On The Up: Success in 48Hours competition driving Whangārei film industry

Team Northland pulled together to create an award-winning short film in just 48 hours, which is now up for national awards in the 48Hours competition.

A team of 10 Whangārei film-makers hope their success at this year’s 48Hours film festival will help grow a thriving Northland film industry.

The Vista Foundation 48Hours calls itself New Zealand’s largest guerrilla film-making competition, where teams have just 48 hours to write, film and cut a short film of a given genre.

More than 10,000 short films have been made in the 48Hours competition’s 22-year history, with 542 teams providing fierce competition this year.

Team Northland, led by Maungakaramea professional Giles McNeill, entered their film Family Christmas Monopoly in the Across Aotearoa region - a division for all areas outside of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

The film won two awards for its division: best script for the writing by McNeill and Michael Botur, and best performance for the acting by Esmée Myers, Robbie van Gruenen and Noah Hewlett-Coffey.

McNeill was also a finalist for best director.

The film is now in the running for best script and best performance in the Grand National Final, in Wellington’s Embassy Theatre on Saturday night, supported by sponsors such as Sir Peter Jackson.

McNeill, who achieved national success in the 48Hour festival in 2012 and 2014 when he lived in Wellington, said the competition is a quick and compelling way to make films.

“It’s turning film-making into a sport, I guess, and that makes it fun.”

The competition is also a great way to bring together film-making talent, without it having to take up too much time, he said.

McNeill is keen to help foster film-making in Northland and was very pleased with the talent on offer, including director of photography Diego Cortinas and crew members Tobias Grove, David Peterson, Grayson Sutherland, Heather Easterbrook and William Shaw.

“Pretty last minute, we managed to find some amazingly talented local film-makers right here in the Whangārei area, which was really encouraging.”

Since moving back to his home region of Northland, McNeill has worked on the likes of the award-winning film Bellbird, shot in Maungakaramea in 2018.

Next year, he will film a Northland horror story written by Botur, a Whangārei-based writer who has produced several horror novels.

Family Christmas Monopoly, a heart-warming five-minute film about three siblings whose father recently died, is available to view on YouTube.

Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.