This is Not a Love Story

Loose Unit Productions

Bruce de Grut

Techlink would like to thank Keith Hill and Bruce de Grut for their contributions to this case study.

Awaiting printing on 35mm film for screening in cinemas, the film has had positive responses at its many screenings via video projector, and Keith has shot new material and edited the film a number of times in response to market feedback and professional evaluation.

Loose Unit was set up to produce this film project which began as an idea for a comedy-drama inspired by Keith's own experience. As a film artist he was only too aware of the tension between the desire to be creative and paying for living expenses. So he imagined a would-be artist, a writer, and a narrative dictated by a tiny budget (Conceptual statement).

The concept was tailored to a 3-week shoot, with a low budget ($50,000), contained locations and only a few characters. Keith, as director, developed the script over 7 months in a unique working process with actors Sarah Smuts-Kennedy and Stephen Lovatt. Other actors assisted by improvising dialogue during the work-shopping of scenes Keith had devised. The work-shopping was video-taped and Keith would write the parts he liked into script which was in turn work-shopped and developed.

Development

Quality Control

The Commission was not forthcoming with funds to enable the film's blow-up to 35mm so Keith took the video of his film to film markets in Los Angeles and Cannes. He found that films there already had distributors who were looking for award winners to boost the reception of their product. Many had name actors in them too. And the films were all 35mm. Undeterred, Keith visited some art house cinemas and asked himself what it would take for audiences to want to see his movie.

Adding Value

Keith returned to New Zealand and shot extra scenes with the male lead to add more production value to the opening of the film. This enlarged the scope of the film in its early stages by introducing both the main characters and suggesting what might develop between them. The new opening made the film more resonant with possibilities.

Keith also secured another grant from Waikato Institute of Technology to enable work with a composer, Steve Garden, who had been adding a score over two years – and losing portions of what he had composed as scenes were eliminated in the editing. By March of 2002 the film was a finished product (apart from the blow-up to 35mm) and entered in the Dances with Films Festival in Los Angeles where it beat 1200 entries to make a shortlist of 12. It also won the script award and made Variety magazine which encouraged investors to support the cost of finishing the film.

Keith is still trying to raise the funding to enable this project to be screened. Films are often subject to re-writing and re-editing, re-shooting and test screenings. As products whose final success depends on audience interest they are not always right first time. Art films are subject to limited distribution opportunities and need to be sold through other avenues than mainstream cinema to make money. They also need to win awards to give them a selling point.

Support for the project came from The Waikato Institute of Technology, Atlab Laboratory, Kodak, Panavision, Metrofilm and Images Post. The film was edited on Avid in the Media Arts Department of the Waikato Institute of Technology. Art works, furnishings and art-craft items came from Katalog, Zambesi, Anna Bibby Gallery, Hogland Art Glass. In addition, Viky Garden lent her distinctive and impressive paintings to the film.