A new hook for the movies

Rangimoana Taylor as PJ in Hook, Line and Sinker.

MADE on the smell of an oily rag, a new Wellington movie about a truck driver is made on what Stalin would have you believe was the old Communist system… all the cast made an equal contribution to its production.
Directors Andrea Bosshard and Shane Loader turned the screen writing process upside down in the making of Hook, Line and Sinker. Rather than starting with a script they developed a process where all of the cast helped develop the screenplay. It’s a method pioneered by British director Mike Leigh but it’s the first time the process has been used in making a New Zealand film. They began with an idea for a plot and then the actors were brought in to work on their characters.
“At this stage we didn’t tell the actors anything about what the movie’s about,” Bosshard says. “We just got them to work solely on developing a character based on a person they knew in real life. Once they’d created their character the writer and directors worked with them individually to fit that character in with the movie:”
Then for a week each actor lived real life in their character’s shoes. They were then brought together for the first time and improvised to produce the dialogue and the material for the screenplay.
“Actors love the process because they are able to fundamentally shape their characters, writers love the wealth of narrative possibilities it produces, and directors love it because it creates such layered performances. It’s fresh, spontaneous and unexpected.”
Shot over five weeks in and around Wellington’s south coast the film was made on a cash budget of less than $40,000. A small grant came from the now defunct Screen Innovation Production Fund and some post productive funding from the NZ Film Commission, but most of the money came from an art auction and donations from individuals.
“We were very dependent on the good will and generosity of the community. Wellington backed us. People were so generous in providing us with locations, props and film equipment.”
Bosshard says the rise of the digital camera and the demise of 35mm film as the standard screening format has allowed movies to be made for less money. The high costs associated with the movie industry are largely due to movie distributors taking too large a cut of box office returns leaving little for the filmmaker or producer.
“We’ve made a conscious choice to be our own distributor for this movie. As long as budgets are modest and we take on the responsibility of self-distribution, it may be possible for independent filmmakers to develop a truly sustainable industry that can pay its own way,” Bosshard says.
Hook, Line and Sinker opens nationwide tomorrow, Thursday May 5. The movie tells the story of PJ (Rangimoana Taylor), a truck driver, whose life unravels when he fails a mandatory eye test and loses his driving licence. While his partner Ronnie (Carmel McGlone) upscales her wedding dress business to become the breadwinner of the family, PJ struggles to accept his new place in his family and in the world.
The cast also includes Geraldine Brophy, Matthew Chamberlain and Dame Kate Harcourt.