Kiwi filmmaker Mason Cade Packer set to return home from LA to film thriller after funding reached

Kiwi filmmaker Mason Cade Packer.

Prince, a sad and spooky mythological thriller, has reached its funding goal and is set to be filmed in Kāpiti next winter.

Director and producer Mason Cade Packer, who hails from Kāpiti but is now living in Los Angeles to further his film career, said, "The response from locals has been invigorating.

"I've received a whopping $30,000 of the $85,000 budget from the Kāpiti community to help fund the film and the rest from private investors in New Zealand and Los Angeles.

Mason Cade Packer is heading home from Los Angeles to create Prince, a mythological thriller set in Kāpiti.

"I approached almost every single business in Kāpiti I could find and made over 80 hours of phone calls, and almost double that in emails — into the thousands of emails.

"I told my story, what I had done in Kāpiti, where I studied after, what I loved about my craft, and what doing this picture means to me and potentially to my future."

Mason slowly convinced local businesses to take a chance on him as an up-and-coming filmmaker, in his words taking "quite a sizable, risky chance on me".

Prince is a sad and spooky 30-minute film about a tragedy that takes place at Kāpiti College, in which the school's principal, the aptly nicknamed Prince (played by Ryan O'Kane) decides to take things into his own hands.

Working behind the backs of local police, Prince investigates the father of one of his students and very quickly finds himself thrust into a world of ritualistic horror, coming face-to-face with an other-worldly presence.

Raising funds was made harder by kickback when approaching some local businesses who weren't eager to support such a 'dreary' subject matter.

"They would have happily contributed to a lighter film, a comedy or a film about dogs and flowers and such."

However, Mason believes it is important that films like this are made which speak about the darker side of humanity.

"They shed light on human reactions to tragedy.

"Some films are made to emulate the thrill of a rollercoaster but in the comfort of a movie theatre while other films exist to put images on screen that are thought-provoking, fresh or exciting in their own right, or invoke the question of how and why they did that."

Prince is all of those things.

Mason, who is also the writer and editor, said, "It's a unique film, a challenging one, a scary one, a thrilling one.

"It's pure entertainment, and it might speak to you or not."

While gaining funding took longer than Mason expected, he has now been able to bring on Christchurch-based director of photography John Ross and Kāpiti local Cohen Holloway, who will star in the film.

"I've also roped in a very talented half-Kiwi half-American producer Mikaela Ruegg, which gives me the opportunity to work with someone who's close enough here to meet with face-to-face here in Los Angeles.

"She brings with her a deeply experienced knowledge of the New Zealand film industry from her years both on and behind the camera."

Filming will take place next July in the depths of winter while also aligning with the school holidays so filming can be done at Kāpiti College.

Mason would like to thank the following businesses and individuals for their support:

100 & 1 Garden and House Plants, Ambience Cafe, Awie Van Den Berg, Can Do Rentals, Chelsea House, Chris Packer, Chris Stone, Christian Cullen, Coastlands Shopping Centre, David Pollock, Davide Rutten, Delaney Mitsubishi, Devoir Waxing Clinic, Finman Accountants, Harbour City Funeral Home, Jennian Homes, Kāpiti Dental Centre, Kennedy and Associates Charted Accountants, Leith Consulting, Malcolm and Carol Leeming, Mike Welsh, Paperdoll, Paraparaumu Doors and Joinery, Paraparaumu Raumati Community Board, Passo, Paul De Bernardo, Paul Whittleston, Peter Jackson Plumbing, Prodrive Golf Wellington, Stones Electrical, The Stetson Group, Tommy's Kapiti, and Zebunisso Alimova.