When Love Comes
About
“If you finally get it together to get a feature film up and running, you might as well be honest, let rip and produce something that you feel passionate about. My strongest desire has been trying to define something about how people really live, rather than some vague notion of entertainment that tries to predict what people want,” explains director GARTH MAXWELL of his vision for WHEN LOVE COMES.
“I wanted something with a happy ending where people would walk out smiling,” Maxwell continues. “The film revolves around six characters who aren’t intensely neurotic, but are on the verge of some crisis. They don’t have the individual strength to help themselves, but together they find a way to interact towards that goal and discover the power to move on.”
Maxwell and his long-time writing partner, REX PILGRIM, began developing the film nearly four years ago following their screenplay collaboration on the highly regarded feature “Jack Be Nimble”, which Maxwell also directed. “It’s been an evolutionary process. The first manifestation of this, which incorporated three of the central characters, came about when we were developing an idea for a one hour television drama.”
Television deemed it a little risque, but Maxwell and Pilgrim found the characters too compelling to let go, so decided to develop a feature script. To assist in this process and help make the characters credible and cohesive, producer MICHELE FANTL brought PETER WELLS on board. “Peter was initially brought in to act as script editor, but he had so much to offer, he really became the third writer,” Fantl explains.
“Having Peter working on the script was a great advantage,” adds Maxwell. “It’s such a character-driven piece, writing dialogue for six key roles was much easier with three writers. We were able to adopt different personalities and give each one a language all their own.”
Once the script had been refined, JONATHAN DOWLING was approached to co-produce. His previous credits include Maxwell’s “Jack Be Nimble” and Scott Reynold’s “The Ugly” and “it was fantastic to have a producer with that kind of experience on board,” says Fantl.
“It makes for a much more interesting and enjoyable working environment when you have someone else you can sound ideas off,” agrees Dowling. “And it was great to be working on a project that has some meaning and truth.”
The pivotal character of Katie Keen, was inspired by a woman Maxwell knew who’d had a number one hit at just fifteen years old. “I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of someone who’s experienced celebrity at an early age but has seen that moment pass. Katie’s confronted by the fact that her dreams are out of sync with reality so she has to adjust her expectations,” he explains.
“Katie is a complex character and it was really difficult looking for someone who had the power and intensity that was needed for that role,” says producer Michele Fantl. RENA OWEN’s name was suggested to them and it seemed like ‘a bolt of inspiration’.
She was in the country at the time so they sent her a script. “She loved it and really wanted to do it,” says Fantl, “so we brought her in for a read-through and even though it was quite rushed - wow! She was incredible.”
“Rena’s a really thrilling, original and complex actress who has an electrifying screen presence. She has great heart and she’s also brilliantly equipped to go into very difficult areas, which her character does. She walked in with a lot of ideas and emotional understanding, so we were very lucky,” adds writer/director Garth Maxwell. “While I think she recognised that it was a pretty killer part, which ploughs emotional depths and all the contradictions that a complex female character could have, she is one of the true stars New Zealand has produced and working with Rena was a genuine honour. She made the character fly.”
“I’ve always had a policy where every role I take has to be different from the previous one and Katie Keen certainly fits that description,” explains Owen. “I thought the script was very daring and had a real honesty and sincerity about it: It’s very much a human story dealing with very realistic relationships.”
She was also attracted to the challenge of playing Katie: “She goes through some big emotional swings. When you’re having to face yourself it’s not an easy journey; it can actually be a very painful process.”
“Obviously I can relate to Katie in that we have both experienced fame, so I’m able to tap into my own experiences and apply them to the role. But Katie has come to the end of her fame whereas I am still in the early years of my own!” she laughs, adding “However, I can certainly understand the public pressures and responsibilities of being in the public eye.”
“What Rena delivers in the film has real resonance and depth and I’m sure the audience will taste that,” says producer Jonathan Dowling.
The ‘glue’ that connects Katie with the other characters in the film is Mark, a hip, young songwriter “caught in a moment in his life where he could go forward into strength or collapse backwards into some very negative confusion,” explains writer/director Garth Maxwell. “He had to be appealing and sexy, but also able to get beyond the character’s melancholy while including it as well. It was a very fine line to walk.”
They looked at many actors “but Dean just stood out shining,” says Maxwell. “He was a genius with the role from the start, plus he looks great and he was hungry for it. Dean’s style is energised, intuitive and true - he has a great future ahead of him.”
“I really liked the script,” says O’Gorman. “It moved me. And when something touches me in that way, I think well why wouldn't it touch other people and I want to be the person who can convey that to others. There are a lot of variables in the character which was a real attraction for me. It was a great challenge to play someone so complex, with a lot of emotional ups and downs. Mark is searching for something throughout the movie, but even he doesn’t know what he wants. He doesn't believe he can give love or accept love and he doesn't feel like he belongs.”
“It’s a very different role to what I’m used to playing, which really excited me,” O’Gorman continues. “I tend to get cast as a nice guy a lot of the time and Mark is by no means nice. He's not intentionally antagonistic but there is a dark side to him. He’s out of it quite a lot and playing a character who is drunk or emotionally unstable at times was a whole new way of acting for me.”
“The great thing about Dean O’Gorman as Mark is that you immediately want to hang out with him, which is exactly how we want the audience to feel about all these characters,” says producer Jonathan Dowling. “Dean played him with great charm and style.”
The lynch pin between Katie and Mark is her best friend and ‘lodestar’, Stephen. “Stephen's characteristic trait in the film is that of the listener, which is difficult to pull off,” explains Dowling. “An actor whose role is to listen sympathetically to others while actually having quite a number of issues to deal with himself, is not easy. A lot of the performances happen around him and he has to anchor the scenes with often not quite as much dialogue.”
