Queenstown's Diverse Filming Projects
I am writing to you all from the raging South Bar in Christchurch airport. Well, raging if you consider me and the three 18-year-olds talking about the diabolical dick that is Harrison from MaFs Australia, S10. Why pay an actor when you can get this natural Joffrey Baratheon for a Happy Meal and a ride home?
I have just swung a vehicle up from Nic at Direct Rentals in Queenstown for Dark City in Christchurch. Good luck for the shoot, Team Canterbury.
Queenstown has had TVC’s all over the district in February. Sweetshop came down to dangle some folk off a cliff. It was great watching the crane setting up and then all the expert groups doing their thing. It’s one of my favorite things about film jobs: seeing separate, defined departments come together.
Batch shot an offshore camping company advert in Glenorchy and amongst the reeds in a local’s pond. We were also up Qt Hill on Valentine’s Day, and the weather was amazing. This has been the case here since mid-December. The North Island seemed a lot further away than usual with the news reports and the personal stories the Auckland crew told us about the flooding and slips in January. Gabrielle hit the North Island on this day. The production proceeded to donate all their imported props, including tents, clothes, camping equipment, bikes, etc., to the cyclone fund.
Scoundrel had a five-day shoot for Specsavers, Canada. We flipped the road rules with the help of Southern Safety and our brave safety officer, Brendan Kearns. Somehow, Hippi in the Art Dept found an appropriate V8 ute with a Canadian-looking boat and canoe, like the magician he is. We shot in Wanaka, Glenorchy, and a few spots on the Tommy Thomson Scenic Drive. It was a big job for DIT James Farrow. He kept the agency online while keeping the production on track, reviewing and wrangling the extensive footage we shot. He was all over it.
I’ll also take this opportunity to mention “Whew” and “Go Team” for the Ki Studio shoot way back in November. We had a whirlwind of a good time with the shooting of (part of) this Tollywood extravaganza. There were challenges aplenty, but the team made it happen.
(https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/ tomahawk-plays-host-indian-film-crew)
Finally, all the best to our North Island crew for the cleanup and road ahead. We’re thinking of you.
Kim Godby, Queenstown
