“Housebound manages to balance consistent, fantastic comedy with a properly eerie mystery and what should be a star-making turn from lead Morgana O’Reilly.” Samuel Zimmerman, Fangoria
With so many elements to juggle to get a film to shine, it’s a feat when a low-budget first feature gels. Escalator funded horror-comedy Housebound has been hailed as a remarkable accomplishment by US reviewers after its SXSW festival debut earlier this year, where it was praised for freshness of voice, strong performances, carefully handled script, and the perfect dose of NZ’s dry humour.
Join us for a special NZ International Film Festival Writers’ Room with Housebound’s writer, director and editor Gerard Johnstone (The Jaquie Brown Diaries) and producer Luke Sharpe (The Jaquie Brown Diaries) as they talk to filmmaker Jackie Van Beek (Go the Dogs) about the challenges of writing and making this stellar debut feature.
Join us afterwards for some nibbles on us and a drink.
Tues 29 July, The Wintergarden (Civic Theatre), 7pm drinks, 7:30-8:30pm discussion, free.
Note: There will be spoilers!!
Housebound screened at the Civic in Auckland at the New Zealand International Film Festival on Sat 26 July at 9pm.
Application Deadline: 5pm, Monday 9th March 2015
Following on from a successful inaugural year, we are delighted to call for applications for FilmUp Script Development, a dynamic multi-faceted programme that significantly up-skills producers and script editors who want to hone their skills in story development.
We warmly welcome back renowned story consultant and acting/directing coach Brita McVeigh who will helm the programme, providing engaged one-on-one coaching.
She’s a genuine collaborator. Every project is different and Brita’s skill is that she knows how to find the weak spots and strengthen them. She knows how to work closely on the script with the writer/director, or in rehearsal with the cast, to enhance the vision – that’s how she worked with Taika on BOY. – Ainsley Gardiner
The programme is built on the understanding that story knowledge in itself is simply not enough. Practitioners who excel in script development possess skills that are harder to come across, and it is these skills that enable a robust development process that strengthens the project.
For this reason, we deliver an exciting practice-based programme that will support New Zealand producers and script developers, help identify and strengthen their individual process, and at the same time ensure that this process yields results.
One-on-one coaching that supports the development of a feature project will sit at the heart of programme and be supplemented with facilitated group work, round tables with esteemed filmmakers, and a one-day intensive with a renowned Australian script editor.
It’s a rare and precious thing to have someone to discuss my work with as I’m doing it and I feel like the mentorship has not only accelerated my learning but also profoundly deepened it. – Julie Alp, 2014 Script Development participant.
Application Deadline: 5pm, Monday 9th March 2015
Click here for full information and apply now.
FilmUp 2015 is made possible with financial assistance from the New Zealand Film Commission.
Application Deadline: 5pm, Monday 9th March 2015
Applicants may also apply for FilmUp Mentorship – please let us know when you apply which is your preference.
You can pretend to be a good collaborator, but that won’t deepen or strengthen a screenplay. What will strengthen the projects you work on is finding your own true voice as a developer. Collaboration is as much about breaking the rules together as it is about observing them, especially with storytelling.
– Brita McVeigh
FilmUp Script Development enables those working with writers developing feature projects to take a big step up in their development craft.
Our programme is the very opposite of a quick-fix workshop. We believe that a good story developer needs to embrace the confidence of their own working methodology, and therefore the strand is designed to extend and accelerate the abilities of individual participants.
One-on-one coaching that supports the development of a feature project will sit at the heart of the programme, and be supplemented with facilitated group work, round tables with esteemed filmmakers, and a one-day intensive with a renowned Australian script editor.
The FilmUp Programme has been an incredibly valuable experience for me in terms of my creative thinking, and my approach to script editing under the guidance of mentor Brita McVeigh. Brita opened up new ways of thinking about script for me that benefits the project I took into the mentorship and my future practice. Thank you Script to Screen! – Tui Ruwhiu, 2014 Script Development participant.
Who is the programme for?
Two participants will be selected each year and applicants can be producers or script editors. The programme is for those with prior filmmaking and/or development experience and an already sound knowledge of story who want to hone their script development skills and discover a method that works.
Applicants must have a writer attached with a feature film project at a treatment or draft stage. It is crucial that the applicant and the writer they are working with are in a position to move the project forward significantly over the year. (Treatment to draft/draft to fully revised draft.)
What will you get out of the programme?
– An opening half-day intensive with Brita McVeigh, your writer and the other participants;
– A one-on-one session with Brita, tailoring your programme plan in alignment with where you are at in your development practice;
– Observed sessions with you and your writer, and subsequent private one-on-one reflective sessions with Brita;
– Feedback on notes you provide your writer;
– An introduction day and 3 x hub days in conjunction with the FilmUp Mentorship Programme including round tables, group work and a day long intensive with a renowned Australian script editor;
– A closing half-day intensive with Brita, your writer and the other participants.
The strand has also been designed to develop the core skills required to be outstanding in development. The ability to:
– Employ empathy in order to enable the writer’s vision;
– Genuinely listen to a collaborator;
– Determine clear boundaries, or terms, for your collaboration;
– Recognise story issues;
– Identify on a case-by-case, meeting-by-meeting basis how any story issues are best addressed, i.e. through character, theme, structure, premise or an issue within the writer’s process;
– Recognise when the fundamental questions underneath the material need to be readdressed for the work to progress;
– Express oneself with dexterity, either intimately or in a more functional manner depending on what is constructive for the writer at the time;
– Reflect on one’s own process.
What is required from the writer of the project?
