Film Making
KickArts Radio Interview on Planet FM 104.6
My interview on the KickArts show went out tonight on Planet FM 104.6. Listen to the journey that inspired me to write Gang Girl.
Amiri & Aroha - Ten Years On
It’s hard to believe ten years have passed since the cameras first rolled on Amiri & Aroha. A decade on and rebranded as Gang Girl, this iconic New Zealand story refuses to go away.
Back in 2010, the project didn’t have the most auspicious start. We’d assembled an ensemble cast of up and coming talent from various casting agencies, all of whom agreed to work for the experience instead of payment. We were about to start shooting when an industrial dispute regarding actors’ working conditions on The Hobbit hit the headlines. Under pressure from their agents, one by one the lead members of our cast dropped out.
Local radio station Turanga FM saved the day running on casting calls, and we discovered the extraordinary depth of acting talent in Gisborne. Walter ‘The Wiz’ Walsh became our casting director and the rest, as they say, is history.
To celebrate ten years of this remarkable journey, here are a collection of production stills. For our loyal fans, watch out for a book trailer made up of footage from the film trilogy and the release of a special director’s cut of the films to coincide with the launch of Gang Girl.
Hīkoi and Election Year
19/07/20 12:50 Filed in: Film Making | Hīkoi
I had hoped my new film project Hīkoi would go into production this year. The issues of child poverty and homelessness are as relevant today as they were when I first wrote the screenplay in 2014. It would have been particularly appropriate to shoot the film in New Zealand’s election year.
Following positive reviews at the Emerging Writers and the Table Read My Screenplay festivals, I began negotiations with leading New Zealand production companies to bring the story to the screen. Regrettably, the Covid-19 pandemic has thwarted those plans and put the project on hold. Many overseas production companies regard New Zealand as the safest place in the world to make a film. With the industry getting back on its feet, I am renewing my efforts to find a production partner for Hīkoi.
Inspired by the hīkoi against child poverty in Auckland in 2014, this hard-hitting drama sees a burnt-out social worker taking risks to help a single mother escape from loan sharks. Hīkoi will remain as relevant as ever in a post Covid world.