'On The Fly'- A short film about fast film making and creativity

SYNOPSIS

“A motley group of NZ creatives resurrect their Covid cancelled play and resolve to film it in a sliver of time between two national lockdowns.

It becomes clear that their grimly determined efforts to carry out the endeavour at high speed is as fraught with crisis as the play they are trying to capture.

These two realities form a counterpoint to each other when cameras once pointing at the stage pop outwards to capture the white-knuckle world of filming 'On The Fly'. Everyone involved now becomes a character in the drama.

OUR JOURNEY

Thusitha Jayasundera arrived in Aotearoa after being cast in an upcoming series filmed here. She befriended local cast member Maxine Cunliffe.

Their chats over a series of night-shoots inspired Thusitha to revisit the dramatic works of Anton Chekhov which she had performed as a student. She found herself craving a collaboration with some of the amazing Kiwi artists that she had got to know before returning to the UK.

She wrote her own adaptation of ‘ The bear’, a one-act farce by Chekhov. The play was cast, with Maxine and veteran Kiwi actors Stephen Papps and Yvette Parsons in the lead roles.. The production was conceived as an installation piece- to capitalise on the space, by Kiwi artist and designer, Erika Schaab-Farrant.

When Delta ended the play's season, Thusitha decided to render the play into a screenplay so that all their work thus far would not be in vain. The screenplay began straightforwardly enough but the atmosphere of pervading uncertainty remained. In response, Thusitha decided to document events experienced by the company and weave it into the script which began to unfold like a piece of live journalism, changing almost daily until the day before the shoot!

The entire project was only made possible because owners, Verity and Lisa offered their premises, Garnet Station Tiny Theatre, free of charge, to be turned into a film studio for 4 days.

An extended team of local professionals, who believed in the script’s potential, joined forces to get cameras rolling. With determination and volunteer zeal, this improbable film was created. It is a testament to creative solidarity and our intrinsic need for collaboration which the pandemic has often disallowed.

Independent filmmaking is financially challenging and this is no exception.

While the actors and production staff are volunteers, support is much needed to complete the post production of the film.

Any help received would be deeply and sincerely appreciated.