LEAD STORY: Bible film brings 600 jobs to Bay

LAWRENCE GULLERY
Jesus will be making an appearance in Hawke's Bay - at least for the movie cameras - and you could be among more than 600 people needed to help retell his life story.
Hastings' Maraetotara Valley will be one of three New Zealand sites where Kiwi director Dean Wright will bring his film crew early next year to begin work on the movie, Kingdom Come.
A Wellington film production company will begin preliminary set construction on the Bible-themed movie in January and filming would start from mid-June, running for five weeks.
The preliminary set-up would involve 70 to 100 film personnel which could increase to opportunities for possibly 300 more aspiring local actors as extras on the movie set.
There would also be another 250 to 300 technical film crew and in total the production was estimated to bring between $5 million to $7 million worth of economic benefits to the region.
The Hastings District Council will spend $50,000 to employ a film-liaison officer for six months to look after the movie crew's stay in the region.
In July this year the council decided to become ``film friendly' but in August had turned down a proposal from Cloud South Films in Hastings to create a regional film office.
One of those involved in Cloud South Films, Gilly Lawrence, had said in August he believed Hawke's Bay was missing out on a slice of the $2.5 billion generated by screen productions around New Zealand each year.
The council's economic development manager, John van Bohemen, said he understood the proposal for a regional film office didn't ``get the traction it was looking for'.
The film liaison job was more ``specific' and just over the duration of the production in Hawke's Bay whereas a regional film office would be more ``permanent', he said.
``It (film liaison co-ordinator) is being advertised publicly and anyone can apply,' Mr van Bohemen said.
He said there was ``significant interest' already in the new job from people with a mix of talent and experience but most were from Hawke's Bay.
Hawke's Bay's rural landscape had lured the movie makers to the region but Mr van Bohemen said he could not say how Maraetotara Valley would be used to depict the story of Christ in the film.
Those looking for ``urban landscapes' intended to head to the bigger cities for their film productions.
Mr van Bohemen said there would be a review at the end of the film crew's time in the Bay and the council hoped other movie makers would show interest in the region. He said the film would bring economic benefits at a time of the year when the business sector was traditionally less active.
Other regions where Kingdom Come will be filmed included Central Otago, Nelson and Wellington.