– To enter into a contract with you and Script to Screen that provides a clear framework and protects the writers’ intellectual property;
– To attend both an opening and closing half-day intensive with you, Brita McVeigh and the other participants;
– To attend three intensive script sessions with you and Brita McVeigh;
– To commit to the deliverables agreed to by you, the writer and Brita McVeigh at the outset of the programme;
– To commit to taking their project from treatment to draft or draft to fully revised draft over the course of the programme.
Being a part of the FilmUp Script development strand was such a great experience for me. Writing can often feel like such a lonely process and the colossus of a feature film can seem incredibly daunting. Having the support of this program and someone to go on this journey with..proved invaluable. I didn’t have a first draft this time last year. Now I do. – Zia Mandviwalla, 2014 Script Development writer
Key Dates
Applications open 10th February and close on Monday 9th March 2015 at 5pm.
An industry selection panel will choose the successful applicants mid-March and all applicants will be advised of the results.
Shortlisted applicants may be required to participate in a 30-minute Skype interview;
Successful applicants must be available to attend an a full-day intensive with FilmUp Mentorship on Thursday 16th April and a half-day on Friday 17th April 2015.
Application Requirements
Applicants must be able to come to the programme with a writer and a feature film project to develop. The film can be at treatment or draft stage. You must be able to progress with the project significantly over the course of the programme.
Applicants must submit:
– A 1-paragraph biography;
– A up to one-page statement about where you are currently at in your development practice and what you hope to achieve from the programme;
– A 1-2 page synopsis of the feature film project you plan to bring into the programme;
– Confirmation and commitment from a writer to take part in the programme;
– A short project history from the writer including information about where the project is currently at and its journey so far;
– A short biography of the writer.
Download the application form here.
Please email or post your application to Ben:
Email: In a single .pdf file only to ben@script-to-screen.co.nz
Post: Script to Screen, PO Box 147263, Ponsonby, Auckland, 1144
Courier: 195 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland, 1011
Applications close at 5pm on Monday 9th March, 2015.
Any questions can be directed to ben@script-to-screen.co.nz, or you can call the office on 09 360 5400.
FilmUp 2015 is made possible with financial assistance from the NZ Film Commission.
The first Writer’s Room for 2014 featured kiwi-born producer Helen Bowden (THE SLAP) in conversation with producer Philippa Campbell (TOP OF THE LAKE). Helen spoke about her experiences developing and making high-end television drama in Australia for Matchbox Pictures, with particular reference to the Emmy-nominated drama series THE SLAP (2011), the tele-feature UNDERGROUND (following the early life of Julian Assange) and her latest six-part mini-series DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND.
Helen’s work pre-Matchbox began in 1993 when she started producing shorts, documentaries, feature films and enjoying the privilege of working with some great actors like Cate Blanchett. “Like many New Zealanders I went to London after university. I shared a flat with a young Israeli director. She asked me to produce her film … and that was the beginning, a trial by fire really, but I loved it.”
After a four-year stint in London working on short films and waitressing, she made the move to Sydney and began a career making educational and corporate videos. It soon became clear to her that she was in the wrong ‘groove.’ “I realised it was just sucking up my energy. I knew I wanted to do drama.”
And so Helen began a gradual shift into the world of dramatic series and feature films. “I was a ‘suitcase producer’. I was essentially making one thing at a time and keeping my overheads very low. That was the only way to make things viable.”
In spite of the uncertainties that came with this territory, Helen enjoyed the ‘suitcase’ life. “You could do what you really wanted. Sometimes I had bigger overheads, an office, an assistant … but then there was often the pressure of trying to keep the cash flowing. This type of approach can be lonely at times, but I loved it anyway. You’re very mobile and can join forces with others. However you can be seen as being ‘successful’ – but after each project, you’re back at ground zero again. Disheartening, but that’s the nature of being part of a small industry.”
Then in 2008 the Australian government introduced the ‘Producer Offset’. Put simply, it is a tax rebate for producers, offering 20% of the total budget for television and 40% for film projects. The rebate is claimed back once the entire budget is spent, so you have to borrow against it to make the show.
A number of companies had been finding it hard to be viable prior to this initiative but the Offset meant that if a film made money, its creators would too, something that did not happen before. This form of financial support from government gave Helen and four other producers the certainty they needed to establish Matchbox Pictures in 2008.
Matchbox was set up to produce television drama, documentaries and some feature films. Friend and colleague Tony Ayres (Melbourne-based writer/director) approached Helen, asking if she would like to do something with him and his longtime producer Michael McMahon. The time was right with the Producer Offset. They asked Penny Chapman to come on board and she brought Helen Panckhurst with her as a ‘package deal’.
It was about this time that THE SLAP came into the frame, a book written by Christos Tsiolkas. At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a three-year old boy (not his own child) across the face. The child has been misbehaving with no intervention from his parents and the book explores the reverberations of the incident through the voices of eight characters, each with their own chapter. The characters range in age from two year 12 students to a 71 year old man, four male and four female, and the book itself offers up an insightful portrait of contemporary Australian society.
“I ran into the office one day not long after we started Matchbox,” Helen said, “waving this book saying ‘I’ve found it! This is what we should do next!”. Tony and Michael were good friends with writer Christos and both agreed the book would make a great television series. There was stiff competition from others who thought it would be better as a film. We had to develop a presentation based on why we thought it would suit TV and how an eight-part series would do justice to the book. Fortunately Christos understood and agreed with us. When we secured the rights, ABC was in touch with us right away. The book was already making a splash and several networks wanted it.”
