TREE

a short film by Lauren Jackson

PRESS KIT

contact:
Jeremy Macey (producer)
jeremy@godwit.co.nz
+64 21 511 415
 TREE

a short film by Lauren Jackson

PRODUCTION NOTES

Writer/Director Lauren Jackson

Producers Andrew Cochrane

Jeremy Macey

Key Cast Alisi Mile Fane

Mikaele Isaac Ah Kiong
Terence Michael Koloi
Maxine Nastassia Wolfgramm
Mary Lyncia Muller
Ane Laumanu Tala'atu Paseka
Kisione Duane Wichman-Evans Jnr

Key Crew Director of Photography Simon Raby

Editor Margot Francis
Stunt Coordinator Shane Dawson
Art Director Grant Hall
Costume Designer Barbara Darragh
Makeup and Hair Designer Jose Maria Noriega Riestra
Visual Effects Supervisor Carol Petrie
Composer Gareth Farr

Production companies Godwit Films

chopperguard inc
in association with Midnight Billy
New Zealand Film Commission

Country of production New Zealand

Completion date 2017
Shooting format 2K colour
Screening format ProRes, Blu-Ray
Aspect ratio 16:9
Running time 16 minutes
Languages English and Tongan
Subtitles English
imdb page http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6670454
website www.treemovie.nz

Festivals: Wairoa Maori FF

NZIFF Nga Whanaunga Maori Pasifika Shorts
Berlin Down Under
Hawaii International Film Festival

contact:
Jeremy Macey (producer)
jeremy@godwit.co.nz
+64 21 511 415
LOGLINE
One evening Alisi (17) climbs a huge tree and won’t come down. As night falls and we discover
her secret, Alisi must decide whether to bow to cultural family traditions or find a new path - with
or without her family.
(40 words / 218 characters)

SYNOPSIS
One evening Alisi (17) climbs a huge tree and won't come down. As evening turns to night, her
sanctuary becomes her prison - and her secret is out. Alisi is pregnant to her gay best friend,
Mikaele (17), and it's all over Facebook. Mikaele finds Alisi, who blames him for being a
blabbermouth, bringing shame to her Christian Pasifika family. Alisi tries to run away, but a search
party of younger cousins turns up and texts her oldest brother Terence. Soon her whole familiy is
camping out under the tree. As the stars turn and the night gets colder, Alisi must decide whether
she will bow to cultural family traditions or find a new path - with or without her family.
(119 words)

WRITER/DIRECTOR NOTES

Tree is a film about family; tradition versus modern life; and friendship.

The idea for Tree began in my head as the moving image of a young woman leaping into a tree. I
didn't know what she was running from but I loved her bravery and strength. At the same a young
woman I knew was in huge trouble with her family for falling pregnant as an unmarried teenager. I
was hoping for another child myself and so the very event that would have brought me such joy
had landed this young woman in disgrace. I was struck by the contrast and the story took shape.

Alisi's night in the tree is a tough negotiation (with darkly humorous moments thrown in), as Alisi
challenges her family. We don't know if her brother's love for Alisi will win out against tradition.
What is the strongest choice Alisi can make? Family is not something we throw away lightly.
The film plays in multi-cultural urban Auckland, where I grew up. Alisi and her friends are under
pressure to live up to traditional family expectations and also excel in modern New Zealand
society. Having taught at the Pacific Institute of Performing Arts (PIPA) for ten years, I wanted to
create work for the graduates. The PIPA community supported me in workshopping and
developing the script, which is a kind of homage to the inspiring friendships I observed there. The
students were inclusive, and supportive of each other at the most crucial times. I have been a
recipient of this respect and care and am grateful for the lessons I have taken from my Pasifika
friends about friendship and family.

The tree is of course a symbol of life and family. I love seeing physically strong women in action,
so Alisi scales the tree several times, leaping in and out of it. In fact the beautiful tree was a
logistical nightmare requiring stunt doubles, a crane, safety harnesses and a green screen shoot.
But it was worth it. The tree itself is a character in its own right. If it could speak, this film would
just be one of hundreds of stories it could tell. Tree is a very old, universal, woman's story set in
the cultural and generational divide of urban New Zealand.

