STACK NZ Dec #58

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Taika Waititi

It began life as a short film but was it always the intention to turn it into a full length feature? Yes.The short film was just to see whether the idea would even work… I think I just gave away that this is a fake documentary. Did the fact that Jemaine co-wrote and co- directed the film take some of the pressure off when it came to making the movie? Yes, we shared the responsibilities. But mainly it was good to have another person on set who didn’t know what they were doing, which was about 95 percent of the shoot for both of us.  How did you come to cast Jonathan Brugh? And do you think this will be a breakout performance for him overseas? Jonathan has been a big inspiration for both Jemaine and I, but also many other comedians in NZ. He was very influential on us when we first entered the scene in the ‘90s. I hope this is a breakout role for him, yes.   How much of the movie was improvised? About 95%. We scripted the entire thing but in the end we wanted it to feel more realistic so we got the actors to make everything up.   We imagine it must have been a lot of fun to shoot? It’s always nice to have a job where you’re working with your friends and spending most of your day laughing.   How much film did you end up shooting – and any plans for an extended version? We came away with about 130 hours of

footage which we then had to cut down to 84 minutes.That process took about 14 months. We’re including over two hours of extra footage on the DVD.   What would be your top three vampire movies of all time? The Lost Boys, Dracula – the Coppola film – and Let the Right One In . I’ll also add The Hunger because it was one of the first ones I saw as a kid. Any plans for a sequel?There has been some speculation about a werewolves movie… We are planning a couple of different spin-offTV and film projects but nothing is confirmed. We want to follow the werewolves and explore that group of monsters. And possibly follow the two cops from the film, O’Leary and Minogue.  What’s next for you; are there any other projects you can talk about at the moment? It’s impossible to know what your next project is going to be - there are many factors involved. I’m always writing so I have at least five different scripts that can be made. Next year will be very busy: Jemaine and I are writing a pilot to shoot in America and I am also trying to make two features. One is based on a Barry Crump book, the other is based on a friend’s play.   What’s the last DVD you bought? I used to spend all my money on DVDs but then once I started working regularly, I ended up being too busy to even go shopping. Nowadays I get given a lot of DVDs, especially screeners of all the Oscar and Golden Globe

Writer, director and performerTaika Waititi has been behind some of New Zealand’s best known and most successful movies. He started out as an actor, earning an NZ FilmAward nomination for his performance in Scarfies , and was also one half of the comedy duo Humourbeasts with Jemaine Clements. His first short film Two Cars, One Night (2003) earned an Oscar nomination and he made his feature length debut with Eagle vs Shark (2007).Waititi followed that with Boy (2010), which has gone on to become the most successful New Zealand film of all time. His latest film, the horror comedy What We Do InThe Shadows , finds him reunited with his old pal Clement.

In the unlikely event someone hasn’t heard of WhatWe Do InThe Shadows , tell us what it is about? It is an unflinching documentary following a group of Wellington-based vampires. Some people say it’s really funny but it’s actually quite serious. People need to know the truth about vampires. 

entries which is great because that’s how I catch up on all the latest films. I can’t remember the last title I got - I think it might be that Polish film called Ida.

What We Do In The

Shadows is out now on DVD

DECEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.co.nz

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