Artists in Wonderland

Hi Northland,

 Our Whangarei based production company  "Pohutukawa Productions Limited"  would like to produce a 90 minute documentary called  "Artists in Wonderland"  This is about the artists and artisans of the Hokianga.  It would be done in a way and format that would be visually stunning and almost experimental in nature, pushing the boundaries of normal television and film making in the same way the artists of Northland New Zealand do every day, in every work they create. Hokianga is a place that has been neglected by both central and local governments and yet the people still forge ahead in the face of seemingly impossible odds. Our company is willing to produce this and distribute it to the major documentary film festivals around the world a year before the Rugby World Cup in September 2011. This exposure would generate much needed tourist numbers etc for Hokianga, but more importantly, it would generate huge interest in Northland in general. 

A brief synopsis is as follows:

We visit the wonderful eccentric, humorous, colourful, eclectic artists based in the absolutely beautiful Hokianga in the far North of the North Island of New Zealand.

 These artists live in the most beautiful places with stunning vistas and peaceful bush surroundings and more importantly they produce works that are visually and intrinsically special, created from the depths of the soul and expressed in the fantastic physical presence that is their art. Their work is truly amazing and they themselves have fantastic stories and the houses they live in are also works of art. We want to produce a 90 minute documentary that is vibrant and up beat that highlights these amazing people, their art and the spectacular part of our wonderful country that they live in. Our thoughts are these.  What if we made  an art- lifestyle doco that wasn't so 
'serious'  ( as  art docos generally tend  to be)  and one actually captured the joy of creating and the freedom feeling of living in the Hokianga's amazing environment ? Quirky, humorous, adventurous, moments of contemplation and above all inspiring ?  What if the visual content that is art + environment ( human or otherwise)  just looked  so beautiful and strong and wasn't accompanied with that drone on, type narration , again so typical of art/artist docos? Yes it is important that the artists talk about their work, but  actually its not hugely important, why not look at them as they move thru some aspect of their  daily life ? Our question is:  "Why are all art docos the same"  In the artists studio - long interview with artist droning on self importantly about why they use the colour red blah blah.
A bit of that works but actually creation of art is so much more than just that.

What if some filming happened out at Mitimiti, an extremely beautiful and dramatic west coast beach area and home to Ralph Hotere - arguably NZ's greatest living  artist. We think what's happening here in Hokianga is actually ahead of the game and this is the reason the artists there are considered to be New Zealands best. Our presenter Lise Strathdee, world renowned designer from Milan, Italy, would be chauffeured around this beautiful place in a classic yellow Morgan (see attached) in hat and scarf blowing in the wind, by a chauffeur in full uniform, as she visited these artists during the most beautiful time of the year.....the documentary would be fun and absolutely watchable. This documentary would highlight some of New Zealands most creative artists and the special part of New Zealand that is the Hokianga and would be distributed to selected documentary film festivals around the world a year before the Rugby World Cup in September 2011. All participants, both locals from the Hokianga and from Whangarei are willing to give their support in kind by way of their time and the supply of all props. Because of this support, we have been able to bring costs down to an incredibly low $30,000.00 which is absolutely unheard of for a 90 minute documentary. A normal costing for a 90 minute doco is a minimum of $120,000 to but not exceeding $150,000, so you can see this is being done with the full support of the Northland community. We are looking for this $30,000.00 to cover production costs only, of course we are not looking for the entire $30,000 from any one individual or company, any small amount that could be contributed to this would be greatly appreciated. Our thoughts are that if we could get $1,000.00 from 30 or $500.00 from 60 supportive Northland business's or people we would be there. All funds received will be held in a trust account until we have reached the $30,000.00 target and if for some reason we are unable to reach the targeted amount, all contirbutions will be returned to each contributor. All professionals, our producers, director, editing and research staff are giving their time freely and all props including the beautiful morgan vehicle are being donated by their respective owners.  It goes without saying that you would feature in the credits as they rolled, but more than this, we would be more than happy for the finished production to be used by yourselves for any reason you might like to use it, such as clips for advertising or full screenings for client nights etc.  We intend to submit the finished product to many of the documentary film festivals around the world to help promote Northland and its Artists around the Rugby World Cup. If you have any questions at all please feel free to call me on either of the numbers below, I am more than happy to talk this through with you. We look forward to working with the people and business's of Northland to produce something inherantly Northland. Kind regards Mike ParkerExecutive ProducerPohutukawa Productionswww.pohutukawaproductions.co.nzPh/Fax: 0064 9 459 4300Mob: 0064 0275 504 140