Rotorua reaches for the stars

When Hollywood came to Rotorua in 2003 it offered locals and film-makers alike a taste of the region's potential. Daily Post reporter MIKE MATHER meets the small but dedicated group devoted to attracting film-makers to the region.
It's easy to imagine while out for a mountainbike ride through the Rotorua Redwoods that you could easily happen upon a tribe of Ewoks engaged in fierce battle against Imperial stormtroopers, just as they did in Return of the Jedi.

Or how about walking down the beach in Ohope and encountering From Here to Eternity's Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr cavorting in the surf?

Or have you ever, while driving across the volcanic plateau, gazed out the window and thought you saw Harry Dean Stanton, red cap jammed on his head and big plastic water container in hand, wandering in the middle of the desert, just as he was in Paris Texas?

The Bay of Plenty and Central North Island are one gigantic potential film set, ready and waiting for the cameras to be set up and start rolling.

Getting the cameras here is the aim of Film Volcanic, an organisation based in Rotorua and charged with developing the capability of the Central North Island as the location of choice for film and television producers from New Zealand and around the world.

In the words of Destination Rotorua economic development general manager Mark Rawson, "The purpose of Film Volcanic is to facilitate and promote the Central North Island as a place for world-class screen production activity."

Note the use of the term "screen production". It's not just movies, but television series, documentaries, short films, TV commercials and more.

Of course, most people equate movies and Rotorua with the 2003 production of Without a Paddle, which was shot in eight locations near Tokoroa and Taupo.

Starring Burt Reynolds, Seth Green, Matthew Lillard and Dax Shepherd, Without a Paddle was the story of three friends who went on a canoeing trip through the woods and mountains of Washington state following the death of a mutual friend.

Canoeing down the Columbia River, the trio find their adventure going horribly wrong, as the river turns dangerous and they encounter hostile cannabis farmers, tree-hugging hippy chicks and a crazed mountain man (played by Burt Reynolds).

Of course, the Washington wilderness and the Columbia River were really the forests near Tokoroa and sections of the Waikato River. During the three-week shoot in November 2003, the stars and the production crews were based in Rotorua - the nearest major centre with enough accommodation for them all.

Kevin Rowell, the general manager of Rotorua-based company Volcanic Locations, says the Paddle project proved that going to the effort of attracting film-makers to the region was well worth it. The 22 local people employed to work on the film during the shoot and the five weeks leading up to it were just the tip of the iceberg.

"Without a Paddle deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars into the local economy and even provided one building supplier with a single $10,000 sale of rope," he says.

Another local retailer sold the production two quad bikes used in the movie, and the company paid for 200 pines to be bulldozed so a car park and access road to the set could be constructed.

"As many as 255 people were involved in the shoot, including provision of accommodation, meals, recreation, transport, etcetera. And a purpose-built tree house was constructed for the set ... Everyone on the film worked their guts out. The crews wanted to go and do things in the weekend and I was asked a lot of times 'Hey, what can you go and do for fun in this town?"'

"The belief is that everyone stays in the best rooms at the [Royal Lakeside] Novotel when these things come to Rotorua ... It's very hierarchical and a lot of people go to a wide range of hotels and motels, right down to the gofers, who get to stay in the backpackers," Mr Rawson says.

Another misconception was that for some of the gofers and lesser members of the production crew, working on Without a Paddle was like slave labour. In fact, even the lowliest hammerhands were taking home $900 a week.

Volcanic Locations project manager Christine Leaf is equally enthused about the company's challenge to get the cameras rolling on a regular basis.

"It is my role to promote and secure expertise in all areas that a film production crew require - for example, security, accommodation, catering units, location needs and so on.

"We are currently building a database that will house a great deal of knowledge and expertise. Our aim for the production crew is 'Let's blow these guys away with service' and to support local business, rather than the crew arriving in Auckland and everything being sourced from there.

"To put it simply, we aim to keep as high a percentage of the dollars as possible in the Central North Island region. Time is big money to these people and when we can help them, we will."

Ms Leaf says the industry is in a growth phase and especially with the impact the likes of Lord of the Rings has had promoting New Zealand, many local businesses stand to benefit if the initiative proves a success.

The Volcanic Locations team has been constantly working to make the Film Volcanic vision a reality. Even now, they are providing support services to a company that makes television commercials for a major car manufacturer.

One of these commercials was shot in and around the Rotorua region late last year and - although the Volcanic Locations crew are remaining mum over the identity of the client company - the advertisements will soon be screening in the United Arab Emirates and throughout North America.

"We are pretty excited about that one, because it is going to be a great little showcase for our region. They traditionally film these kind of ads in Sydney or Melbourne. They brought over a left-hand drive car specifically for the shoot."

Even more thrilling is the prospect of hosting a major Paramount Pictures movie production later this year - a project Volcanic Locations is even more tight-lipped about.

Mr Rowell is keen to emphasise that the film is anything but in the bag. In fact, with the appointment of a new Paramount chief executive last month, all yet-to-begin-production films are in hiatus and a predicted June start date for filming looks extremely unlikely.

"I can tell you the film is set in Canada ... The production is not yet signed in ink and with this new CEO everything is up in the air. It's still alive, but there's no start date and until we definitely know that it's going to be filmed here I simply can't say anything more."

Paramount Pictures is known to have several major productions in the pipeline, including a live-action movie featuring characters from the popular Transformers cartoon series of the mid-1980s, the fourth Indiana Jones movie and Mission Impossible 3.

"We get on average about two major inquiries a week," Rowell says. "A lot of the time it's like going fishing. We can put in a lot of effort and then things don't happen."

It pays to have the right bait before going on any fishing expedition and the Volcanic Locations team recently completed a DVD, narrated by Rotorua's Temuera Morrison, showcasing the variety of geography in the region. The DVD will be screened and made available to movie producers at the prestigious Los Angeles Film Expo next month.

"Some production companies think New Zealand is just this little atoll down in the South Pacific. They have no idea of what facilities or infrastructure we have.

"The only way to make it in this industry is to actually be there. And in 2006 we will be there ... It's about building relationships and making connections."

Film Volcanic was formalised earlier this month through the signing of a "participation agreement" among its regional partners. The agreement will be governed by a soon-to-be-formed management committee.

The majority of the region's economic development organisations, tourism offices and local development agencies have come together to support the initiative.

Whakatane, Kawerau, Rotorua, Tauranga, the Western Bay of Plenty, Taupo and the South Waikato are all covered by the initiative, with the possibility of others joining in the future.

Film Volcanic will also collaborate with similar bodies, including Film New Zealand and Film Auckland. The latter organisation will have a presence on the Film Volcanic board.

"About 70 percent of our business comes out of Auckland," Rowell says. "Auckland frequently reaches saturation point when it comes to filming, with crews all over the city and the facilities all in fairly high use."

"We are strategically placed by God-given geography to be able to take up a lot of the business that Auckland can't use."

Both Mr Rowell and Mr Rawson are keen to point out that both Film Volcanic and Volcanic Locations are still in their infancy. However, the future looks as bright as the brightest silver screen.

"In five years' time what I would love to see is a big film studio based right here in Rotorua - a place where these guys can come back and work on their footage after shooting all around our locations," says Rowell. "That's the dream."