Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

228
The Navigator did not quite fit their definition – a true co-production involves
shared financing and creative control, motivated by story elements that will
appeal to both countries’ domestic markets. But The Navigator was written,
produced and filmed entirely in New Zealand. To complete the formalities that
ensure the film is certified in Australia as well as in New Zealand – that is so the
production costs are tax-deductible in both countries - the film has to have two
producers (Gary Hannam was the New Zealand co-producer); shared cast, and
all post-production work was carried out in Australia. 747
The production, which ended up costing $4.3 million, was eventually funded by a
combination of loans from the Australian and New Zealand Film Commissions and by a
number of Australian private investors, but some changes had to be made to key
personnel. Funding can have far-reaching effects on creative aspects. David Coulson,
for example, who had been at art school with Ward, had been approached to edit the
film before the New Zealand funding had collapsed: “We had all the gear, we’d had the
initial meetings, the pre-production meetings and had a deal in place”. However, once it
became a New Zealand/Australian co-production, “the Australians exerted a lot of
frustrating control over things. Key [positions] had to come out of Australia”, and as a
result, Coulson was not approached a second time - an Australian editor was asked to
edit the film instead. 748 In the course of the project New Zealand also lost two of its
leading film producers – John Maynard and Bridget Ikin (his partner, who moved to
Australia with him). This was a major loss as Maynard and Ikin had provided the
strongest support for New Zealand directors at the ‘art’ (or auteur) end of the spectrum
– the so-called auteurs such as Ward, Campion, and Alison McLean, whose future
projects would also be offshore.
Because of Australian quota requirements, Ward was also unable to use the key actors
who had initially agreed to work on the film, with the exception of Sarah Peirse and
Chris Haywood. Eventually he decided to use a combination of experienced and
untried actors; of the latter, the most interesting was Noel Appleby who played the part
of Ulf. Ward explains that they found Appleby “working for the city council in the
Auckland sewers […]. He was seventy pounds overweight, suffered from emphysema,
747 "Joint Film's the Answer," New Zealand Business (1989): 6. Gary Hannam had already worked with
Ward and Maynard as the executive producer on Vigil and on the Maynard-Geoff Steven production,
Strata (1983).
748 Lynette Read, interview with David Coulson, 16 August 2002.