's husband-and-wile
sheriff team standing in their path.
The script by Stuart Beattie (Collateral
Derailed) is adapted from Steve Niles' comic
of the same name; Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi
are the producers, and David Slade (Hard
Candy) the director.
All of the film's postproduction will be
done here.
"Everyone other than the director,
production designer, DP and editor will be
New Zealand crew," says co-producer Chloe
Smith, who worked with Tapert on his last
New Zealand-based feature, Boogeyman, and
television series Xena: Warrior Princess
prior to that.
But it's not just Tapert's warmth and
respect for New Zealand and its crews that's
brought 30 Days here.
New Zealand was chosen as the location
because of the Large Budget Screen
Production Grant scheme, an exchange rate
that's become more favourable over the
course of development, and the time of year
being right climatically for 30 Days'
sub-zero world.
"There are some exteriors that need to be
done in the snow; for which we'll use the
Snow Farm on Queenstown's Crown range."
Full Article:
Screen sector
enjoying solid slate: Philip Wakefield
provides an update on how the New Zealand
screen industry's production schedule is
shaping up
"Here's the
train--get on board." That's the message
Film Commission chief executive Ruth Harley
will espouse at this year's Cannes Film
Festival.
The 'train' is the New Zealand film industry
and, according to Harley, it's full steam
ahead.
Her confidence springs from two
international features shooting this month
in Queenstown (with a third poised at
presstime) and a fourth about to start
principal photography in Auckland, where a
fifth also seems likely this year.
As well as the prospect of the Peter
Jackson-Fran Walsh executive-produced Halo,
two other international features look
promising for the second half of 2006 and,
although nothing was confirmed at press
time, at least part of Prince Caspian--the
second instalment of The Chronicles of
Narnia--is likely to be filmed here.
On the New Zealand feature front, Eagle vs
Shark and Robert Sarkies' Aramoana project
are in post-production, Black Sheep and the
low-budget digi-feature The Devil Dared Me
Tohave just wrapped, and The Ferryman docked
this month "after a 35-day shoot.
Moreover, New Zealand movies have just
capped a record-breaking six-month run at
the box office, starting with The World's
Fastest Indian in October, continuing with
River Queen and No. 2, and culminating with
Sione's Wedding.
Also out in force were international movies
made with Kiwi talent: King Kong, The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe, North Country, and The
Legend of Zorro.
At the same time, TV commercial production
is booming and four TV drama series are
shooting in Auckland and Wellington.
"It is one of the more active periods for
the industry," Film New Zealand chief
executive Judith McCann says.
"But what we'd really like to see is this
level continuing, as opposed to the
industry, going through peaks and troughs."
Others echo her sentiment, agreeing the
industry is buoyant but not flat out. They
say it feels exceptionally busy because last
year was so quiet.
"Things are ticking over quite nicely," Film
NZ chair Dave Madigan, who's also on the NZ
Film and Video Technicians Guild executive,
says. "This year is more consistent than
last."
But he's nervous about the TV production
sector. "There's a level of uncertainty
about TV drama commissioning. We don't know
what's going to happen after Outrageous
Fortune, Orange Roughies, Rude Awakenings,
and Ducks and Geese.
"We had the same problem last year: come
July/August, Auckland shut down because
drama shoots evaporated." There are also
still questions over how the previously
standalone Film Fund will operate under the
auspices of the Film Commission.
Last month the commisson met with senior
producers and industry' guilds to discuss
setting up Film Fund 2 as a sub-committee of
the NZFC--it's intended the new structure
will function as closely as possible to the
original fund, with an independent chair and
a mix of independent members and NZFC
appointees.
The commission's also pledged to investigate
generating new sources of investment for the
"more internationally and industrially
focussed" projects that some producers are
developing.
While New Zealand's heightened profile
post-Lord Of The Rings makes it easier for
Kiwi producers to get their projects
noticed, closing the deals is just as hard.
Producer Matthew Metcalfe says raising the
British finance for his second movie, the
official NZ/UK co-production The Ferryman,
was incredibly difficult.
"We went to the Film Commission first and
were referred to the Film Fund. It took tour
months to get the UK money. It was really,
really hard ...
