Film
Jake
a feature film by Doug DillamanHYBRID MOTION PICTURES
JAKE is an independant feature film shot in Auckland late 2009, now being submitted for festival consideration world wide. JAKE is the first feature film in New Zealand to be shot entirely on the RED camera.
The story of Jacob, a man whose life is stolen when he is inexplicably recast by a shadowy agency. When the actor who takes his place rekindles a long lost love, Jacob will do whatever it takes to fight for the role of his life.
starring Auckland Actors Leighton Cardno alongside Sam Berkley, Julie Collis, Jonathan Hodge and Martyn Wood.
directed by Doug Dillaman
for futther information visit the official website here
Girl Meets Boy
SOUTH PACIFIC PICTURESnow filming
Shooting has commenced in Auckland on GIRL MEETS BOY, a romantic comedy/coming-of-age feature film based on the award-winning 2005 documentary Banana in a Nutshell by Roseanne Liang. Liang directs GIRL MEETS BOY, which she co-wrote with Angeline Loo.
GIRL MEETS BOY is the contemporary story of Chinese New Zealand-born over-achiever Emily Chu, raised to believe she can get anything she puts her mind to. Even if ‘anything’ is at odds with her traditional Hong Kong born parents’ wish for her to become a doctor like her two older sisters. Everything is coming up roses - until she meets James, a European New Zealander, and accidentally falls in love with him. But if her father finds out, she will face disownment. By the time Emily realises that she’s sacrificing the respect of her family to follow her heart, James, too, has fallen irrevocably in love and there’s nothing for it but to try and keep their relationship a secret. Happy endings don’t come easy, if at all, but that doesn’t mean they don’t happen. But for Emily to get one, she needs to show James and her family that she has learned a lesson about the selflessness of love.
featuring Auckland Actors Todd Emerson, Mark Ferguson, Andrew Munro, Josh Thomson and Michael Saccente.
Yogi Bear
WARNER BROS PICTURES
currently filming in New Zealand
A feature film combining live action and CGI starring popular cartoon character Yogi Bear. Dan Akroyd voices a CGI Yogi, and Justin Timberlake his side-kick Boo Boo. Local actors have picked up minor roles alongside an international cast.
The Six Dollar Fifty Man
a short film by Louis Sutherland and Mark Albiston
in competition worldwide
FLICKERFEST 2010
The Six Dollar Fifty Man won the Coopers Award for Best Film at Flickerfest 2010, beating competitors from around the world to take the $5000 prize – and eligibility for Oscar consideration in 2011. Written and directed by Mark Albiston and Auckland Actor Louis Sutherland and produced by Wendy Cuthbert, the film is set in 1970s New Zealand and follows Andy, a gutsy 8 year-old boy who is forced to break out of his make-believe superhero world to deal with playground bullies. The film was previously awarded the Short Film Special Distinction after playing in Competition at the Festival De Cannes in 2009.
SUNDANCE 2010
The Six Dollar Fifty Man has won the top prize- the Jury Prize in International Short Filmmaking- at the 26th Sundance Film Festival in Utah. This award further qualifies The Six Dollar Fifty Man for consideration for an Academy® Award nomination. The Sundance Film Festival is held in and around Park City in Utah each January. This year the festival's short film program comprised 70 short films from U.S. and international filmmakers selected from a record 6,092 submissions.
I'm Not Harry Jenson
now screening
I’m Not Harry Jenson is the debut feature film from writer/director James Napier Robertson.
Shot almost entirely on location against the stunning backdrop of New Zealand’s Waitakere Ranges, it follows the journey of world wide best selling crime novelist and ex-pat kiwi Stanley Merse (Gareth Reeves), as he struggles to overcome a writer’s block which threatens to stall his career.
Evoking the style and pacing of the Noir genre, I’m Not Harry Jenson is essentially a murder mystery with Stanley the prime suspect. Stanley’s success as a novelist has been largely due to his unique style where he writes from the first person perspective of the central characters of his stories, who are always the killers in real-life murder cases.
Troubled by writer’s block, and feeling alienated from the world, Stanley approaches his agent Tom Darby (Marshall Napier) with the possibility of quitting in the middle of his current novel. Worried that the publishers would sue, and that Stanley’s reputation would be ruined, Tom sends him home to New Zealand on a tramping trip to clear his mind.
