Fifteen minutes to capture the Cabana

Napier's iconic Cabana music venue has a long and very colourful history - which aspiring film-maker Chris Scott is planning to depict in 15 minutes.

"Yeah, it's a pretty massive call," the Hastings-born film-making student with Auckland's South Seas Film and Television School said as he and his crew of five from his course arrived in Napier yesterday and went straight to the heart of the mission - the Cabana.

As part of his course he has to create a documentary of "15 minutes max" and has about five days of filming planned out.

When it came to earmarking a subject it wasn't difficult.

His mother is Mary-Anne Scott who is well known in Bay music circles and has played the venue many times.

Mr Scott recalled how the late Ian Morris sang at his mother's birthday party, and that too created a strong spark to get the project under way.

"It will be a tribute to him, and we will tie it in with Ian's hui ... it's been a year ... next weekend."

Mr Scott said he had heard many stories about the Cabana, and every time he was back in town he would head along there to see who was playing.

"It has such an amazing history."

He has interviews planned with Harry Lyon from Hello Sailor, who played the Cabana many times, and local bluesman Dusty Rhodes, and their memories will be interspersed with the venue's rich, and occasionally infamous, history.

"I've spent about 2 months getting it all sorted," he said, adding that he would have the next term to carry out post-production and editing.

"But I think I can get it done pretty quickly because of the subject itself," the aspiring young director said, adding it was effectively a labour of love.

Mr Scott said if the completed documentary gets the thumbs-up from the school there was a good chance it would be screened on Maori TV next year - the channel having a policy of encouraging new film-makers and local stories.

With a laugh he said it would have to be good because his biggest fan and critic would be watching closely.

"My mum."

The crew will be at the Cabana for gigs on Friday and Saturday and he urged locals to boost the audiences and create the unique Cabana flavour - as they may well end up on film.