"We had to be shooting by March 31 to take
advantage of the British tax rules--and that
wasn't easily accomplished at all."
The deal with UK-based Prescience Film
Finance and Lip Synch Productions means The
Ferryman has UK-leads (John Rhys-Davies,
ex-pat Kerry Fox, Tamer Hassan),
postproduction and music, but a Kiwi crew
and location, and New Zealand actors Craig
Hall, Julian Arahanga, Amber Sainsbury,
Sally Stockwell and Lawrence Makoare in the
key secondary, roles.
"We wanted real dramatic actors to
distinguish this film with truly frighten
ing performances," Metcalfe says.
"We knew if we didn't make something
special, this film would end up in the video
bin.
"This isn't a film about people going 'Boo!'
It's a film about gut-wrenching terror."
Another horror movie, 30 Days of Night,
starts shooting at the end of July.
Most of the 14-week shoot for the Columbia
Pictures-Ghost House Pictures production
will be in Auckland, with some exteriors in
Queenstown.
30 Days of Night takes its title from the
fate of a remote Alaskan town that's plunged
into darkness for a month each year when the
sun sinks below the horizon.
Cue a bloodthirsty gang of vampires bent on
an uninterrupted orgy, of destruction, with
only the small town's husband-and-wile
sheriff team standing in their path.
The script by Stuart Beattie (Collateral
Derailed) is adapted from Steve Niles' comic
of the same name; Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi
are the producers, and David Slade (Hard
Candy) the director.
All of the film's postproduction will be
done here.
"Everyone other than the director,
production designer, DP and editor will be
New Zealand crew," says co-producer Chloe
Smith, who worked with Tapert on his last
New Zealand-based feature, Boogeyman, and
television series Xena: Warrior Princess
prior to that.
But it's not just Tapert's warmth and
respect for New Zealand and its crews that's
brought 30 Days here.
New Zealand was chosen as the location
because of the Large Budget Screen
Production Grant scheme, an exchange rate
that's become more favourable over the
course of development, and the time of year
being right climatically for 30 Days'
sub-zero world.
"There are some exteriors that need to be
done in the snow; for which we'll use the
Snow Farm on Queenstown's Crown range."
Queenstown also is where two other
big-budget studio pictures are shooting this
month: 10,000BC and The Water Horse.
The former is a Warner Bros production
that's described as "a prehistoric epic that
follows a young mammoth hunter's journey
through uncharted territory to secure the
future of his tribe".
It's being directed by Roland Emmerich and
has Bill Draper (here previously with The
Last Samurai) as the executive in charge of
production.
Originally 10,000BC was going to shoot for
just five days in Queenstown but while here
on a recce, Emmerich flew over the Cardrona
range and the Snow Farm.
"The Snow Farm location offered exactly what
he had envisaged for the movie," Sandra
Clark of Film Queenstown says.
"To the great astonishment of the South
Africans, the crew came here to shoot for
five weeks."
Clark says Queenstown's key appeal for
offshore film and TVC shoots is "location,
location, location ... Our lakes and
mountains are attractive to international
productions, but we also have country roads,
rolling pasture and architecture--and the
infrastructure to back it up because
Queenstown is a resort town with hotels and
restaurants to cater for big crews."
Nonetheless, accommodating 10,000BC at such
short notice was a challenge for the region.
"We had to put it together very quickly,"
Clark says. "There were six to-seven weeks
from the official nod to shooting. That's a
very short [lead] time for a project of this
size."
Meanwhile, The Water Horse--a co-production
between Walden Media, Beacon Pictures and
Revolution Studios--is an adaptation of the
Dick King Smith novel about Scotland's
mythical sea monster.
Jay Russell is directing a cast that
includes Emily Watson, David Morrissey, Ben
Chaplin, Billy Boyd, and Alex Etel.
At press time another feature, Hard Drive,
had also started shooting in the Queenstown
area. It's being produced by Don Reynolds
and directed by Australian Bill Bennett.
"The great thing about Hard Drive is it's a
Queenstown story," Clark says. "It's not
trying to make Queenstown look like another
location."
