A Cold Beer wins filmschools contest

The South Seas short film A Cold Beer has won the 2008 Kodak New Zealand Filmschools Competition.

The film, co-directed by 2007 South Seas Film & Television School graduates David Coyle and Reuben King, is based on the true story of a Kiwi soldier who orders a beer at his local pub before leaving to serve overseas in WWII. He asks the barman to hold onto his unopened bottle of beer until he returns from the front. But he never returns - his young life cut tragically short. In his memory, the bottle of beer remains unopened behind the bar."It is a moving and very poignant film, made by some of our best graduates from 2007," says Adam Fresco, Course Director at South Seas Film & Television School. "The young film-makers have taken a true story and developed it into a film that speaks to the younger generation and helps them to remember the sacrifices of the past."

Filmed over three days at Easter, the 12-minute film was praised by the judges for its accomplished lighting and excellent cinematography.

"Director of Photography Reece Baker has achieved outstanding results in a very short time period," says Adam Fresco. "We are really delighted with the results and it has been marvellous to win, especially given this is the first time South Seas has entered the competition."

Writers and directors David Coyle (aged 19) and Reuben King (21) produced a professional-standard script, attracting a high calibre cast, including professional actors Bruce Allpress, John Clarke and Serena Cotton.

The film will now go on to compete with winning entries from other countries in the Asia/Pacific round of the Kodak Filmschools Competition. The winner of the Asia Pacific round will fly to the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival in France - the world's biggest short film market.

"This is an excellent start to the careers of these young film makers," says Adam Fresco. "They have competed in a tough field with entries from all over the country and excelled themselves as a shining example of New Zealand film-making talent."

Full cast & crew list:

CAST
Bruce Allpress
Toby Sharpe
Todd Mohi
Mark Harrison
Serena Cotton
John Clarke
Angela Vaughan

With Midge Perez, Chris Loader, Darryl Kirman, Gary Dunn, Minel Tcaciuc, Angus Brown, Dugg Culhane, Jason Bainbridge, Joshua Tuaiti, Julie Fisher, Michael Kingston, Zane Eramiha

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Gerben Cath, Adam Fresco, Darryn Inder

DIRECTORS / SCREENPLAY
David Coyle & Reuben King

PRODUCERS
Julie Fisher & Midge Perez

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Reece Baker

CAMERA OPERATOR
Sjaak te Brake

FOCUS PULLER
Matt Harte

LOADER
David Steel

VIDEO SPLIT
Marie Hooper

GRIPS
Lance Daley, Tom Sorrell

SOUND RECORDIST
Jeremy Lawry

SOUND ASSIST
Mark Cowell

LIGHTING GAFFER
James Whangapirita

LIGHTING ASSISTANTS
Lance Daley, Zohra Trinder

1st Assistant Director
Jeila Tahana-Reese

CONTINUITY
Alana Cotton

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Natalie Frigault

PRODUCTION RUNNERS
Kereama Wright, Alexander Glucina, Paora Ratahi

LOCATION SCOUTS
Johnny Leung, Mariya Nakova

ART DIRECTOR
Enni Tuomisalo

PROPS MANAGER
George McClelland

WARDROBE
Yasmin Du Pont

ART ASSISTANTS
Bronwen Parry, Crystel Tottenham, Hazel Williams

UNIT SUPERVISORS
Benjamin Carter, Lani Walker, Matt Fill-Wilson, Paora Ratahi

EDITOR
Todd Mohi

POST SOUND
Tim Ellis

POST ASSISTANT
Santo Giuliano

ORIGINAL MUSIC COMPOSED BY
Todd Mohi

Photo: On location shooting "A Cold Beer" March 2008

The film will soon be available on South Seas' Youtube channel: http://nz.youtube.com/user/southseasfilmschool

24/09/08