Helen and her colleagues knew ABC was keen. “We were lucky because ABC had received new money for drama. They’d been starved of funding by successive governments and the end result was no money for drama. They’d cut back from 100 hours a year to only 6 in 2007. Shameful … but Mr Rudd and a new government gave ABC a lot of money for drama and we were one of the first projects to benefit from that. The ABC wanted to do something multi-cultural and contemporary, so the timing was perfect.”
The pitch was a ‘dream’. “It was an easy pitch to make when I went off to raise the money. A man slaps a child that is not his own … the story resonates so widely because it is an urban one about child rearing that people really engage with … a child no one wants to deal with, and then a line is crossed. It’s very exciting when you have a strong idea that you can pitch. It makes your life so much easier – and the fact that potential financiers can then pitch it up the line too, is also really good.”
There were five writers on The Slap and Christos had input into the creative process too. “He was very good to work with, very modest and wanted to learn more about screenwriting and be involved. Tony and I met a lot of writers and eventually put together a team of five that we felt were a good mix for the novel and who showed a real willingness to collaborate. We wanted people who would put the project ahead of themselves and not think solely of their own episodes – some did one episode and others did two – but rather of the whole story. The book was ideal and inspiring, constructed around eight chapters and eight different points of view.”
To kick-start the process, Tony, Helen, Christos, a script editor and the five writers participated in a three- week workshop. “It was an expensive exercise,” said Helen, “Australian writers are quite heavily unionised, so workshop fees are high, but it was a fantastic thing to do. Essentially, we paid the writers to sit in a room and have their ideas go into a general pot, because then those ideas belonged to the company and the project. They received a ‘brainstorming fee’ which was different to their writing fee. Christos was very supportive of the workshop process. At the end, we had a storyline and a series outline and the writers went off to start first drafts. We then had another two-week workshop before starting on second drafts. We had a luxurious time frame for the writing because we wanted to do it well and give the writers enough time to write.”
With financing in place and the scripts at a certain point, the Matchbox team met with directors, once again looking for those who were the most collaborative in their approach. They then selected people they felt were best suited to the episodes. “Our set up director was Jessica Hobbs (another Kiwi), very accomplished, open, clever and thoughtful. She became a key member of the team in terms of setting up the series and working with Tony and me.”
The workshop approach was used with the directors too. They participated in a successful four-day workshop, arguing and talking around the table, generating ideas and discussing style and tone. “There was huge excitement from everyone. We felt we were making something special and important about contemporary life.”
Casting director Jane Norris rose to the challenges, finding ‘the most incredible people’ for every role. “We wanted good actors, of course, but we also wanted to be authentic to the culture portrayed in the book and to surprise people. It was great to find cast members that Australian viewers didn’t know.”
The series was not shot completely in sequence and each episode took approximately 7 – 8.5 days to shoot the 55-57 minute hour. “Christos was often on set. He was very trusting and had many useful things to say.”
Helen credits Tony with the idea for Underground, a tele-movie about the early life of Julian Assange. “He is like this fountain of ideas! I then started working with journalist Mark Davis who had done the most interviews with Julian over the years. He told me about the book Underground about hackers in the 1980s, written by a friend of Julian’s who was part of the Melbourne hacking scene. The book contained a few stories about Julian’s early life. We wrote up a two pager for the networks and pitched to the Head of Drama at Channel 10. They were interested but wanted a longer outline. This didn’t exist so we started working on it right away, got it into a form the Head was happy with and he agreed to make it.”
Once given the ‘ok’ the project grew wings and took off, something Helen felt it needed to do because of the nature of the story. “We had a three-day workshop in Melbourne. Matchbox had commissioned some research, which we often do, and that person did a breakdown of the book’s contents, a timeline of Julian’s life, and sourced some additional information. We started working on a storyline.”
While they were making the tele-movie, Julian’s real-time life ‘got crazier’ with the WikiLeaks issues and the accusations from Sweden. “It was mind-blowing,” said Helen. “Julian’s mother was very upset about the making of the film. Director Robert Connolly is a very ethical person, politically aware, left wing, and he found this quite distressing. We had heard she wasn’t happy and then she called him, talked for over an hour asking, ‘what are you doing?’ and ‘this is not going to help – it will damage him! Live your own life and leave us alone’. Robert was very diplomatic but she would not step back and wrote to the papers, saying she was unhappy and the truth wasn’t being told.”
The movie was completed, went to air, received good viewer numbers and was later released as a feature film which raised some money for Julian. “Julian’s mother did speak with us after that, saying she loved the film, it was the best one done about him. As a young man, Julian was very idealistic. His ideas have stayed the same but his life has become far more complicated, so telling the story of his early years was easier than trying to deal with the complexities of his later life.”
Helen said she has always felt very fortunate being able to bring important stories to the screen and the six-part mini-series Devil’s Playground is no exception. The series is a spin-off from the 1973 Fred Schepisi film which tells the story of a young boy growing up and going to school in a Catholic seminary, and realising that the priesthood is not for him. Helen explained that whilst the film shows an ‘affectionate’ portrait of the Church, there are hints that all is not well. In the series, Simon Burke returns to his role as Tom Allen – he is now a psychiatrist who is asked by the Church to counsel priests. Simon was also an executive producer on the film.
“The process to find the story was long,” said Helen. “We wondered what had become of Tom after he ran away from the Seminary. We wanted to know where he is now, what is he doing and explain why he left. It had to be something that people would turn on and watch, so the story also had to go into the contemporary problems within the Church but not overwhelm with those stories. Tom is like an ‘everyman investigator’ going into the world of this incredible institution.”
The series is yet to air on Foxtel but Helen is keen to see this happen before people become fatigued by the number of stories currently circulating about the Catholic Church.
