Here and Back Again

Let me just put this out there: this place is great. And by this place, I mean Wellington. New Zealand. Middle-earth.

On Monday, Jenifer, Hawk, and I attended the Wellington rally to keep the production of The Hobbit here in New Zealand. Joining us were our friends Jack, Aiko, Grant, and Steve (who's neatly summarized the whole affair here), along with several thousand proud Kiwis who came out to proclaim to Warner Bros., an Australian actor's union, and the world their pride in their film industry.

The event took place in Wellington's Civic Square. It's a familiar haunt for Hawk and me, as several times a week we pass through it on our way to the waterfront, each time Hawk delighting in the great "sky ball!"--a globe of silver ferns that hangs over its center. Through the courtyard and over the City to Sea Bridge, where the wide rim of the harbor opens up, where the city itself encircles you in its green water and hillside houses and misty mountains.

It's magic in this spot, and now all the more so for the gathering of filmmakers and fans and everyday folk who understand just how important a certain line of creative work has become. More, much more is on the line than money as Warner Bros. decides whether The Hobbit will be made in New Zealand. I can't imagine anything like this positive, peaceful "rally" happening in the States. Not that people there don't join together to support a cause, but here in New Zealand there's a feeling of ownership, a feeling that film itself is a community enterprise. It's been said many times that the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was made not by a director, nor even a team of filmmakers, but by an entire nation.

Of necessity I've been working almost exclusively on our business (we're only a few weeks away from unveiling our fully operational website). But so far my experiences echo what I've been hearing and continue to hear, again at this rally: that the film industry in Wellington--an industry whose technical infrastructure, indeed its pounding heart, was largely built by Sirs Peter and Richard--is what Hollywood was in its early days. The dream is alive here, where filmmakers are knighted national treasures and joyfully lead a people's collective longing to create something great.

UPDATE 28 October: The Hobbit stays! Check The Noldor Blog for details.

THE HOBBIT Is Go!

The upcoming two-part production of The Hobbit has at last been given the green light. My buddy Jack over at The Noldor Blog has posted the full press release, which confirms that Sir Peter Jackson will direct the prequel to The Lord of the Rings Trilogy beginning in February 2011. Though it doesn't say so, presumably the filming will take place here in New Zealand. There's still a labor dispute and MGM, the international distributor, is teetering on the brink of the abyss. But the engines of production will soon be firing (with pre-production going on for some time now), and that's good news for everyone in this country.

An Evening at Park Road Post

Recently I had the privilege of attending the sneak preview of Costa Botes's new documentary, Candyman: The David Klein Story.

Costa, a veteran of the New Zealand film industry, is probably best known in the States for Forgotten Silver, the satire/hoax he co-wrote and co-directed with Peter Jackson (and which largely fooled the New Zealand public), as well as his extensive making-of documentary for The Lord of the Rings (included in the fairly recent special editions of the theatrical-release DVDs).

Candyman I knew less about, only that it had something to do with jelly beans. But I was quite keen, as they say here, to go to an industry event which also had the appeal of being held at Park Road Post.

Sometimes referred to as "Skywalker South," Park Road Post is the premier post-production facility in this neck of the woods, where an increasing number of films is wrapped up, everything from King Kong to Red Cliff to District 9.

The building features a beautiful Arts and Crafts design, but the theater for the screening (I don't know if there are others) depicts what seems a Victorian view of the Near East. The interior is extravagant and a bit kitschy, with frescoes of camels and turbaned traders, but the quality and care taken are so apparent that somehow the overall ambiance is enhanced. Throughout the screening the ceiling's thousands of miniature lights twinkled like the night sky.

The evening's program began with Day Trip, a short directed by up-and-coming filmmaker Zoe McIntosh from a script by Costa about the conflicted aspirations of a Maori gang member. Then came Candyman, an intimate look at the life and inventions of eccentric candymaker David Klein, the man behind the many-flavored Jelly Bellies candy as well as many lesser-known confections. The film explores his sometimes too-generous nature and the collapse of a dream in the face of corporate greed. I hope it finds distribution in the U.S. -- it seems perfectly suited to PBS or other intelligent channels.

After the film I met Costa and we discussed his approach to documentary filmmaking. I found him humble, earnest, genuine, and, like so much of the industry here, encouragingly accessible. Wellington, it's good to be here.

Your Big Break: Capturing the Spirit

As Fate would have it, one of my New Zealand friends alerted me to a spectacular screenwriting and filmmaking opportunity happening right now. It’s the Your Big Break competition sponsored by 100% Pure New Zealand, the travel planning and information site of Tourism New Zealand, and involving good people like Peter Jackson and Barrie Osborne. You may have heard of them before.

In any case, five scripts are selected to be filmed by their writers. One of the top five is determined by popular vote. That’s where you come in!

I’d greatly appreciate your vote for my entry, Capturing the Spirit—that’s my video pitch below. Voting is simple. Check out my entry at http://nzt.strutta.com/entries/10773, vote by clicking the big green button, and . . . you could win a trip to New Zealand! You!

Voting closes at 11:59 AM PST on January 15, 2010.

Thank you for your support! And Happy New Year!

The Lovely Bones in My Backyard

Tonight I took a little field trip and wandered over to downtown Royersford, where Peter Jackson is filming The Lovely Bones. I joined the small group of onlookers gathered at Fourth and Main and chatted with Jim McNutt, “your friendly PA.” Jim was on lockup duty, which consisted primarily of keeping folks like me corralled by the barricade. He had most recently worked on M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening and Mark Webber’s Explicit Ills, both also filmed in the area.

From our location there wasn't much to see, just several takes of some Seventies-era cars, a motorcycle, and even a street cleaner turning the corner by the Main Street Deli. Nonetheless the locals were thrilled that Hollywood had descended upon their little town, if only for a few days. Girls in their tweens, hoping for an autograph from Mark Wahlberg, clustered in the bitter cold with their mothers. Many of them had never seen a Peter Jackson film, some didn’t know the title of this film, still others were a trifle concerned that their town might be standing in for nearby Norristown, which itself stood in for Malvern in the novel by Alice Sebold.

At this time of year, it was not unusual to see the town festooned with Christmas lights and decorations (definitely not, according to one semi-disapproving resident, “Royersford’s lights”), but it was quite surreal to see a street I’ve driven a thousand times set up for a major film production. That was indeed a Paramount tractor trailer parked behind the H&R Block where I’ve had my taxes prepared. Weird—but good weird. I knew it wasn’t Hollywood so much as New Zealand that had arrived in my backyard, as if one of those bloated Third Stage Guild Navigators had just up and folded time and space, and that the Universe was winking yet again. Mostly, I was relieved that the planet’s equilibrium had finally been restored, now that Pete had come here after I had gone there. Pics tomorrow!