Plan B

This was an awesome but brutal shoot. A long day, wearing many different hats, and working with kids. It was tough but we got through it in the end. So proud of the kids, many of whom were first time actors. And so proud of our team for pushing through. All in all it was a blast!
Hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it!

This was so much fun to watch 😂 Loved the cinematography in this! the lighting suited the mood so well. And loveee the performances. Getting such good performances from young actors in such a limited amount of time is impressive. Well done team!!!

Oh my days Busby films you have my heart with this absolute gem of a film! As someone who has regularly worked with young performers and has 10 and 12 year old boys myself you cannot begin to imagine how much joy I got watching that youthful exuberance literally bounce off the screen and into my smiling face.

The setup is clever; vying for the affection of the dreamy but down to earth teacher from heaven who also happens to be a wrestling coach. 3 young men, one united goal that seems so simple that it should be smooth sailing to some affection right?

Of course this a Comedy of Errors so we quickly get that "not so fast" moment that leads to the explosive heart beat of the film.

But the real brilliance of the film is that it is all about heart and care and having the audience feel emotion and pain. Wanting beauty but not understanding more complex and mature relationships. Physicality to the fore with idolisation of The Rock and yet a slap that goes too far genuinely hurts.
...and then basking in the aftermath of the big game. Many of us have been there in our youth and if you swap out the wrestling to a big game of netball or rugby you can easily put yourself in the shoes of these young men.

They just feel like real New Zealanders that could be you or me.

The script is effortlessly smooth so to see you comment in this section of this being a brutal shoot I have to massively commend you for pulling it all together. The edit was top knotch.

From a technical POV its gorgeously graded, lit and framed with enough beats to elevate it above most films in this competition. And the sound is crystal clear letting all those jokes land oh so well.

My absolute minor nitpicks were one or two extremely extremely minor continuity issues between shots, but very little to complain about and a lot to champion here. I see this film going far in the comp. Great work Busby Films!

I watched this with one thought in mind... how in the world do you get kids to act this naturally and fantastically? Well, it turns out you create a film with your extended aiga / whanau and the result is some of the most natural comedy I saw this 48Hrs. I'm floored at this first-timer team and really every time they got on stage to receive an award I was cheering and yelling because I was just so happy, thinking "this is what 48Hrs is all about!"

As for the film itself - great-looking image. Great sound. Lovely script. But the shining part throughout I must say is the fantastic, fantastic acting from the kids and adults both. Definitely feels like these kids have a future in acting, for sure, being able to really feel the script and understand it. And that is a testament to the larger extended family being able to get a great performance out of these kids. Would be fantastic to be a fly on the wall seeing what happened behind the scenes of this film because I'm so curious. Brilliant stuff.