Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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to support this interpretation – at one stage, she was admitted to hospital. Because of
her illness, the fate of the film now centres round an insurance claim.
It is clear, however, that Morton’s absence has been only one of the production
problems. It is also rumoured within the industry that there has been a rebellion among
crew members over the unsatisfactory conditions of the shoot, situated in the midst of
winter in very difficult locations. Among producers, it is assumed that these problems
have arisen partly because of a shortfall in the budget. According to this interpretation,
the final investment had not been confirmed, but the project had been in preparation for
so long that a decision was made to begin filming regardless. Such last minute financial
crises are a common feature of the film business since investors vacillate and sometimes
engage in games of brinkmanship over contracts. Producers often have to make hairraising
decisions about whether to proceed or not. The history of the industry is full of
stories about productions which took risks but managed to succeed, but also contains
stories of disasters where crew members and directors found themselves out of work
after a few weeks of filming. In this case, the project appears to have run into problems
because financially there was no slack in the budget, no room for contingencies. It is
one of the problems of the New Zealand situation that budgets are necessarily so tight
that there is almost no possibility of going over budget, even if there is a genuine need
to do so. (In contrast, What Dreams May Come did run over budget and the studio was
persuaded to increase its investment,)
The New Zealand Herald (the country’s largest newspaper) offered this overview of
what had happened:
Since Morton became ill about three weeks ago, rumours have been rife that all
was not well on the set of the movie […]. Media interest in the movie was
heightened when a group calling themselves the United Chiefs of Aotearoa
posted a public notice in a local newspaper warning of a looming disaster. The
Dominion Post newspaper reported a source describing filming as miserable,
and saying Morton had rarely turned up. One News said crew had dubbed her
the ‘drama queen’, and she supposedly kept them waiting for hours. [Producer
Don] Reynolds said Morton was committed to the film. He put any tension on
the set down to the fact that Morton was a method actor, which some of the crew
had not encountered before. Mr Reynolds said there was no issue with funds.