Make My Movie is a New Zealand competition to make a feature film, where the deadlines are tight and the budget is low. Dean Hewison and Richard Falkner from Traces of Nut have survived the initial cull from 757 entries to the final 12, with their stalking rom-com ‘How to Meet Girls From a Distance‘.

Make My Movie is a New Zealand competition to make a feature film, where the deadlines are tight and the budget is low. Dean Hewison and Richard Falkner from Traces of Nut have survived the initial cull from 757 entries to the final 12, with their stalking rom-com ‘How to Meet Girls From a Distance‘.

Vanessa Patea from The Learning Connection talked to them about the competition.

What is ‘Make my Movie’ competition?

Make My Movie competition is a competition created by the same team that run the NZ 48HOURS Furious Film contest… but this time the prize is $100,000 to make a full length feature! The criteria to enter was really simple – just come up with a concept, make a wee blurb, and illustrate the idea with a movie poster. That was it! hence the 757 entries… From there, the judging panel have whittled it down to just 12 (We made the cut! That’s the top 1.5%), and from there to 2; but eventually… there can be only one.

What attracted you to enter the make my movie competition?

Because we really want to make movies! We have a 48HOURS team that works well together, can tell a decent story, and make it look good. And low budget suits us down to the ground. From green light to premiere the winner will only have two and a half months to prep, shoot, edit, score and grade their film, so it would be a colossal challenge just to get it done in time. BUT at the end of that period, you would find yourselves the proud parents of a bouncing baby film.

Tell us about your film pitch selected for the finalist list

Our finalist film is called ‘How to Meet Girls From a Distance’. It’s a romantic comedy, but with a bit of a kink… the main character, a well-meaning chap called Toby, has had traumatic experiences introducing himself to girls, and as such has had to develop his own alternative to getting to know prospective girlfriends. The catch is, these girlfriends have no idea Toby exists, as he is getting to know them from afar. Toby has discovered that he has a much higher success rate of landing himself a date if he knows as much about a woman as he possibly can. Society calls it stalking, he calls it research. Toby has notes on several girls with whom he’s in various stages of courtship (whether they know it or not). While at a wedding, Toby spots the girl of his dreams. He’s instantly taken with her, and knows that this is the girl that all his skills have been building towards. Can he learn what he needs to woo her? And if he does, what does he have to learn to actually keep her? You can see the poster and vote for our film at www.stalking.co.nz

The film is a Rom Com, but it’s also about stalking, will it be a little creepy?

It will be hilariously creepy! But with a lot of heart. Toby is a genuine guy, who is looking for love, not just a quick shag. He doesn’t see himself as crossing the line, especially since for him, the end justifies the means – if you’re lucky enough to find love, who cares how you looked for it? But Toby will learn that not everybody thinks he’s as harmless as he thinks he is. The last thing we want to do is make a movie that glamorises stalking – we do, however, want to explore the different moral shades of grey, and do it in a way that makes the audience laugh.

Do you think you can make a film for 100,000 dollars?

Definitely. In fact Dean did one for $5000 once. By the laws of mathematics, this film would be exactly 20 times easier than that one.

What can you imagine going wrong?

Obviously on a budget this tight, you have to keep everything very simple. It would be easy to think ‘We have $100,000, let’s spend that little bit extra on lights, or hire a fancy camera.’ But when you discover you have to reshoot it, you have to spend that extra again. The costs will add up fast, and it is going to have to be as quick a shoot as we can get away with, to keep our daily rates down. If you don’t go hell for leather from the first day, you probably aren’t going to make it to the finish line. On that note, the whole cast and crew are going to be under an enormous amount of pressure, so the winning team will have to be careful not to have explosions on set, and work extremely conscientiously with one another… One walk-out and you could be stuffed!

How do you come up with a killer script?

Start with a killer idea! Dean and I have been meeting regularly and brainstorming ideas for years, and you get to know the scent of a winner. One golden rule is to never underestimate your audience. They get it! If you think something is sitting slightly wrong, or someone is doing something that seems out character, change it. Ultimately, don’t compromise on the road to having a good time!

What are your day jobs?

By day I work at the New Zealand Film Archive, conserving old kiwi films. It rules! I get to handle and edit all sorts of old stuff, from 1920s home movies to the early Film Commission films, and everything in between. Also I freelance sound/music production, and I act too. Dean is an asset coordinator at Weta Digital, as well as a playwright.

So how long have you two been an item?

Dean sought (stalked?) me out for a play he directed at BATS in 2007 called Brain Power. Since then we’ve been doing all sorts of projects together. Oh, you mean like that… We actually both have lady friends, so obviously are trying to keep that sort of info on the downlow.

If you like the sound of this feature film and would like it to be made: vote for it here.