New Zealand director Taika Waititi is to shoot a full-length feature film in the eastern Bay of Plenty next year - and is looking for local people to star in it.
Waititi said the movie, titled The Volcano, would be based on his short film Two Cars, OneNight, which was nominated in the best live action short film category in the 2005 Academy Awards.
It will be his second feature movie after Eagle vs Shark, which was a critical and commercial hit this year.
The Volcano's producers are holding a "casting call" in Awakeri, 17km southwest of Whakatane, tomorrow for actors and extras to fill roles in the new film.
Waititi said most of the movie's main roles would be for children between 8 and 12 years old. It would have a cast of unknowns and there would be no "big-name" actors or actresses involved.
"It's all going to be newbies. I don't want to use anybody who is an established actor and, anyway, there are not all that many adult roles in the film," he said.
"I'm hoping that we will be able to find most of the cast in the Bay of Plenty."
The film would be shot at various locations in the eastern bay in October and November next year.
Waititi said although the film would be based on Two Cars, One Night, which centred on a group of children left to amuse themselves in the car park of a rural pub while their parents went in for a drink, the short film's central theme would be expanded and developed.
"It's a kind of coming-of-age story in a small community and no, the whole thing is not going to be filmed in a car park."
