Albany teen filmmaker’s big dreams

A 19-year-old Albany student’s love of film is helping her realise her dreams of becoming a successful filmmaker.

Rose Goldthorp, who idolises Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, is already busy with preproduction on her fourth feature film.

While her first two features were 45 minutes in length and shot when she was 15 and 16 respectively, she is now aiming for her third and fourth films to be a full 90 minutes each.

However, Goldthorp believes her age has thus far been a stumbling block in getting commercial finance for her projects.

‘‘My poor, poor mother gives me a small budget (for each film), but she complains a lot. I’d like to receive full funding, but nobody is going to give millions to a kid.

‘‘So hopefully they’ll give me money when I’m in my twenties,’’ she said. And although she’s had to make due with micro budgets, she’s luckily had various professionals offering their services for free.

‘‘I always tell them I can provide them with networking opportunities and a (film) credit, but not money,’’ she said.

Goldthorp grew up in a farmhouse in France and said she was isolated from technology for most of her childhood.

‘‘We did have a 2500 book library, so basically I did nothing but read, and then I took to writing short scripts.’’

It wasn’t until she watched the original 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs film on DVD – an experience she vividly remembers – that she knew what she wanted to do with her life.

However, Goldthorp is realistic about her chances of making a full-time living as a filmmaker, and therefore she’s studying towards a bachelor degree in communication studies at Auckland University.

The New Zealand Film Commission’s head of talent development Dale Corlett said the digital revolution had made filmmaking a lot more accessible, and a lot of young people are making content.

Corlett confirmed that Goldthorp is ‘‘one of very few’’ New Zealanders to have made so many feature films at her age.

Goldthorp’s next film and her third feature, Fleur’s Secret, is different from her previous work not only in approach but also genre.

She is scouting for two farmhouses, with views out to sheds or fields, in rural west Auckland locations for filming in December-January.