Doing it Hard

When the NZ Film Commission declined our application for production funding in August, it created a crisis of huge proportions. This was followed shortly afterwards by the news that Screen West Midlands would be unable to process their proposed contribution in time for shooting. Then, with the funding evaporating, our UK director Gillies Mackinnon pulled out. Any sensible producers would have closed the production down.

We came very close to it. On one dark day in September it seemed that the only option was to call it quits. But, as has happened so many times in the tangled history of this project, we found a way through. We made a commitment to make the film using private equity. That meant the complete reinvention of the production from the ground up. A low budget film might look at a budget of NZ$1m. We moved into micro budget territory of just over $300k.

It has meant lots of negotiation with talent and crew. It has meant the producers who have invested time and money over seven years taking no money out of the budget. Likewise the writer and director. It has meant finding work arounds and compromises in all areas. It has meant making a positive out of the negatives, by adopting a philosophy which our DOP Tom Burstyn calls 'Frugal Filmmaking'.

It has also meant the surfacing of huge amounts of goodwill and generosity by the core people, because they believe in this as a film which needs to be made. This is turning out to be a collaboration of artists who love cinema, and are keen not just to get the film completed, but to make a great film which will showcase the best of New Zealand talent and win audiences throughout the world.

So - we're doing it hard, but we're doing it honest!