In 2011 a 60% stake in Matchbox was sold to NBCUniversal and the remaining 40% was purchased in 2013. Helen said this was much needed and a very positive thing. “It gave us the money to develop projects and put in more infrastructure. Universal has huge distribution and they look for high-end drama throughout the world. We couldn’t believe the purchase in 2013. That we had started, built up and sold the company in such a short space of time, was amazing. I decided not to continue once the company was 100% American owned, so I left after Devil’s Playground and will move on to something else now.”
Written for Script to Screen by Jane Bissell
Story Camp evolves from our 2014 and 2015 writing labs, which have seen talented local writers workshop their feature film scripts with exceptional international and local mentors.
This year each selected writer or writing team will have a rigorous five-day residential experience tailored specifically to meet the development needs of their feature film project. At the heart of the programme remains exceptional and experienced practitioners working with NZ’s exciting writers and filmmakers to foster voice and vision.
The process for each participant will be made up of some or all of the following development techniques: one-on-one script sessions, project-based group workshops, read-throughs, and workshopping with actors. The writers’ key collaborators will be invited in to parts of the process in instances where that will be of additional benefit to the process and project.
Story Camp Aotearoa is brought to you with financial assistance from the New Zealand Film Commission.
Join us this month for a Wellington Writers’ Room with Australian director and academic Robert Marchand. Robert will talk to story advisor and acting coach Brita McVeigh about the relationship between filmmakers and actors in the process of character-based improvisation.
Emerging filmmakers can feel bound by the orthodoxy of the filmmaking process. How can writers and directors get to the heart of the story by engaging their actors earlier on in the process? This discussion is aimed at writers and directors, as well as actors.
Join us from 5:30pm for a glass of wine and stay afterwards for a slice of Heaven Woodfire Pizza on us.
Wed 27 August, Nga Taonga Sound and Vision (formerly The Film Archive), 84 Taranaki Street, Wellington, 5:30pm drinks, 6-7pm talk, $5 koha appreciated, includes a glass of wine
Robert Marchand is currently in New Zealand working with co-writer/director team Andrea Bosshard and Shane Loader (Taking the Waewae Express; Hook, Line and Sinker) on their new film The Great Maiden’s Blush. Support their BOOSTED campaign here!
Join us for a discussion delving into the creative process of low budget feature films as experienced by recipients of funding from the NZ Film Commission’s Escalator scheme. This is an opportunity to feed into the NZ Film Commission’s discussion around different options for low budget funding moving forward.
Writer/director Max Currie (Everything We Loved), writer/director Paolo Rotondo (Orphans & Kingdoms), writer/director Gerard Johnstone (Housebound) and writer/director Guy Pigden (I Survived a Zombie Holocaust) talk to producer Tui Ruwhiu about how being part of the scheme shaped and changed their filmmaking process.
The Escalator low budget funding scheme was an initiative of the New Zealand Film Commission which ran from 2010 – 2012. Over three years, eight teams were given production funding of $250,000 to make their first feature film.
Join us afterwards for a slice of pizza on us and a drink.
Tues 2nd September, The Classic, 321 Queen Street, 7pm drinks, 7:30-8:30pm talk, $5 koha appreciated.
There’s no doubt about it. Escalator funded horror-comedy Housebound is a remarkable accomplishment. At its SXSW festival debut earlier this year, the film was praised for its freshness of voice, strong performances, carefully handled script, and the perfect dose of NZ’s dry humour.
The July Writer’s Room celebrated the screening of the film at the NZ International Film Festival with a special session. Housebound’s writer, director and editor Gerard Johnstone (The Jaquie Brown Diaries) and producer Luke Sharpe (The Jaquie Brown Diaries) sat down with filmmaker Jackie Van Beek (Go the Dogs) to talk about the challenges of writing and making this debut feature.
The film played to a packed house at the Auckland International Film Festival and Housebound is ‘bound’ to be an audience favourite when it makes nationwide release in September. “This film is funny, scary, emotional … and reveals some truth about the New Zealand character,” said Jackie.
Housebound is indeed an extraordinary achievement. Made with the help of the New Zealand Film Commission’s Escalator funding scheme and capped at $250,000, the process from one-page idea to the screen was not the easiest of journeys for Gerard and Luke.
“We started in mid-2010 when we were shortlisted for Escalator,” said Gerard, “and turned around a first draft of the script in two months. We began filming in late 2011 and finished filming this year. The whole thing took about four years but it wasn’t a continual process. We worked in patches.”
Escalator is essentially a quick turnaround scheme. The associated pressures of working within the parameters are high but it’s hard for a film maker to turn down the opportunity to make a film when there is money on the table.
“There was a lot of pressure,” said Gerard. “The Jaquie Brown Diaries was successful. I thought people were expecting great things and that led me into this inertia where I couldn’t be as productive as I wanted to. Housebound was short listed for Escalator off a one page idea and there’s a big difference between having an idea and turning that idea into a 100 page script in two months. It was really hard. The challenges got on top of me. We started shooting because we had to, or risk losing the money. I naively hoped that we’d start shooting and I’d see how it went.”
Filming in ‘patches’ created multiple difficulties, not the least of which was some of the cast decided to move to Australia before the film was completed and Gerard didn’t like much of what he’d shot and wanted to re-write the script. “I was crestfallen because things just hadn’t gone at all like I’d hoped they would.”
For the first three years of the project Gerard was ‘filled with regret’ and thought it was the ‘stupidest decision’ he’d ever made. “Luke would come over to my place and it’d be 2 o’clock in the afternoon and I’d be in my underwear and socks, just having gotten up. It was a sad state of affairs. I had post-it notes all over the walls and I’d walk him through them, get his reaction, bounce ideas around.”
