Filming Antique Angel

Letter #4

From lakes, to beaches, to meadows, to castles, to studios, and all the way back around, we have completed the filming of Antique Angel!

It's been a truely incredible journey and I was sad when it came to an end. I couldn't be more proud of the team for their commitment, energy and passion. It has been so much fun and extremely artistically stimulating. But beyond the magical footage we captured, the most rewarding and meaningful part of the past six months, for me, have been the memories and connections that we've all made together as a little creative family. And to do it all amongst the beauty of our home here in the Nelson Tasman makes it that much more special.

It's a very vulnerable thing to offer your heart and soul to a piece of work and I am immensely grateful to every one of the cast and crew who have so openly given theirs to this film. Thank you Macca, James, Mum, Nikki, Jean-Philippe, and Jonny. You are true spirited people of the world and I love you all.

In anything in life there are times to be serious and disciplined, to focus on getting the work done and done to the highest possible standard, but there are equally important times to be had of laughter and play, and we spent a good amount of time in this wonderful realm. We have Macca and my mother to thank for their wittiness and willingness to be absolute goofballs.

These times, however, were tested when we quite literally almost died at a beach on the West Coast when filming chapter two in July. This secret beach is only accessible for 2-3 hours per day because the only access point is 1.5km away with a humungous cliff and boulders opposite the ocean. We had done two scouting trips and calculated the sunset and tide times according to the weather and our shooting schedule. However, when we were shooting our final take of the day, I was crouched down inside a cave covered head-to-toe in red clay and Macca said to me "fucking hell mate, the tide's coming in quick." I replied "shit, it shouldn't be, we should have at least another 30 minutes". So we continued shooting for another 5 minutes, but when the take was over we all realised how fast the water was actually coming in, knowing we had 1.5km of pebbly sand to walk across with all our gear.

When we got to the boulders the water was up to our waists. It was scary. The waves were strong and crashing against us and this was the only way out. Emotions were high and panic began setting in. Some of us fell under the water from the force of the waves, at which point I decided that we should "human chain", me at the front and Macca at the back. As the tide went out we all walked forwards in unison and when the waves came back in we stopped and held tight, holding our expensive equipment about our heads!

After about 15 minutes of endurance, tears, faith and camaraderie, we made it out alive and laughing. But man it shook us up and I am so grateful that we got out with a story to tell and lessons learnt — if it's a full moon, don't trust the tide apps. Mother Nature has free will and no mercy, which is very ironic because the title of chapter two is called "Oh Mercy!".

I really can't wait for those of you who are reading this to see the film. We're currently in the post production stage - editing, visual effects, colour grading, and mixing. This will be complete by the end of February 2025 and we plan on premiering the film in March.

I would like to give enormous thanks from myself and the whole team to the amazing people who gave their kindness, time and services to help in the production of this film and to everyone who donated to our Boosted crowd-funding campaign in February. Your contribution, whatever its size, has given us the ability to create an audiovisual experience which tells a story through symbols about man’s relationship with himself, his loved ones, and with nature.

See you on the other side.

Much love,

Max