Kiwi's dream role in Gibson thriller

BLOWING HIS COVER: film director Stef Harris.

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After spending five weeks on set, one Christchurch resident will be more interested than most in Mel Gibson's new film Edge of Darkness, writes JAMES CROOT.

Any hopes Christchurch policeman and film-maker Stef Harris had of remaining undercover while on the set of Edge of Darkness were dashed before he started. Although Harris' day job had been revealed to director Martin Campbell before Harris' successful interview for the Air New Zealand Aspiring New Zealander Scholarship which landed him the dream role, he had hoped he would be able to keep a low profile. However, he admits, his sartorial choice instantly gave him away.

"When I turned up in LA for the final interview, everyone was pretty casually dressed. I turned up in a suit and tie. Martin Campbell took one look and remarked, 'This will be the policeman'."

Clearly impressed not only with his dress sense, Campbell gave the nod to Harris, who then found himself spending five weeks mid- shoot on Edge's Boston set in late 2008. "At first I thought I was going to be working on his remake of The Birds but when I found out he was remaking Edge I thought that was fantastic because it was my favourite piece of his."

Originally created as a six-part BBC drama in 1985, Edge is the story of a policeman who investigates the death of his activist daughter. Bob Peck played the original protagonist, Ronald Craven, renamed Thomas in the film, and played by Mel Gibson.

"I got to speak to Mel a fair bit," says Harris. "He was very approachable and always available to talk to the crew.

"But he was also very, very focused. He would horse around and entertain everyone while a shot was being set up, but as soon as it was time to go on he was 100 per cent focused."

Initially believing that he would move from department to department during his time there, Harris ended up shadowing Campbell the entire five weeks.

"It was immediately obvious that was where I was going to learn the most."

While a US$80 million (NZ$112m) movie starring Gibson and Robert De Niro might seem a world away from Harris' $15,000 directorial debut, The Waimate Conspiracy, he was struck by how much of the production process was transferable.

"Despite all the money and resources that Edge had, most of the bread and butter of how Martin worked with actors and how the story was told visually was stuff I was able to pack and take with me. Having watched him work, I've no doubt that Martin, if you gave him just a handicam and a handful of actors, could make something stunning."

The timing of his American sojourn could not have been better for Harris. As soon as he arrived back in New Zealand, he was straight into pre-production on his second film No Petrol No Diesel. "It meant it was all fresh in my mind and I used a lot of what I gained when we started shooting in January 2009."

He also got a second bite of the cherry when he returned to LA for two weeks during post-production on Edge.

Buoyed by near sell-outs of the five screenings at last year's International Film Festival, Harris is still hopeful of No Petrol No Diesel receiving a nationwide release.

Meanwhile, he is working on three scripts (all New Zealand-set comedies), with one in development with the New Zealand Film Commission and another with an LA-based producer.

"I'm in that holding pattern, waiting to see which one gets the green light."

- © Fairfax NZ News