Your Big Break

Why this story?

A little bit of Magic...(my reasons for including a Magical element)
Growing up in West Auckland the bush provided a magical place for my imagination to run wild and the panoramic views of our landscape have always held a magical quality for me.
Magic has been a common theme throughout New Zealand film showing up in Geoff Murphy's The Quiet Earth, Vincent Ward's The Navigator and more recently in Niki Caro's Whale Rider and Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Maui fishing up the North Island is one of my favorite legends of New Zealand so using Maori players and mythical, mystical stones was important too me also.

By the Numbers...
The youngest country on Earth . . . 100% Pure . . . 10 years young campaign . . .
All of this lead me to use a 10 year old boy and a 100 year old man as my main characters who also help to show family bonds, our own mortality and the circle of life.

My Peeps...
I am stoked to be a Kiwi. Living abroad has helped reinforce how lucky I was growing up and how fortunate I am to be able to always come back. No matter where I am New Zealand is always “home”.
Our people are so accepting, sharing and welcoming. So I choose not to have a companion for my main character but instead use NZ's population as his “mates” to portray that.

When in Rome...
I have hosted a number of people in New Zealand and love that it can provide a tranquil escape from everything or an adrenaline pumping activity all within walking distance. Queenstown is a prime example and I wanted to try and showcase that in this film.

THE LIST - by David de Lautour

EXT. NZ SHORELINE - EARLY MORNING
We zoom along the spectacular NZ coast and dive into...
EXT. BUSH - CONTINUOUS
Amid the dense bush a boy, RAWIRI, 10, runs through the ferns and expertly glides around the enormous Kauri’s.
EXT. CLIFF - CONTINUOUS
Rawiri comes out of the bush and stops to catch his breath. He glances down at a MAP in his hands, finds what he is looking for and darts off.
EXT. CLIFF - CONTINUOUS
Hands scrape away at the earth and reveal a dirty piece of CLOTH which Ra peels back to expose beautiful PONAMU. He grins and quickly speeds away.
EXT. RURAL ROAD - DAY
Ra bikes down the dirt road towards a house in the distance.
INT. HOUSE - DAY
Ra rushes past his mother, Whenua, who tries to stop him.
WHENUA
Slow down Ra.
Ra rushes into...
INT. BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Where an old man, TANE, 100, lies in bed. His eyes light up when he sees the boy.
TANE
Did you find it?
Ra nods excitedly and produces the Ponamu.
RAWIRI
You make your list?
Tane produces a piece of paper from under his duvet.
TANE
Ready?
Ra beams as the old man winks at him.
INT. HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Whenua comes to the closed door. She looks down and seeing a FLASH OF LIGHT, opens it.
WHENUA
Come on Ra, let him rest aye.
Ra grabs the paper from Tane and as he walks out he turns back to the old man and winks. Tane beams.
They have changed bodies!
EXT. HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Ra steps out, breaths in the clean air and as MUSIC blasts he looks down at the ‘To Do’ list.
EXT. RURAL ROAD - DAY
An excited Ra bikes down the road as fast as he can and lets out a scream.
RAWIRI
Yyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaahooooooo.
EXT. BEACH - DAY
Ra watches two boys slide down the dunes. As he dumps his bike and peels off his T-shirt one of them offers him a boogie board. Ra takes it and slides down the sand, skims the water and plunges into the sea.
AGED FILM FILTER: Ra and the other two play in the water now dressed in 1930’s era togs.
INT. SKYLINE GONDOLA - DAY
Ra peers out the window at the stunning scene as the cable car moves up the mountain.
EXT. SKYLINE - DAY
Ra walks to a quiet spot and turns to see a young Maori woman sitting on a rock wearing a 1930’s type dress.
AGED FILM FILTER: Ra gets down on one knee, reliving the moment he proposed, and as they hug Ra whispers in her ear.
RAWIRI
See you soon.
EXT. SCHOOL - DAY
Ra spots his mates in the school field and dumps his bike at a fence. He jumps over and, joining a team, calls for the ball
AGED FILM FILTER: The children are now dressed in 1940’s clothing and the ball has become an old leather one.
EXT. RURAL ROAD - EVENING
Ra pushes his bike along the road, exhausted but content.
INT. HOUSE - EVENING
Ra sneaks past Whenua asleep in a chair and heads into the room.
INT. BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Ra sits beside the sleeping Tane and touches his hand. He wakes and smiles.
TANE
How was it?
RAWIRI
Perfect.
INT. HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
A FLASH OF LIGHT from the bedroom wakes Whenua.
INT. BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Ra and Tane have switched back but are still holding hands.
TANE
Thank you.
WHENUA (O.S.)
How did you get in here?
Ra spins around. Caught he gets up, but Tane whispers.
TANE
Don’t forget to put it back. You may want it someday.
EXT. HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Ra runs out, picks up his bike and jumps on.
WHENUA
What’s he talking about Ra?
RAWIRI
I’ll be back for Tea Mum.
A reenergized Rawiri pedals madly down the road.
RAWIRI (CONT’D)
Yyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaahhhhooooooooooo

THE END.

A bit about Me...

My name is David de Lautour. I am a 27 year old Kiwi film maker living in Los Angeles. After appearing in Xena and Being Eve I moved to New York to train as an actor. After graduating I moved to LA and have been back and forth between here and NZ ever since and have appeared on What I Like About You, Power Rangers, Legend of the Seeker and NCIS.

After attending a screenwriting course in France, writing has become a passion. I created a “production company” in 2002 and began making films for fun. My last short film Isosceles was shot in New Zealand over 2 days and has had a successful festival run in 2009. I have recently cast my next project The White Room which is scheduled to shoot in LA on January 9th and 10th, 2010.

Here are the main reasons I think I am a great fit for this project.

I'm a proud Kiwi. Don't miss a Test match, fire mix CD's of Katchafire and Ladyhawke at my American friends and need Marmite to survive.

I'll build on this opportunity. I have just written my second feature based in New Zealand (the first a finalist for NZFC's 1st writers initiative 2009) and want to tell Kiwi stories to the world.

Two days? No worries. The link below will show what I have achieved in a two day shoot. I am really proud of it and Isosceles is now playing in 9 film festivals around the world.

Production Company website: http://www.toolshedproductionsonline.com/TSP_Online/Home.html

Isosceles link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRmLfh7J1-4