REALITi is a mirco-budget Kiwi sci-fi that’s all about thought-provoking high-concept story-telling. It’s currently doing the rounds at the New Zealand International Film Festival, and director Jonathan King (Black Sheep, Under the Mountain) and screenwriter Chad Taylor answered a few questions to give us an idea of their ambitious film.
Hello from Flicks. What have you been up to today?
CHAD TAYLOR: Getting stuff together to attend the premiere in Wellington.
JONATHAN KING: Getting a haircut for above mentioned premiere.
What sparked the concept behind ‘REALITi’?
TAYLOR: The spark came on to me when I was in Los Angeles in 2004. Every day the news ran footage of the war in Iraq. When I came back home the NZ channels were running the same footage, over and over. It was surreal. There was a war and support for a war, but nothing about it seemed real or considered. Later that year I wrote a short film for 48 Hours called The Alibi Girl, about two women trafficking a very strange drug. When I sat down to write REALITi those two separate ideas came together.
How much – or really, how little – should you know about the film before seeing it?
TAYLOR: I’ve already said too much. All you really need to know is that it does all add up. You might need to watch it more than once. There are two possible versions of what happened.
KING: Wait, what? Just two?
I read that ‘REALITi’ was shot on a micro-budget – were you always intending to achieve your vision through modest funding?
TAYLOR: I wrote it with a late-period-John-Carpenter level budget in mind, but in the end we didn’t even have that much. I would have love to have made it with real money but on the other hand with that comes a whole lot of people telling you what to do, which usually ruins it. It does for me, anyway. Not a joiner.
KING: I honestly believe that the million dollar version would look no different… and play worse.
I also read that the film was shot “around Wellington over 2013, often with permission.” Were some parts filmed without permission?
TAYLOR: People were incredibly generous to us in granting permission to film.
KING: And what the rest don’t know, won’t hurt them.
Could you share with us your most memorable moment during production?
TAYLOR: Michelle Langstone has the best story. You should ask her.
KING: Sending the lead actor up a street lamp (in costume) to fix gel to the light.
Seen any other good New Zealand films recently?
TAYLOR: I’m interested to see The Dark Horse.
KING: Doug Dillaman’s Jake, The Dark Horse, What We Do in the Shadows.
Who would be the best, and worst, people to bring along to your film?
TAYLOR: I honestly think it has general appeal. It’s a drama that builds: a sci-fi noir.
KING: The worst people would be those that need their sci-fi to have space ships or their arthouse to have dying children.
What are you thinking about doing next?
TAYLOR: Finishing a novel.
KING: Finishing a comic.
