Hokitika snubbed
West Coast locals philosophical about Auckland standing in for Hokitika in TV production of Eleanor Catton’s lauded novel The Luminaries.
Bruce Smith isn’t about to spit the dummy over news the region won’t feature much in the TV adaptation of The Luminaries.
The Westland District mayor admits that while it would have been great if the production had spent a lot of time and money in and around Hokitika, ‘‘it’s so much better they do it in Auckland and get it done, rather than not get it done’’.
With rumours about a screen adaptation rife since it was first published, Smith said they have gotten used to little bursts of interest and excitement about it and then things going silent. ‘‘Now, I don’t think we get too wound up about it, if something happens here it’s great, if it doesn’t happen – that’s just the way it is.’’
Production of a six-part, BBC-backed series based on Eleanor Catton’s Booker Prize-winning novel is now well underway in Auckland. Sets depicting 19th century Dunedin have been built in industrial Penrose, while an area near Bethells’ Beach is standing in for Hokitika. Bono’s daughter Eve Hewson (Robin Hood), Casino Royale’s Eva Green, East-Enders’ Himesh Patel and Top of the Lake’s Ewen Leslie are among the international cast members.
The Luminaries’ producer Lisa Chatfield said that it was ‘‘pretty gutting’’ they weren’t filming more of the show down south.
‘‘But it takes a lot of people and a lot of resource to do what we’re doing. Because of the scale needed to recreate Eleanor’s world, we have more than 350 people working on the project. On the flip side, we have a feature film director who is new to television [Australian Claire McCarthy] and a first-time screenwriter [Catton], so there was always going to be limit to how far backers were prepared to go financially. Plus, what’s really annoying [for locals] is that when film and TV crews are around, we need to own things 100 per cent.’’
Chatfield confirmed that plans were underway for a crew to head to Westland to capture the area’s unique landscape and admitted they did consider Oamaru as a possible base.
‘‘However, I think we would have been much more of a pain . . . . we would have needed to walk in and shut it down for 10 days and people are working really hard there to make their businesses work. People aren’t very patient about going there to look at something and finding it’s not open because a film crew is there.’’
Chatfield, who has previously worked on films like Scarfies and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, said Catton’s adaptation of her own book ‘‘feels really fresh and distinctive’’.
Mayor Smith is looking forward to hearing when the production will air (filming is due to wrap in April, with a Kiwi debut on TVNZ expected either late in 2019 or early 2020)
‘‘Once we know when that is, we’ll be able to build our town’s marketing around it. I think the Coast will benefit, Hokitika will benefit, New Zealand will benefit. I think it will be very popular.’’