Movie makers come to aid of Palmerston North director

FILM FUND SEEKER: Director Bonnie Slater, a past winner of the 48-hour Film Fest, is now seeking funds to help bring a Manawatu play to the big screen later this year.

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Two major movie makers have come to the aid of a faltering attempt by rising Palmerston North director Bonnie Slater to shoot a $1.4 million feature film in and around the city this year.

Guillermo del Toro (director of Peter Jackson's next movie The Hobbit, Pan's Labyrinth, and Hellboy) and Jonathan King (director of Black Sheep and Under the Mountain) have pledged to appear in a fundraiser for the Manawatu movie, Roots, Rock and Harmony, in Wellington's Paramount Theatre on November 11.

"This is brilliant," said Slater yesterday. "Guillermo has not done any other event of this kind in New Zealand and believes in the team and the project so much he has signed up to headline the fundraiser.

"We were recently turned down for the funding we required from Creative New Zealand to make the film. This was not a shock as there are limited funds to be allocated, and we were requesting a larger sum than many other projects.

"However, this does put us on the back foot somewhat. We have had to dissolve the trust [formed to make the movie] and start a company to seek the backing of independent investors."

The new company, Clean Slate Films Ltd, needs to raise a $100,000 top-up to "get the film in the can".

Ms Slater will visit Palmerston North in October seeking sponsors. Until then she will be "trying to make contact with people and setting up meetings".

"There are a number of investor packages we are exploring and anyone who has a desire to be involved is welcome to approach me through the website www.cleanslatefilms.org for an investor package.

"Richard Taylor [the head of Weta Workshop] has given the project his full blessing and offered the workshop's resources to me as required. We have so much support, so much talent behind us and and an exceptional project."

The Wellington promotion event involving the two directors will be titled: An Evening with Guillermo del Toro and will be held at the Paramount Theatre on November 11.

The format will be a question and answer session.

Manawatu movie inspired by stage play

The possible Manawatu movie, Roots, Rock and Harmony was inspired by the successful stage play, It's a Whanau Thing, written by Kelly Kilgour and Jamie McCaskill in 2004.

Both are involved with the new project. Billed as a musical comedy, the play told the story of a Palmerston North band's struggle to get on the Good Morning television show and played to big houses at The Globe in 2005. Director Bonnie Slater saw the play at Wellington's BATS theatre the same year and was "captivated by the energy and rapport the actors had with each other".

She recognised it as presenting an opportunity to make a full-length feature film. "We are aiming to shoot the film for four weeks in Palmerston North and two weeks in Wellington from mid January, 2010," said Slater, "Pre-production will begin in November."