The two were good friends before venturing into the project – and the fact that they’re still speaking now is a testament to the strength of their relationship. Producers are there to crack the whip and Luke said this put their friendship under stress for about 3.5 years. “We were best mates going into it and we still are. My decision process is always guided by, ‘will it make the film better, yes or no?’ If yes, then we’ll try to make it happen. We want to do the best we can – otherwise, what’s the point?”
However Luke admitted that they were outside their comfort zone from the very start. “A limitation of Escalator is the fast turnaround. We knew we’d need as much time as we could get because we knew there wasn’t an easy template out there for the film we wanted to make.”
His work on Jaquie Brown did not prepare Gerard well for turning his hand to a feature film script and there wasn’t enough time for him to really get his head around it. “With thrillers you have to be one step ahead of the audience, full of surprises. I found that very hard coming off a 22 minute sit com. The pressure when writing a feature – and a mystery on top of that – is so different. I wanted it to be the best thing ever and it was so completely beyond me.”
If the luxury of time had been on his side, Gerard said he would have valued the chance to work with someone who had written thrillers and could guide him along. “I needed a solid thriller narrative and I could add comedy to that. If you haven’t worked with a writer in this genre you’re taking a big gamble. I didn’t know anyone because we don’t have a long history of thrillers in New Zealand. Writing the script was almost an unpaid gig too so the option of engaging a co-writer wasn’t available to me.”
Luke said there was money allocated within the Escalator funding for a script editor, if needed. They did receive some outside help from other script writers but it wasn’t too helpful. “When you collaborate you’re always looking for people who have the same sensibilities as you,” said Luke, “and it was hard for us to take that risk.”
With their timeline blowing out, Gerard and Luke were forced to front up to the NZFC and explain themselves. “We were in the dog box,” said Luke.
“They were angry but not unreasonable,” said Gerard. ” We took just inside 12 months before we started shooting and there was pressure to have it done in two months. If I’d known at the start that I could’ve had that year, I would’ve tracked down some other writers, watched more movies but as it was, I didn’t have the time to do that. There was this panic.” Jackie noted that the NZFC have since shut down Escalator and are bringing in two new programmes, one for features under 1 million and another for lower budget films up to $500,000.
Escalator required each film maker to submit three different one-page ideas. Most applicants had their favourite idea and knocked up two more, hoping selectors would pick the one they most wanted to make.
Gerard felt having to submit three ideas was too much. “I think one is better. The idea for Housebound was their least favourite. The year we applied to Escalator, everyone was making genre films. They sat us down and showed us Desert, an example of a low budget film and I thought, ‘Why didn’t you show us that before we all had our ideas? We could’ve made nice films about relationships but we’re all making zombie films and time traveller movies. How is this going to help us when we’re all trying to make The Terminator?’ And the first time we went down, the 12 teams were put up at the Museum Hotel. It was all glamour and buffet lunches. After we were chosen, we stayed at this rat infested place with drains running overhead …”
Welcome to the real world of low budget film making …
“Accelerated development and low cost was the idea behind Escalator,” said Luke. “I think its heart was in the right place because a number of great films have been made as a result, but sometimes things will work and sometimes they won’t.”
Gerard felt much of the stress could have been avoided if Escalator had asked for scripts, not ideas. “We ended up making Housebound for $350,000 so we had to find another grand on top of the $250,000 from Escalator. If I’d had the script to start with, I could’ve made the film for $250,000.”
The constraints of Escalator meant that Luke and Gerard went into production with a shooting script they were not happy with, thus initiating the convoluted and difficult process that followed. Keeping the cast and crew engaged and enthusiastic over the years it took to make the film was no easy feat.
” At the start they felt it was ridiculous and chaotic,” said Gerard, “and it got worse as we went on. I eventually realised I needed to take control, have more confidence and be more assertive and they started to spark to that. I showed them clips and they began to love it. Once that started happening, they saw the magic of the movie coming together and there was a real sense of camaraderie.”
However the road was still not easy one and it wasn’t until 2013 that Gerard and Luke felt they had a solid script and a good film coming out of it.
“I remember watching the latest Jane Eyre film,” said Gerard. “It was all about images, so refreshing to watch. I had come from a TV background – radio with pictures, dialogue heavy – but watching this I gained an understanding for how and why the camera moves and things got better when I started injecting that. I’d been trying too hard for comedy and it was awful. The script was telling the actors to go larger. The crew was laughing and when that happens you know it’s awful because they’re laughing when they feel they should. It just doesn’t work. I thought to myself, ‘This movie has no soul.'”
“We threw away a lot,” said Luke. “It was boring. We needed an active protagonist. We were bringing all these things to her but she wasn’t doing anything.”
The feisty protagonist Kylie (Morgana O’Reilly) initially faced up to the ‘haunting’ of the house with a ‘f*** off’ attitude but when Gerard had her move with slightly more trepidation, he infused her character and the film with the edge-of-the-seat nervousness it desperately needed to ultimately engage the audience. Imbuing chatterbox Miriam (Kylie’s mother played by the wonderful Rima Te Wiata) with a touch of racism brought an otherwise classically awkward and predictable dinner table scene to life with its subtle reflection of NZ society today.
Gerard said that while a director has to fight for his or her vision the ability to compromise has to be there too. However he was often hampered with decision-making due to the stressfulness of the situation. “In the early days I knew so little about anything. I was so stressed, unable to make a decision, it was all beyond me. But throughout it all, Luke and I were on the same page about most things. His words to me were often ‘hurry up!'”
The two had some hard-won advice for producers and writer/directors working on low budget features.
