Locally-led short film a firestarter for blossoming Hawke’s Bay film industry

Director/writer Cosmo Calman (left), lead actress Maia Bassett and in the background, Yvonne Lorkin, Daniel Betty and Gilly Lawrence. All Hawke's Bay people wanting to make Opia a reality. Photo / Warren Buckland

With a proposed $40m film studio set to turn Hawke’s Bay into Hollywood, one group of creatives hope their new short film will inspire those in the region to get behind and in front of the camera.

Opia will be helmed by writer/director Cosmo Calman, with assistance from DOP Gilly Lawrence and director/actor Daniel Betty, who will be producing and mentoring.

All are based in Hawke’s Bay and the film has a clear focus on telling local stories using local talent.

“I think there’s a need out here to upskill a lot of the younger generation of filmmakers, so we can come in and are ready to take over when the old guard passes,” Calman told Hawke’s Bay Today.

“We need more opportunities for smaller things like this to kick off. It’s a little grindstone for young and hungry people to get better.”

Calman said the inspiration for Opia came from his experiences growing up around street art and hip-hop culture.

The film explores a cat and mouse relationship between two graffiti artists who foster a connection through their artistic expression.

“When I was a teenager, I grew up in Wellington and I got into a lot of street art and graffiti. That was sort of a right of passage for me, and I’ve since been on a different journey and found myself getting into filmmaking,” Calman said.

“I just like to tie these things together to show a bit of myself.”

Betty, who co-founded creative hub and production company Dream Big, said it was great to be able to foster projects that championed diverse artistic expression as well as collaboration within the Hawke’s Bay community.

“This is a really great place to show that there are different ways to tell stories. Filmmaking is one of those journeys that you can use.”

Calman started his journey with a feature-length script he wrote in April 2022, which he ‘reverse-engineered’ to come up with a smaller concept piece (Opia) in September.

He was also selected for Story Camp as part of NZ Film Commission, where he was able to workshop his creative project.

“I’ve been working on it for a while now, writing storyboards and gathering crew. It’s been about a year-long process to gather all the pieces and now they’re starting to fall into place.”

He said he’s grateful for the experience he’s had with the local film community, which he said was rich in expertise and support.

“I did a job with Gilly Lawrence on a little indie flick many years ago and I was always very grateful for that experience.”

Betty came on board roughly eight months ago. He bought with him his connections and support to help get the project off the ground.

“The way a producer works is kind of wrapping around and going ‘what do you need’.”

He has since worked to help form the fully local cast and crew.

“What we’re proud of is that the whole cast and crew are all local.”

While Calman has provided some of his own funds to help move the project forward, a boosted campaign has also been set up.

“To tell regional stories in New Zealand is hard,” Betty said.

“For us as an industry to build here in Hawke’s Bay, we really want to encourage our local community and businesses to support the telling of these stories.”

All the money being raised will go towards paying those involved in the film.

So, why get into filmmaking in Hawke’s Bay? Betty and Calman say because opportunity is rife.

“When that studio does come, we would hope there are enough local skilled operators in the bay to run that studio,” Calman said.

“The more we upskill ourselves with projects like this and support local we’ll likely have the experience required to hold it down.