Country movie stars at Tauwhare
The next time you head along to the cinema, you’re likely to see a familiar face alongside a few future movie stars from a Waikato school.
Former All Black captain Richie McCaw and pupils from Tauwhare Primary School will appear in a series of short advertisements promoting Fonterra milk products and its Milk for Schools programme.
The advertisements will appear at mainstream cinemas around New Zealand before the main feature film screens.
A separate advertisement, featuring the school’s principal Fiona Bradley, speaking about the programme, is already on public television.
All of the advertisements were presented to the pupils and their parents at a special screening night, at the school recently.
Bradley said the school was excited to be part of the advertisement campaign and recalled the day when the production crew arrived for filing late last year.
‘‘The most amazing thing to happen was when Richie McCaw turned up and surprised us. No one from the school knew he was coming along, not the kids, teachers or parents.
‘‘The school just erupted. One kid said he didn’t care if Santa didn’t turn up this year [2016] because he knew he’d get to meet Richie.’’
Bradley said McCaw took the time to speak with some of the children on their own and was a ‘‘beautiful role model’’ for the pupils.
‘‘The fact that he was also drop- dead gorgeous was just a bonus.’’
The filming and production of the ad was used as an education exercise by the school.
Pupils experienced the hours of filming needed to achieve particular scenes, about continuity of filming, the work of a director and about the ‘‘cutting room floor’’.
‘‘That’s about how you can film for hours but only use 30 seconds or so of film. I must say the producer really got the best out of them and we definitely have some future movie stars here.’’
Bradley said Tauwhare Primary School had been involved in Fonterra’s MIlk For Schools pro- gramme since its inception in 2014.
‘‘We did this as a thank you for farmers and Fonterra, because we really value having milk in schools.
‘‘It has been a good way to revisit things they learned when the programme first came out, like the effect of milk on their bones, their health, calcium levels and energy levels.
‘‘It’s just learning about their bodies.’’
Bradley also announced Fonterra had donated $1000 to the school, for use in its playground.