Award-winning moviemakers crowdfund fracking film

Award-winning moviemakers crowdfund fracking film

Award-winning filmmakers Tom and Sumner Burstyn are reaching out to concerned Kiwi citizens to help fund their next documentary.

After a hectic couple of years – their hit film This Way of Life was shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination in 2011 and their latest, Some Kind of Love, is currently receiving its finishing touches in post production – the principals of Cloud South Films had intended to take the rest of 2012 off from filmmaking.

That plan has been put on hold, however, due to the duo’s deep concern about the lack of informed public debate on the subject of “fracking” in New Zealand.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a mining technique that involves injecting millions of litres of a high-pressure cocktail including water, sand and chemicals into fuel-rich subterranean rock.

Industry advocates claim the practice is safe; opponents claim it leaves a toxic legacy. What’s not in dispute is the steady increase of fracking in New Zealand in recent years, and the lack of public engagement on the topic.

“If information is power, then the public of this country is virtually powerless when it comes to the potential risks and rewards that fracking represents,” says writer-producer Sumner Burstyn. “As such we feel compelled to make a film that puts the claims of both energy companies and environmentalists under the microscope.”

With the likelihood of the Government allowing much more fracking in the near future, the Burstyns’ aim is to have their documentary feature in NZ cinemas by early 2012.

“This kind of accelerated schedule is something an agency like the Film Commission just isn’t set up to accommodate,” notes director-cinematographer Tom Burstyn. “By its very nature, the NZFC has to be very deliberate in its decision-making, which takes time. So we’ve decided to jumpstart the project by soliciting funding directly from members of the New Zealand public.”

The filmmakers kicked off the appeal today via recently launched “crowdfunding” website PledgeMe. Their goal is to raise $150,000 in this manner by 27 May, which will enable them to pull together enough compelling material to secure the rest of the production budget and have the film – working title, Fracking Whatatutu – ready for release early next year.

“We’re really passionate about this project and the part it can play in contributing to the democratic discussion of what's an important issue for this and future generations,” says Sumner Burstyn. “We’re also excited about helping trail-blaze a new kind of film financing in NZ.”

• Click here to view Fracking Whatatutu’s PledgeMe pages, including a teaser trailer for the fundraising appeal that features a number of familiar screen industry faces.