Project: Documentary
Role: Researcher, Writer, Interviewer, Director, Producer
Client: Sky TV
Company: Homegrown Television
I pitched the doco and was successful with securing New Zealand On Air funding for this prime-time Anzac Day (25 April) broadcast doco in 2020. The documentary follows a Wings Course with those hoping to make the cut as a military pilot. We see the difficulties of passing this challenging course. Not all students can pass - it’s a huge rate of learning.
I also wanted to showcase the proud history of the RNZAF by talking to some of the few remaining veterans. From fighting over the skies of France in a Spitfire on D-Day, to night bombing raids in Lancasters over Germany, and flying Corsairs in the Pacific - these men were all tasked with difficult tasks. They were an extraordinary group of men and their stories (told in a low key, humble manner) were equally so.
The doco showcases what the RNZAF of today does. As a two person crew with the cinematographer I joined crews mountain flying through the beautiful Southern Alps in the NH90s, did low flying in a P3s Orion searching for fishing trawlers in the Southern Ocean, and filmed parachuters as they jumped out the back of a C-130 Hercules. And then there’s Antarctica - serene but somewhat scary because the weather needed to be on our side to land (with no divert airfields). Filming in sub-zero temperatures was challenging but absolutely awesome.