When he wakes up on the first morning to find a fellow traveller dead, Stanley soon finds himself caught up in a real life scenario that is far too reminiscent of one of his own plot lines – with blood on his hands Merse is faced with the very real possibility that this story may in fact be reality, in his desperation for a story has he in fact crossed the line from fiction to fact?
Starring Gareth Reeves, Ian Mune, Ilona Rodgers, Renato Bartolomei, Jinny Lee Story, Cameron Rhodes, Tom Hern, Ben Mitchell, Rachel Blampied, and Marshall Napier.
The Hobbit
NEW LINE CINEMA, being produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Guillermo del Toro.
The below was recently reported on www.heatvisionblog.com however there has been no official announcement yet with regard to casting in New Zealand.
Casting on “The Hobbit” begins this week, with wide auditions expected for each part except Gandalf, which is being reserved for Ian McKellen, who played the wizard in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
“We’re auditioning for every role,” Jackson said in an interview, adding he is a big believer in casting a wide net to better match actors with the roles.
“What we’ve done over the years is discover a lot of interesting actors, like Orlando Bloom (in 'Rings'), Kate Winslet (in 'Heavenly Creatures'), Saoirse Ronan (in 'The Lovely Bones'). So if you start looking and auditioning seriously, it’s amazing what incredible talent you’ll find out there.”
Jackson denied that he had settled on any actors besides McKellen and pooh-poohed Web chatter that he has approached James McAvoy for a key role.
“Apart from Ian McKellen, who we obviously want to return as Gandalf, we are not really offering any roles to anybody until we’ve done a casting sweep,” Jackson said.
Casting is being handled out of Los Angeles and London.
The filmmaker, whose adaptation of “The Lovely Bones” opens Friday, said although he and director Guillermo del Toro have casting approval on the two “Hobbit” movies, he feels no pressure to cast stars in major roles.
“(These movies) have never been a star-driven vehicle. The star is (author J.R.R.) Tolkien and the world he created. We are not under any pressure. We want to find the right people. Casting someone to portray a hobbit is not as easy as you might imagine. They have to have a particular type of physical appearance and a sensibility. And the same with an elf or a dwarf. These are fantastical characters, but you’ve got to find the right people to play them, the right humans to translate these characters.”
Jackson also denied earlier reports that production on “Hobbit” was delayed.
“It’s not,” he said, adding that the script for the first movie is completed and that collaborators Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and del Toro are in the middle of writing the second. They hope to deliver drafts to Warner Bros. and MGM, which are jointly backing the films, around Christmas time.
“We were always planning to shoot around April or May next year, and as far as I’m aware, we’re pretty much on target for that. It depends on how quickly the studio greenlights the film. It’s not in our hands. But as long as we‘re shooting next year, we’re fine.” Borys Kit and Matthew Belloni, www.heatvisionblog.com
Despite the above article, it is now being reported by Variety and on numerous other websites that production of The Hobbit has indeed again been delayed. Watch this space.
The Insatiable Moon
in post-production
With an all star cast including Rawiri Paratene, Sara Wiseman, Ian Mune, Ray Woolf and John Leigh, this feature film recently completed filming in Ponsonby, Auckland. Paratene plays the lead character Arthur, a psychiatric patient who lives in a Ponsonby boarding house and thinks he’s the second son of God. When the house is faced with closure, Arthur and a bunch of friends set out on a mission to save their home, before his own world starts to fall apart.
Written by Mike Riddell, and being directed by Rosemary Riddell the film also features Auckland Actors Sarah Valentine, Andrew Beattie, Elliot Chistensen-Yule, and Sarah Somerville.
Star Trek
available now on DVD
STAR TREK starring our very own Karl Urban as 'Dr. Bones McCoy', is now available on DVD around the world. Also featuring Chris Pine as 'Kirk', Zachary Quinto 'Spock', Simon Pegg as 'Scottie', Anton Yelchin as 'Chekov', John Cho as 'Sulu' and Zoe Saldana as 'Uhura'.
Set faces to stunned - the new Star Trek rocks!