She says while it's fantastic that three big
feature films are shooting simultaneously in
Queenstown, using local crews and services,
"the downside is it puts a lot of stress on
the film infrastructure of the region.
"A lot of outside crew and gear are being
brought in to cope with the TVCs and
features."
However, most of the Barrie Osborne-produced
Water Horse is being filmed in Wellington,
where Weta Digital and Weta Workshop will
undertake the visual effects (Walden Media
worked with Weta Workshop to develop the
fantastical creatures in The Chronicles of
Narnia) .
It will also use Peter Jackson's Stone
Street Studios complex, where King Kong was
filmed, along with Black Sheep and effects
elements shooting for XMen: The Last Stand.
The 24,500 square foot, 40-foot high studio
space is said to rival the biggest and best
soundstages in Hollywood or London.
"For me, the proof of the studio's success
is in the size of bookings we have had, and
the quality of productions that have been
and are being made here," facility manager
Jamie Selkirk says.
"The stage has been in great demand since
its opening a year ago, and we are now
booked through until the end of the year."
Its success underlines the need for more
soundstages in a country renowned
internationally for its 'tin shed'
infrastructure.
Stone Street Studios is the only
purpose-built soundstage in the country. The
$10 million facility was largely funded by
Selkirk's Camperdown partnership with
Jackson and Richard Taylor.
But regional economic development agency
Positively Wellington Business (PWB)
contributed $2 million through New Zealand
Trade and Enterprise's regional partnership
programme.
That was based on the likely economic impact
of Stone Street attracting an additional
mid-range production every 24 months, or an
additional high-end production every 24
months, which over a 10-year period has been
estimated as between $250 million and $650
million.
The projected impact for the rest of New
Zealand over the same period would be $450
million-$1.2 billion.
Chloe Smith wonders if a similar model could
apply to Auckland, which is desperately
short of soundstages, purpose-built or
converted.
Most of 30 Days' Auckland shoot will be at
Henderson Valley Studios, with some at Kelly
Park.
"We will make these facilities work but none
of the options for a studio picture of this
size are ideal," Smith says.
"Talk continues about the need to provide
more studios. I can only add my voice to
that."
A recent voice has been that of Walden Media
chief executive Cary Granat. He's raised the
possibility of Walden having a permanent
studio in New Zealand,just as Warner Bros
and Fox have in Australia.
The Water Horse is the third New
Zealand-based feature Walden's been involved
in. Narnia was first, the recently wrapped
Bridge to Terabithia was second, and as well
as there being a fourth in the pipeline for
this year, there's the likelihood of Prince
Caspian in some form (as well as potentially
five more adaptations in the CS Lewis
series).
Moreover, wherever Prince Caspian is filmed,
it will have a strong Kiwi contingent,
starting with its director, Andrew Adamson.
"Walden wants to make a commitment to New
Zealand--and to New Zealanders," Madigan
says. "They've made excellent relationships
here."
Smith says the same of 30 Days producer Rob
Tapert.
"Professionally, some of Rob's most enduring
creative collaborations and friendships have
happened here."
Smith says these have carried more weight
with him than New Zealand's 'tin shed'
infrastructure weaknesses. "Rob adores the
camaraderie and passion that New Zealanders
have for filmmaking and TV."
And it doesn't stop there. The popularity of
Kiwi technicians in particular is spreading.
Legend of Zorro producer Lloyd Phillips and
director Marlin Campbell recruited about 20
New Zealanders across the main unit and the
2nd or miniatures unit for the bulk of the
movie's 11-month shoot in Mexico.
A couple of the senior Kiwi crew on 10,000BC
will be going back to South Africa with the
production and New Zealand stunt people are
in demand abroad after working on The Last
Samurai.
"They're regarded as safe and good," Madigan
says. "From now on, we're going to see more
New Zealand crew go overseas."
Even Aussies are developing a sneaking
regard for Kiwi expertise after working
here.
"They' re taking the odd Kiwi back to
Australia because they like what they've
seen," Madigan says.
He describes this development as a sign of a
"maturing trans-Tasman relationship" and
says with the increasing
internationalisation of crews, "if we run
out of crew, we'll have to tap into
Australia".
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