That Guy: The 48-hour film festival that lasts for months

Ant Timpson. Photo / Amos Chapple

Opinion

Here is a conversation recorded between Ant Timpson, producer of the infamous 48-hour film festival, and myself.

Ant: Hi Leigh how is it? By the way, great shoes, man. Hey, will you be doing the V48HOURS: Furious Filmmaking festival this year?

Leigh: Thanks Ant. I bought them from the shoe emporium . Look, Ant, my life is pretty busy at the moment and to be quite honest it is literally one big 48-hour film festival that goes on for months rather than just hours.

Ant: So what are you working on at the moment?

Leigh: Great question, Ant, and I am glad you asked it. Sure, we have been doing a lot of filming. It is kind of a day-to-day, minute-by-minute Truman-Show-like documentation of my life.

Ant: Wow, sounds amazing! What broadcaster is behind that?

Leigh: Well, none really, it's an IRD-funded project. They seem to think it would be a good idea to have a cameraman spend the entire day with me for a few months in order to clarify some grey areas in my most recent tax returns. This cameraman, called Shane, will film everything I do, be it attending corporate events as an MC, filming corporate content for companies, pitching new TV shows to networks, watching TV, and even elements of my sex life - if they have expenses related to them.

Ant: Hi Shane, how are you?

Shane: Good thanks, just pretend I'm not here.

Ant (to Leigh): What is Shane's background as a cameraman?

Leigh: He used to be a bus-lane cameraman. He has also done some speed-camera stuff. He has been instructed not to interact with me whatsoever, much like a wildlife cameraman. He simply has to be a fly on the wall throughout my daily life, no matter how mundane or ridiculous (or both) it might be.

Ant: So how is it going?

Leigh: Well this past week he has filmed me MCing a fishing tournament in the Far North and a corporate golf event. He filmed me filming a tour of one of New Zealand's biggest breweries, witnessed me hastily putting together a video for a computer software company, and a family fiasco when my son refused to wear the sandals I made for him.

The fishing tournament obviously went off without a hitch, but he is not allowed to turn off his camera until I call it a night. Unfortunately for him, and I suppose for me, that was around 6.30am after quite a heavy night at the Marlin Hotel. What was probably quite apparent after analysing the footage was the fact that all the expenses were fairly legitimate.

Over the next week or so, he will have to record yet another heinous band practice as my old band rehearses in vain for the Beach Hop rock'n roll show in Whangamata. He will also have to record the actual gig as well, but thanks to Shane filming this event for the IRD, we may be able to release this gig on DVD and Blu-ray, whatever that is.

The following week, he will film me filming the Ad awards and then board a plane with me to travel to Shanghai to MC a charity event for Christchurch earthquake relief. It is on this trip that I hope to break him.

Ant: Hmmm. Do they have those shoes in any colour other than mustard?