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 New Zealand independent feature film The Ferryman began principal photography in Auckland, on 31 March and is well on track to wrap on Saturday 13 May. This official NZ/UK co-production is produced by key producing partners Matthew Metcalfe (Nemesis Game) and Atlantic Film’s Alan Harris (Wallis & Edward). It was developed initially by New Zealand producer Matthew Metcalfe and the period from concept to production was just 14 months.
Chris Graham (Sione’s Wedding) directs and the film is written by Nick Ward (Stickmen). “I am hugely excited by this unique and exciting screenplay that has a refreshing approach to classic horror, and also by the stellar cast that we have found to bring this film to life. And after Sione’s Wedding I am even more eager to embrace the challenges of a completely opposite genre” Chris Graham said.
This independent New Zealand horror has attracted both a strong local and an international award-winning cast including Emmy-Nominated John Rhys Davies (The Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones); Kerry Fox (An Angel At My Table, Shallow Grave) winner of the Silver Bear at Berlin in 2001 for her Leading role in Intimacy; Tamer Hassan (The Business, Football Factory); Craig Hall (The World’s Fastest Indian, King Kong, Perfect Creature); Julian Arahanga (Once Were Warriors, The Matrix); Lawrence Makoare (The Lord of the Rings, Die Another Day), Amber Sainsbury (Channelling Baby).
EVIL THAT DEMANDS VENGEANCE
The Ferryman is the story of a group of twenty-somethings who charter a boat an head out into the South Pacific for the trip of a lifetime, before stumbling upon an evil that demands vengeance at any cost. New Zealand producer Metcalfe explains, “The Ferryman is a return to the classic horrors of the late seventies and early eighties, such as The Shining and The Thing and Dead Calm. A genre containing classic characters that we love and hate, an evil that will strike both the good and the bad, with those classic one-liners that come just before someone is dispatched to the afterlife.”
British producer Alan Harris adds, “As soon as I read the screenplay, I knew this was something that the market would support in the UK. We put the whole Atlantic Film team behind the project. We are excited by Chris’s vision and the unique take on the genre that the film provides.”
The Ferryman is being financed by the New Zealand Film Production Fund, the New Zealand Film Commission, UK based Prescience Film Finance and the UK’s Lip Sync Productions.
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