The core team behind the ReUnion short film project, from back left: Lleyton Taylor (editor), Graeme Tidswell (director of photography), Kurt Biesiek (writer and director), Franzi Maciej (lead actress), Toni Marie Smith (producer and lead actress) and Tim Hencz (associate producer and composer).
The core team behind the ReUnion short film project, from back left: Lleyton Taylor (editor), Graeme Tidswell (director of photography), Kurt Biesiek (writer and director), Franzi Maciej (lead actress), Toni Marie Smith (producer and lead actress) and Tim Hencz (associate producer and composer).
The script is finished for a proposed short film, but the crew needs the community’s help to get the camera rolling.
Taranaki movie company Plywood League has finalised the script for its new short film ReUnion. Director Kurt Biesiek said sponsors were being sought to make the film a reality.
“I spent two years working on the script, starting with an initial copy and then working on four more drafts before I had the finished product. It’s now ready to be filmed. For that to happen, we’ll need some help.”
On June 9, Plywood League launched its pitch through Boosted, a national arts crowdfunding campaign.
Biesiek said there’s a deadline of a month to reach the $12,000 goal.
“These funds will be used to pay our talented cast and crew, venue hire, food for cast and crew, and equipment costs. The good thing about Boosted is that it’s risk-free for donors. If we don’t reach our goal, the money is refunded to the donors so it’s no risk.
“The thing about crowdfunding is that many people make small donations. Even if people can’t donate, it would still help us if they helped get the word out to potential sponsors.”
The film tells the story of two friends who meet again after 15 years. He said it showed how dynamics could simultaneously change and stay the same.
“The theme ofReUnion is dialled up to an 11 with a whole set of rules in the work making it most unusual. I wrote this piece to offer questions that the audience can answer themselves as a way to see what they think of the world.”
Toni Marie Smith and Franzi Maciej have been cast as the leads, the final piece of the puzzle, Biesiek said.
“They are absolutely perfect for the roles.”
Smith said the company’s name, Plywood League, had two meanings.
“We’ve merged New Plymouth and Hollywood to create Plywood. If it’s taken the other way, as in the piece of wood, it works too. We’re a grassroots company working from the ground up with what we can to create something special.”
Franzi Maciej and Toni Marie Smith in a snapshot from ReUnion's Boosted crowdfunding campaign.
She said part of her passion for the project was creating opportunities for Taranaki’s creatives.
“This project is special and we want to do a good job, making something of quality, to create a stepping stone for what we can do in the future.”
Maciej said: “While Toni has been there almost from the start, I joined the project several months ago. I have worked with her before in Improv Salad so I knew we had the dynamic.
“It’s funny actually, we were talking about a few things and then Toni showed me the script. It just felt like the perfect fit and feels very right.”
Biesiek said if they secured the funding, they hoped to film in July and then edit the clips to have the short film ready to premiere at the end of the year.
