Feilding the 'real story' for $15,000

SAM BAKER/Manawatu Standard

BUDDING FILM MAKER: Writer and director Ryan Freeman, 23, is ready for the challenges a feature length film will create.

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It will cost only $15,000 to make Feilding famous.

Filmmaker Ryan Freeman, 23, is in the initial stages of making his first feature film Welcome to Feilding.

The film aims to show young people in Feilding facing the realities of living in a small town.

The no-holds-barred depiction of youth and difficulties they face is based on Freeman's own experience's of growing up in the Manawatu town.

"It involves a lot of issues people don't want to deal with and the language is accurate. There's no materialistic swing to it, it's just shown realistically," he said.

With a meagre $15,000 budget and a cast of 15 actors, Freeman said no-one, on or off set, was being paid.

The New Zealand Film Commission chose not to fund the film as it said Freeman was too young and inexperienced, but independent sources provided the money. Auditions for the film were held yesterday in Feilding and Palmerston North.

Freeman is a broadcasting school graduate and works for Auckland marketing firm The Sweet Shop. He auditioned a handful of hopeful actors, and was pleased with the turnout.

"There's no industry down here for film, but the interest down here will flow through soon. [The] last thing you want to do is recycle Shortland Street," he said.

In the film, which is set in and around a student flat, 18-year-old Stafford, who recently finished high school, is ready to party, letting work take a backseat before heading off to university the following year with his girlfriend Amanda.

The film is set to be around 100 minutes long, and Freeman intends on shooting it within 15 days in January. "This film will not only be definitive of my generation, but the benchmark for low-budget digital film making."

- © Fairfax NZ News