"It’s a genuine pleasure to report that Abrams’ Star Trek is a winner. Abrams directs with consummate flair…the film truly feels like ‘Star Trek’. A real sense of adventure and a boundless affection for its progenitors." Time Out Magazine USA
"Star Trek – yes, your dad’s Star Trek – moves like a racehorse that’s just been force-fed dilithium crystals. This is perhaps NCC-1701’s most radical refit yet – for the first time in the franchise, the Enterprise is a genuine thrill-ride. Karl Urban's gruff McCoy and Zachary Quinto’s piercing Spock stand out... Very much like its dynamic young cast, this Trek is physical and emotional, sexy and vital." Empire Magazine
"Not a Trekkie? That’s fine, it’s crammed with action (the final showdown being the exhilarating standout) and quality gags… Long time fan? There are plenty of satisfying nods to the original series and actors – including a sizeable role for original Spock Leonard Nimoy". Zoo Magazine USA
"I think Abrams pulled it off. STAR TREK isn't just a successful reboot, but a genuinely fun and exciting science fiction action adventure. My biggest complaint is that it feels like they just got started up when the film ended. I want more! I want to see the further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew aboard the USS Enterprise... Karl Urban seems like he was born to inherit the role of Dr. Leonard McCoy from DeForest Kelley. Urban will be an audience favorite, for sure," - Quint, www.aintitcool.com
"...make no mistake: this really is Star Trek: The Movie, the biggest, boldest cinematic outing the franchise has yet seen... A revamp everyone can get on board with, from die-hards to those who wouldn’t be seen dead at a sci-fi convention. Buoyant, buffed and with the promise of even better to come, this is the freshest Trek in decades... Zachary Quinto (Spock) is perfect... Pine (Kirk) is the motor of the movie, his unabashed brashness propelling the story forward. Zoe Saldana is a pleasingly-fleshed out Uhura while Karl Urban is an instantly likeable, reassuringly grouchy Bones... John Cho’s blade-wielding Sulu and Anton Yelchin’s thickly-accented Chekov are given brief moments to shine while Simon Pegg’s Scotty is knowingly calibrated to offer comic relief.” Total Film Magazine USA
Predicament
in post-production
This crime comedy (based on a book of the same name) tells the story of Cedric, who conspires with local misfits to photograph and blackmail wealthy adulterous couples.
Newcomer Hayden Frost plays the lead role of Cedric Williamson, alongside Australian comedian Heath Franklin and Rose McIver. Auckland Actors Edward Newborn, Peter Mochrie and Brooke Williams appear in essential support roles.
Predicament is due for release in New Zealand and Australia mid 2010.
Matariki
FILMWORK
cinematic release planned for June 2010
Matariki. The rising of the Seven Sisters. The end of one year in Aotearoa, the beginning of the next. A time for saying goodbye. A time for new beginnings. A time when the profane brushes paths with the sacred – like a boy standing under a street sign in Otara, trying to see the stars in the heavens above.
A rugby star driving past the deserted Otara markets carpark late at night sees a fight. He intervenes and for his troubles he is bashed. As he lies in a hospital bed in this time of endings and new beginnings, the lives of many others around him are forever changed.
· A young car thief who stole the rugby player’s abandoned car falls in love for the first time and is forced to face the realities of his life of crime.
· The petty criminal who was being beaten in the carpark must farewell his only friend, his dying dog.
· A pregnant girl brings a new life into the world in the same hospital as the dying man, and finds herself questioning her life with her junkie boyfriend.
· Grieving for his sibling, the rugby player’s younger brother has to find the courage to accept his gay lover into his world or lose him as well.
· And as Matariki rises, the rugby player’s wife must find the strength to say goodbye to her husband.
Tender and fierce, funny and moving, told with urgency, grittiness and ever-present humour, these are stories of redemption and hope. As the sacred constellation at last appears in the early morning sky, each character finds a way to move on to new beginnings. Each finds the stars they need to guide them.
In the darkest night the stars still shine, if you know where to look….
Shot entirely on location in South Auckland, starring Mark Ruka, Sara Wiseman, Michael Whalley and Edwin Wright.
directed by Michael Bennett.
watch the trailer on YouTube.