WRITER/DIRECTOR SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Lauren trained in acting, German and film studies. Her award-winning play Exchange was

inspired by her experiences studying in Germany, and her first short film I’m Going to Mum’s

premiered at Berlin Generation 2013. She works as a director, writer, dramaturg, actor and drama

tutor for stage and screen.

(49 words)

WRITER/DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY

Lauren trained at Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School and has a BA in German and Film,
TV & Media Studies. She works as a director, writer, dramaturg, actor and drama tutor. Lauren
began her career playing the lead in the NZ feature film Alex. Following her graduation from Toi
Whakaari: NZ Drama School in 2001, theatre performances include Mr Marmalade, Land of Make
Believe and Mr Kolpert at the SiLO Theatre. Her screen work includes roles in TV series This is
Not My Life, The Jaquie Brown Diaries and A Thousand Apologies and in feature films Perfect
Creature, 1nite and The Tattooist.

Lauren is an award-winning writer. She won the Chapman Tripp Most Outstanding New
Playwright of the Year Award (2005) for her play Exchange and the SWANZ Best Short Film
Script award for her short film I'm Going to Mum's (2013). Following the success of Exchange,
Lauren wrote Polly Hood in Mumuland – a Pacific adaptation of Red Riding Hood (2009) which
has twice been produced by ATC in association with the Pacific Institute of Performing Arts and
the Mangere Arts Centre. Lauren has completed six commissioned plays for the ‘Duffy Books in
Homes’ touring theatre programme and is currently writing for Pukeko Pictures' animated TV
show The Kiddets.

Lauren wrote and directed the award-winning short film I’m Going to Mum’s (2012), which was in
competition at the 2013 Berlinale Film Festival. (Visit www.imgoingtomums.com for more
information.) Lauren second New Zealand Film Commission-funded short, Tree, has screened in
several film festivals in Aotearoa and abroad and she has a feature and a web series in
development.

Lauren works as a dramaturg for LIMA Productions and has directed various student and
professional stage productions for Auckland Theatre Company, Four Afloat Productions, the
Pacific Institute of Performing Arts, O.Co Productions, and Smackbang Theatre Company.
Lauren has worked consistently as a drama tutor since 2005. most notably at The Pacific Institute
for Performing Arts for ten years. Lauren has gone on to work with many of her graduate students
in professional productions. Lauren also co-directs Brickworks Drama School with her colleague
Natascha Diaz.

Director's filmography

I'm Going to Mum's (short) - Berlin Generation 2013

PRODUCER BIOGRAPHY: JEREMY MACEY

Jeremy Macey studied Russian and German at Victoria University of Wellington before working in
theatre, short films and TV commercial production. In 1997–2001 he worked in Russia in TV
production at the newly opened Moscow branch of BBDO, then independently as a freelance
reviewer and translator, and as fixer for overseas commercials, documentary and features. He
returned to New Zealand to study documentary filmmaking and work on TV series, corporate and
short films.

Jeremy has produced and directed four documentaries including the Loading Docs short
documentary Gina. Jeremy worked in development at the NZ Film Commission before returning to
the industry as producer of features Hook, Line and Sinker (2011) and the award-winning The
Great Maiden's Blush (2016). He has also produced commercials and short films including I'm
Going to Mum's (Berlinale 2013) and, by the same team, Tree (2017).

PRODUCER BIOGRAPHY: ANDREW COCHRANE

Upon completing an undergraduate degree in English Literature and Film Theory, Andrew
Cochrane began his career in the production department of feature films as a production
coordinator, manager and supervisor. A fifteen-year career working on studio films required some
time for recuperation and creative reflection — which came in the form of a two-year hiatus
studying for a Master of Arts degree in Sydney.

Alongside his continued involvement as a freelance contractor on international features, Andrew

has co-produced with Jeremy Macey and director Lauren Jackson, two short films funded by the
New Zealand Film Commission. The first, I’m Going to Mum’s, premiered in competition at the
63rd Berlinale, followed by more than 30 international film festival screenings, winning seven
prizes.

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