Kāpiti director Mason Cade Packer premieres biggest film to date

Kiwi filmmaker Mason Cade Packer's latest film, a thriller called Safe/Sound, premiered this week.

As a student Mason Cade Packer used to make short films with his friends at Kāpiti College – and now he’s come full circle, with his biggest film to date being set at the school.

Mason, who is now a Los Angeles-based director, returned home to Kāpiti to produce his newest film, a thriller called Safe/Sound which centres around an escaped convict capable of silently breaking into teenager’s homes in the night, in search of a girl that will bring closure to his terrifying hunt.

The film, which Packer produced with his business partner Micah Winiata, premiered on Monday night at Te Raukura ki Kāpiti in Raumati Beach and about 300 people showed up to see it - many of whom were directly involved in sponsoring, donating or producing the film.

In fact, there had been a huge community drive behind the creation of Safe/Sound - with the film having a $100,000 budget and half of that being donated by people in the community.

Micah Winiata (left), Mason Cade Packer and Madeleine Adams.

Packer said raising that money was one of the biggest challenges of creating the film.

“It’s really hard to ask people for money. And to get people who don’t typically watch a lot of movies, let alone even know anything about making them, in a small town ... and say, ‘I’ve got this stupid idea I want to do and can you give me $1000 to do it’.”

But while asking for the money initially was challenging, Packer said it was fulfilling to see the people who donated watch the film.

“It was so cool and full circle to see those people come out tonight and enjoy something they otherwise probably wouldn’t.”

Shooting the film was another challenge, with the shooting taking place last winter and spanning a “gruelling” 14 days.

Winiata, who was a producer of the film, said one of the highlights for him was that the cast all stayed in the same house over those 14 days – and that it really fostered a community feeling.

“It was a continuous, stressful sleepover,” Packer added.

Mason Cade Packer.

Lead actress Madeleine Adams, who met Packer at an extra-curricular drama academy about 13 years ago, said being part of the film was a pretty cool experience.

“I’ve worked with these guys a couple of times before, and it was cool to see the progress and how everyone’s matured in their careers.”

Packer said he had plans to do one more film in Kāpiti at some point – and was in the process of writing a “full-blown horror” feature film to produce in the district.

“We want to see if we can get a couple million to do something that’s going to launch all of our careers.”

He said they had “such a good experience shooting here” so “there’s no reason not to come back”.