“Our low budget film was quite contained in terms of location,” said Luke, “and we knew the script needed a lot of work so we could put much of our resources there. Time is always a big one. We were under such pressure to start filming, otherwise we would lose the money. My advice is to always fight to make the best decisions you can on paper and negotiate ways to buy yourself more time. If there is no one waiting at the other end for the product – like a distributor – fight for as much time as you can.”
In spite of it all, both Luke and Gerard are immensely proud of the performances delivered by their actors.
“It just shows what these actors are capable of,” said Gerard. “We had a lot of rehearsals and usually between 7 and 12 takes and managed to get the best performances. I think film makers don’t always allow for multiple takes so that the actors can relax and really get into it.”
During question time, the panel was asked if distribution had been organised beforehand.
“No, not until we finished,” said Luke. “That was mainly because we didn’t know when the film would be completed. We wanted to make the best film we could so decided to take the time to do it right. We submitted a rough cut to SXSW … and when they asked for an updated cut we cancelled Christmas to get it done. We’ll have a distribution plan for our next film and having a track record now will make that process easier.”
When asked how they managed to come up with the extra money needed to complete the film, Luke said they couldn’t go back to the NZFC as that would have set an undesirable precedent for the funder.
“Our ‘in kind’ budget was crazy,” said Gerard. “The only way you can make the film is if everyone takes a massive pay cut. I’d say it’s $350,000 cash but $1.5 million in kind.”
Luke explained that films just can’t happen at such a low budget level unless people work for much less. “We shot in chunks and I told people that if they got a better offer, then take it and we’d cope.”
Gerard says one advantage of low budget is less interference and lowered risk. “The NZFC did keep the pressure on but they were not unreasonable.”
Both Gerard and Luke praised their production team, cast and crew for working within the constraints of low budget. “For example, our production designer never complained about the budget,” said Luke. “She’d go out and raid peoples’ rubbish bins.”
Gerard remembered a moment when he walked around one of the sets that had been constructed for a scene, in awe over what had been created by very talented people with such reduced resources. “I was walking around in it, thinking how great it was and it was a big moment because I thought, ‘this set needs a better story to go around it’ so I went home and rewrote the scene. Our production designers worked tirelessly and were freakishly talented. Much of the filming was done inside and I think the cinematography is amazing. We took alot of time to get it right and I’m so glad we did.”
And for the future? More movies, of course …
Gerard encouraged those who are thinking of making a genre movie to get onto it. “Do it. They track well, there’s a big audience for them. Lots of offers have been coming in since … and I have Peter Jackson’s email now …”
“We have our next film in development with the NZFC now,” said Luke, “and we’re hopeful it will be a far less laboured process.”
Written for Script to Screen by Jane Bissell
Script to Screen and the NZ Writers’ Guild joined together to present an afternoon with Academy-award winning screenwriter David Seidler (The King’s Speech). In conversation with Fiona Samuel, he spoke candidly about his writing life, the intriguing story around making The Kings Speech, and his approach to the craft of screenwriting.
David Seidler has a vast oeuvre writing for stage, television, and feature film. In 2011, he was rewarded for his talent when he received both an Oscar and BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay for The King’s Speech. In New Zealand mentoring at the Writers’ Lab Aotearoa/Waiheke, David is no stranger here and clearly has a deep affection for our country.
It was 1956 and David first arrived in New Zealand to make The Adventures of Seaspray, the first TV show to be filmed entirely in the South Pacific. Coming from the warmth and friendliness of Fiji, David found NZ a little chilly, in more ways than one.
“I was sent to Queenstown to prepare things for the unit,” said David. ” I’d written half of the scripts for the show and found myself as the assistant director too.”
At his Queenstown hotel he was lured out on a date with a ‘flirtatious young lady’ only to find himself face to face with the woman’s boyfriend. “He beckoned to me and said, ‘Outside mate – that’s my sheila!’ He was also the amateur heavyweight champion of New Zealand so I was quite glad to leave the country at that time.”
During the 70s, John McCrae was appointed as TVNZ’s Head of Drama and David was commissioned to write New Zealand’s first locally produced one-hour play. “There were only two newspapers here at the time. One review said that ‘at last local TV had come of age’ and the other said it was the ‘worst nonsense ever perpetrated upon the innocent viewing public’.”
But in spite of it all, New Zealand is still one of David’s favourite places. He lived here for over eight years, married two kiwi women, and now returns annually to see family, enjoy an ‘off the grid’ escape and to ‘torment the trout’ from his little cabin in the Ureweras. “New Zealand has been good to me and I am very pleased to give back something to the kiwi community in whatever way I can.”
Fiona acknowledged David’s generosity of spirit. “Bridges have been built between us. David is a master craftsman. We don’t often get access to these people and when we do, we feel a bit humble, small and far away but David has let us know that he doesn’t see it that way.”
David won a Best Screenplay Oscar for The King’s Speech, a work which had a long gestation period. Fiona asked David to talk about why the idea initially appealed to him, and how that idea eventually became an award-winning screenplay.
“I was a stutterer as a child and my childhood hero was Kind George VI. I was a little boy during the war and my mother would say, ‘Listen to the King speak. He had a far worse stutter than you and one day, you can sound like that.”
David learned to overcome his stutter which began at the age of three. “When you’re born with two conflicting characters something has to give. I was a stutterer but also a natural born ham. I loved to tell stories but I couldn’t, so I started to write them and that’s how I became a writer. I always intended to write about Bertie (King George).”
He began researching the story in his early twenties but was completing his education so didn’t progress too far. Flash forward to his Hollywood days some years later.
“My first job was working with Frances Ford Coppola on Tucker and my second was Days of Our Lives. After finishing Tucker I wanted to get serious about Bertie and as I researched, I found my story.”
Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue helped the King overcome his stutter. Little was written about Logue and David discovered that he might not have been a qualified therapist at all. David had found his story.
“A friend of mine in London found Logue’s son, Valentine, and I contacted him. He was very elderly then but said if I wanted to come to London, he would speak with me and give me access to the notebooks his father had kept. It was the holy grail but there was a caveat to the use of the material. He said, ‘You must first get written permission from the Queen Mother’ (the Kings’ widow).”
David wrote to her and two months later a beautiful envelope arrived bearing the royal seal.
“I ripped it open and the letter said, ‘Dear Mr. Seidler, please not during my lifetime. The memories of these events are still too painful.’ So I thought how long must I wait? She’s an old lady … maybe a year, two at the most. She passed away 25 years later.”
After her death David didn’t start writing immediately. He was facing his own mortality after receiving a serious diagnosis of cancer. Given only a 20% chance of survival it was a huge shock. “After three days of producing a great deal of mucus I knew enough about the human body to know that sustained grief isn’t good for the immune system. I had to take my mind off my impending death. I had to get to work, thinking, ‘If you’re not telling Bertie’s story now, when do you intend to tell it?’”
Fiona said it was reassuring for screenwriters in the audience to know that some stories can be a long time in the making. But can that length of time affect the way the story is eventually told?
“Yes,” said David. ” If I had written The King’s Speech as a younger man, I could have done a reasonable job in terms of craft but I doubt I could have gone deep enough. It was a combination of age, maturity and staring down the long barrel of infinity that allowed me to do it. Nothing to lose, nothing to hide, let’s make the trip.”
And making that trip involved pain.
“Stuttering is like having a toothache. It’s all you think about while it hurts. You go to the dentist, have treatment, the pain stops. Afterwards, you don’t want to remember the toothache. It’s the same with stuttering. It’s such a miserable way to spend a childhood and when you get over it, you don’t want to think about it. To write the script well, to get into Bertie’s head, I had to go into some very painful places and as an older writer, I was able to do that.”
When asked who he shows his work to, David replied, “Nobody. Be very careful who you show your work to. Don’t show it to your mother, your family because they all have agendas. Show it to the people who are paying you. That’s all that counts.”
Most writers can ‘get stuck’ whilst working on a screenplay and David is no exception.
“There are two things that get me stuck. One: I haven’t done the crucial thing before I start writing which is to say succinctly to myself what the intrinsic meaning of the story is. This should be two or three sentences. If I haven’t done that, I’ll have trouble. My advice here would be to stop, re-think, re-set your mind, and when you know absolutely what you’re doing, start again.
“Two: I can get stuck on a scene. That usually means something is wrong. Either the scene doesn’t belong in the movie or it has started or ended too soon or too late. I’ll think about where my character has been before the scene: where am I coming from, where am I going, what do I need? Sometimes I will write the story, or just that segment, from the first person point of view of the characters in the scene, writing from what they know so I can understand exactly what is in their heads.
“Long walks are good too. There’s something about the rhythm of walking that frees my mind. Or I’ll take a nap.”
Fiona asked David to outline his process once he has signed on for a project.
“I have a template and I’m very methodical. Alot of my projects are biographical or research-based so I start by putting my research on 3 x 5 cards. I always note the source I’ve taken my research from, the page numbers, because if the movie is made, the studio will want an annotated script for legal reasons so I am very careful right from the start. When I have a stack of about 350-400, I use a big cork board or the living room floor to lay them out and look for connections to join them together. A structure starts to take shape. It’s very rough but I can see faint outlines. Some of the cards are scenes, others just a fact, a piece of dialogue or even a joke. When it starts to take shape, I’ll write a treatment and I don’t want that in my contract if I can help it because if it is, the studio has the right to read it and if that happens, you’re in development hell very quickly and you may never get out of treatment stage. If there is a director attached I’ll show it to them because they’ll probably have a vision for the movie and it’s good to know if you both want to make the same one. ”
This part of the process can take two or three months and David asks for patience. “To give you an example, I’m working on a script about Jesse Owens now. It’s about 104 pages. The treatment is over 50 pages but it makes the writing go quickly. Once I start writing I can usually complete the script in 6-8 weeks.”
David emphasised the need to ‘cover your butt’ when working on anything potentially contentious. “Have at least two, preferably three, printed references. Don’t put anything in the script unless you can justify it. I do the notations right from the start because I don’t want to have to go back later. With the Jesse Owens story, no one is left alive from that era but the studio has insisted that I turn in an annotated script.”
For projects that are ‘fabricated’ and not based on extensive research, David still uses his cards but the process is not as organised. “I’ll get a big role of paper, put that on the wall, draw lines for beginning, middle, and end and start putting ideas and scenes where I think they might go.”
Fiona invited questions from the audience and the first asked David to explain his pathway towards building relationships with producers willing to hire him. This discussion then led David to discuss his first days in Hollywood and working with Frances Ford Coppola on Tucker.
“It’s simple in the USA. If you get something made that is marginally successful they want you to write the same film again. The good thing about that is you get some work but bad because it’s the wrong work to take. I won the Oscar for The King’s Speech and everyone wants that again but they won’t get it. I put lightning in the bottle and I can do it again but it won’t be the same lightning or the same bottle. They don’t like that because they want something familiar. Your work is based on your reputation and what you have done. The more you make, the more you get offered. The system is inherently tough on someone breaking in because if you haven’t had anything made, you have no track record and they won’t offer you anything.
