Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

Funding
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Once the research and initial preparations were completed, Ward and Maynard sought
to finalise funding. After the critical success of Vigil, they were confident that their
next project would receive the support they needed to allow The Navigator to be made
in July 1986, three years after Vigil had been shot. The New Zealand Film Commission
had made a commitment to funding the production for over $1 million, the largest
amount given to a single New Zealand film to date, and, according to Geoff Chapple:
That it [the project] won such support was no accident. Ian Mune, in the role of
script assessor for the commission called it ‘the best-built screenplay I have read
in years’. On the strength of the script and the reputation of its director, The
Navigator was also the first New Zealand film to win distribution agreements in
all the major film territories – the USA, UK, Germany, France, Scandinavia and
Australia – before the film was even glimpsed. And producer Maynard rang up
record pre-sale deals of $1.8 million overseas, money which was to be put into
the film’s budget. 743
The cast designated to play the leading roles in the film – Bernard Hill, a British actor
who had played a leading role in Boys from the Black Stuff, Chris Haywood, who had
won a best actor award in Australia, and experienced New Zealand actors Sarah Peirse
and Bill Johnson – gave the proposed film additional credibility for investors.
At first things seemed to go well, but in June, well into pre-production for the film, the
budget still had a shortfall of one third, which Maynard and Ward had hoped to raise
from New Zealand investors. As Ward puts it (in terms curiously reminiscent of the
film itself):
Filmmaking is both an act of faith and a gigantic gamble – a punt taken by
financiers, crew, cast and not least by the producer. For a year and a half, John
had patiently raised the money, but one component of the financial package,
dependent on the New Zealand portion, was always missing. He had been
743 Geoff Chapple, "How It Feels When the Light Goes Out," New Zealand Times 15 June 1986: 5.