Wellington Filmmakers Aim High with International Production
On July 1st, principal photography wrapped on the Wellington segment of an international short film. The film is being
shot in a number of locations across America, New Zealand and the Netherlands. The New Zealand team was led by Victoria
University student Jonathan Mines. “We are working with no budget,” said the director “but thankfully our (skeleton)
crew is a talented and dedicated one.”
The team had a strong student influence, starring Victoria University’s Aimee smith as an obsessive physics student.
Trent Williams (Victoria University) teamed up with Isauro Torres (graduate of the New Zealand Film and Television
School) on sound. Recent Yoobee graduate and cinematographer Max McGreggor worked with lighting grip Femke Schouten.
Niamh King (teacher) doubled as assistant director and script supervisor, and the set was designed by Helen Brasting
(executive director of the charity “Film for Change”).
Scriptwriter Nick Hilton (writer-director of successfully crowd-funded 2013 feature “Flight of the Flamingo”) proposed
the project to the online filmmaking community IndieTalk, where it was met with enthusiasm for its unique and ambitious
nature. Mines found that “the exciting (and challenging) thing with this project is bringing together a range of styles
and ideas from all around the world in a coherent way.” The film explores the global reaction to a viral UFO video. “It
surveys the human response to ‘alien’ (not just of the extra-terrestrial kind) encounters” said Mines.
The project is being completed on no budget, and being filmed in the Netherlands, New Zealand, and several locations in
America. The New Zealand and Dutch teams have finished shooting, with the U.S. teams schedules to complete their scenes
in the coming weeks. The project, currently working under the temporary title “Global Movie XP 2014,” will be entered in
a number of international film festivals.
The project’s progress can be followed at http://globalmoviexp.blogspot.co.nz/
ENDS