“I came to Hollywood at the age of 40. That showed my immense ignorance and stupidity because that’s the age when most writers are getting out. Now I’m so old that people say, ‘He’s been around so long he must know something’. But sometimes I can’t imagine that the public would be remotely interested in me or anything I am interested in. However, if someone is willing to pay me, it is a stamp of authenticity. People bring the project to me and I’ll decide whether I can do it or not. I choose my projects based upon whether I feel a resonance with the story and can do it justice.
“Before coming to New Zealand all those years ago, all I’d done in the USA was Seaspray. When I decided to return to the US for one last attempt to be a writer at the age of 40, I had to figure out what I wanted to write. The story I’d always wanted to tell was that of Preston Tucker and the ’48 Tucker. I’d seen it on the boardwalk at Atlantic City. It was this spaceship on wheels, a beautiful car. Then Tucker was arrested and the factory closed down. I asked my Dad if Tucker was a crook and he said, ‘Don’t always believe what you read in the paper’.
“So I knew what I wanted to do when I went back but I had no money. I couldn’t go back naked so I had to find a job. Fortune was kind to me. There was a Creative Director’s Conference in Sydney and all the US bosses were there. I presented well, they took me to lunch and asked what I wanted. ‘ I want to come home to America’ was a line I hoped would melt their hearts and it worked. I eventually ended up with a job in Detroit and that was fortuitous because Tucker had worked close by. I started researching him but couldn’t get through to the family at all. I was discouraged. It was then that a friend asked me to caretake his property in Malibu so out I went to California.”
The reason David hit a wall with Tucker was because his high-school buddy Coppola had bought the life rights to the man’s story. David called his old schoolmate.
“It took about six months to meet him but when I did, he asked me to tell him all I knew about Tucker and he said, ‘You can do the research and treatment. Have your agent call me.’ I didn’t have one but a friend did so I called his agent, Stu Robinson. Stu said, ‘I don’t take kids off the street’ but when I said, ‘All you have to do is make a deal for me in the morning with Coppola’ there was a long pause and he said, ‘Kid, you’ve got yourself an agent.’”
David was asked to what degree he took liberties with the truth to make a script work. “I feel we have certain responsibilities. In The King’s Speech I knew I would be crucified by the British press so the only liberty I took was the compression of time. Bertie and Lionel worked together for 20 years so I compressed that and the critics accepted it as something I had to do. UK historians checked my script and found only two small things.
“If a person is not important historically you can take more liberties. We’re writing drama and entertainment so my rule of thumb is: the facts are not that important but the truth is. You can fudge facts a bit but you cannot fudge the truth of who the character is or what the story is about.”
David concluded his talk by sharing some views on film making in New Zealand. ” A piece of advice I’d like to give to screenwriters here is to open up. Be brave. If there is a weakness in New Zealand writing, it is ‘niceness.’ But that’s part of the New Zealand character. The last vestige of Victorianism lives on in this country. There are some wonderful strengths in kiwi writing and storytelling but often the scenes end too quickly. Stick with it, try to go as deeply as you can. I know it is possible because over the last five days at the workshop I’ve seen writers willing to take the risk of personal pain and going deeply.
“And another thing I would encourage you to do is to make your films here in New Zealand. Don’t go to Hollywood because you’ll be eaten alive. If you can express yourself here on your home turf, that’s a wonderful thing to do.”
Written for Script to Screen by Jane Bissell
Script to Screen presents a one-day filmmaking workshop for the Far North region, Storytelling for the Screen with experienced writer/director Michael Bennett.
Is there a story from your community that you would like to tell through film but don’t know where to start?
Come and join us for a free one-day workshop that will give you the tools you need to take stories from your community and tell them on screen.
This workshop covers short film, short documentary and web series formats, and focuses on making a project on a low budget. The aim of the workshop is to foster local talent and encourage aspiring filmmakers to make their own projects with local content.
The workshop is aimed at all levels, from those with screenwriting and filmmaking experience, to passionate storytellers looking for an introduction on how to develop stories that are cinematic. The workshop is suitable for ages 15+. We also welcome those who work with rangatahi in the Far North region, who would like to learn more about how to inspire their youth to write and make a film project with local content.
When: Sunday 1 February, 9am-5pm
Where: Northtec Rawene Campus, Nimmo St, Hokianga
Cost: The workshop is free. Morning and afternoon tea will be provided. Please bring a plate to share for lunch.
Registration: If you would like to attend please rsvp to Eloise on eloise @ script-to-screen.co.nz or ring the office on 09 360 5400. This workshop is aimed at ages 15+. (The Script to Screen office reopens on 15th January so if you call or email prior to this day and we will reply on our return to confirm your place at the workshop.)
Michael Bennett is a writer/director of Te Arawa descent (Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Wakaue), working extensively within short and feature film, web series, and documentary forms. Michael’s first short film Michelle’s Third Novel accompanied the US gala premiere of Pulp Fiction at the 1994 New York Film Festival. He has since gone on to write and direct internationally award winning shorts Cow and Kerosene Creek. In 2010 he co-wrote and directed the award-winning feature film Matariki which debuted at TIFF. He recently devised and wrote all 20 episodes of popular web series The Factory, and wrote and directed The Confessions of Prisoner T – an in-depth look at the Teina Pora case, of which he is now writing a book, and developing a feature film. As well as working on his own projects, Michael is an experienced script editor.
Day Schedule:
9am – Intro, morning tea
9:30am – 12pm – Morning session: The craft of storytelling in drama, documentary and web series
12 – 1pm – Lunch – please bring a plate
1 – 4pm – Afternoon session : A chance to share your project ideas for discussion and feedback
4-5pm – Ngā Aho Whakaari presents Waka Kiriata – a screening of Māori short films – snacks provided