Actors not there for the beer as movie scenes shot at CHB pub

Central Hawke's Bay director David White, left, talks with actors Jason Hoyte, Robyn Malcolm, Juliette Hamilton and Jonny Brough during shooting in Patangata Hotel, Waipawa. Photo/Warran Buckland

The Patangata Tavern won't be the only sight familiar to Central Hawke's Bay moviegoers when a feature film shot in and around the district hits the big screen.

The rural pub in CHB was one of about 80 locations used by Takapau director David White for his film, This Town, which he shot over a period of about four weeks in two blocks during January and February.

Not only the film's writer, producer and director, White also plays the lead role.

He is now editing the film, a comedy which pits his character, Sean, accused and acquitted of a crime, against an ex-cop turned petting zoo and adventure park owner, who is trying to prove his guilt.

White said a few scenes in the film took place at the tavern, centred on the character of ex-cop Pam, played by Robyn Malcolm from Outrageous Fortune, as she tries to build a case against Sean.

"They are pretty comedic scenes because we have both Jonny [Brough, from Hunt for the Wilderpeople] and Jason [Hoyte, actor and Radio Hauraki presenter] crashing them, talking about farming and fishing.

"So they sort of overtake the whole thing in a wonderful way," White said.

Though it was a small-budget film, White said Malcolm and the other well-known actors were attracted to the project because of the script.

"For Robyn, she very much liked the script and the world I had written, and it was a character she hadn't really played before.

"She doesn't look like anything else she has been in. For some others, like Jonny and Jason, it was actually only a couple of days [of shooting] so it was a much easier commitment. But, generally, for everyone it was a fun project to be involved in."

Photos from the set reveal Malcolm is almost unrecognisable in her role. But one face that will stand out for locals is that of Juliette Hamilton, an English teacher at Te Aute College, who scored a part after attending one of the open auditions for the film.

"Juliette was amazing and held her own against Robyn, which is no small feat," said White, who held a few open casting calls before shooting.

He predicted a few other untrained actors who ended up in scenes would "steal the show", including some local police who were cast in a scene at the fictitious adventure park.

"I cast them with an actor from Auckland who is a comic genius and they all held their own and did a bunch of stunts, and were generally very, very funny," White said.

Locals would also recognise shots of Waipukurau's main street and the town's former hill-top tuberculosis hospital at Pukeora Estate, which White said had been transformed back into a hospital for the film

"And, of course, the beautiful landscapes of Central Hawke's Bay feature quite heavily. It really was a treat to shoot in Hawke's Bay, apart from it being incredibly wet.

"I don't remember a February being so wet. One day we had fog so thick we had to re-shoot some scenes."

The weather, combined with multiple locations and 40 speaking parts in a film being made a long way from a major centre, all made for a challenging shoot, said White.

"However the crew were quite amazing and rallied around and enjoyed the hospitality and genuine excitement for making a film in Hawke's Bay."

White said he had captured about 50 hours of footage, which was "on the leaner side" for a feature film but he was happy with what he had in the can.

"We got some amazing things. But like any film there will be 'pick-ups', which is where we come back and get shots that we didn't know we needed at the time."

He would spend the next three to four months in an editing suite before moving on to sound design and mixing.

"I expect to deliver the film to our distributor in the second half of this year," White said.