Again, the director and producers searched widely but “Simon Prast was really the only one,” says Maxwell. “He’s subtle, compassionate and funny and he relishes edgy moments which was great - he wouldn’t pull back from something - he’d push it further. He’s fantastic, I have enormous admiration for him, especially his sense of cheek!”
“I thought it was one of the most wonderful scripts I had ever read and I very much wanted to play the part,” exclaims Prast. “The film takes all the characters on a great journey with lots of twists and turns along the way. I was also particularly chuffed to see the ending isn't all tears, but very positive.”
Prast describes Stephen as “someone at a turning point in his life, as indeed a lot of the characters are. He has many of the material things in life but he doesn't have anything to make it worthwhile on the inside. He wants to complete his world with someone to love.”
“Simon has a warmth and empathy with the other characters that’s palpable,” says producer Michele Fantl. “It’s another wonderful characterisation of the role. Stephen is moody and complex and he and Mark worked so well together - they were a very believable mix.”
Mark also hangs with Fig and Sally, two sexy musicians hell-bent on stardom, whose band seems the perfect outlet for Mark’s songs. “I was probably quite naive about finding the right cast for these roles who also had some musical ability,” admits Maxwell. “But I think if I’d thought about it too much I might have given up!”
Luckily, among those auditioning was SOPHIA HAWTHORNE, an accomplished singer with classical opera training. “Sophia gave such a beautiful audition that she was Sally from the moment she walked in the door - then her voice took us onto another level.
“Sophia has this undeniable presence, an X factor that makes you pay attention the moment she walks in a room. She also had the right contradictions for the role and was really the only one we felt could combine true musical ability on the one hand, plus be extravagantly beautiful, talented and sexy on the other - with a laugh that could cut through concrete!”
“I thought the script was full and rich and fantastic!” exclaims Hawthorne. “It covers everything: There’s a lot of humour, but it also gets heavy as well - much like life. I love the way the characters have been formed - the fact that they’re all flawed makes them much more interesting. And while they’re all on their own paths, in their own worlds, they’re constantly crossing into each others.”
Hawthorne describes Sally as “ambitious, full of life and energy. She’s pretty wild and reckless. I love her humour, her carelessness and her ballsiness. She knows what she wants and she’s got everything at her fingertips to get it.”
She was also pleased to be given the opportunity to incorporate her singing with her feature debut. “I love to sing, but I really want to keep acting. To combine the two was fantastic. And although I’d never played guitar before, it was great fun,” she says. “It was quite important for the role because Sally really expresses herself through her guitar - it’s so much a part her creative power and the key to what she desires most.”
Sally’s soul mate and fellow band member, Fig, evolved considerably during the casting process. “ NANCY BRUNNING added something extra to the character - a depth, as well as sensational comic timing,” says Maxwell. “Her Fig is a constant pleasure, varying from someone full of energy and life to very soulful, feeling her way through the energy fields that surround these characters’ lives.”
“She was very interesting to play,” admits Brunning. “She doesn't care about the way she looks and has bad hair days every day. She’s an outrageous party girl who lives for the moment and doesn't give a damn about responsibility. She never says a lot about herself - it’s all action with Fig but I think she gets hurt quite easily, although she covers up with this sort of playfulness. But she’s very passionate about her friends, her relationship and her drumming.”
Learning to play the drums was a definite challenge for Brunning: “It’s not an instrument you can just pick up and play, so I hoped the camera would make it look more exciting! But we shot ‘our gig’ on the first day, so all our inhibitions, doubts and insecurities about our ability had to be thrown out the window and we just did it!”
“I don't know how they did it, but they did it,” exclaims producer Jonathan Dowling. “It would have been much easier for us all if they’d known how to play those instruments before we started, but it wasn't crucial. Luckily both had an innate musical ability, they worked hard and they deliver. Having never picked up a guitar or drum-stick they ended up slashing away and beating the hell out of this kit. It was just fantastic.”
“They were amazing and totally believable,” agrees Fantl. “Sophia put in an awesome performance on guitar and Nancy did an incredible job of drumming. You would never tell she had no idea how to play the drums before filming started - she was bang on.”
The final key role of Katie’s boyfriend, Eddie, an apparently married Los Angeles television executive, went to Australian SIMON WESTAWAY. Comments writer/ director Garth Maxwell: “We needed somebody who could match Rena for her magnetic screen presence and who would be able to challenge Katie if there was ever going to be a convincing hope for their future. Simon was the one.”
Adds producer Michele Fantl: “When Simon and Rena did a read-through in Australia they had a magic together which worked beautifully in the film. He had a sexiness and an air of mystery which was really imperative for that role.”
Westaway was attracted to project, not only because of “the opportunity to work with Rena, which was great, but also because I think there’s a shortage of movies based on scenarios of love and issues of that nature as opposed to violence, weapons and explosions,” he says. “I think the market’s been a bit desensitised and I hope that some of these more simple stories about truths are embraced by it. It’s nice to see there’s something else - building blocks for life, rather than destructive forces at work. To be involved in stories about the angst and the learning processes of life, I personally find very rich and rewarding.”
He describes his character as “a successful American television producer who has fallen in love with Katie and then tries to help her flagging career. Although their relationship was born from work, it’s developed further and that’s why he’s followed her home. He challenges her to look at herself and decide who she wants to be. He wants to support her in those areas but he’s never really seen that side of her personality before.”
“Simon was just great,” exclaims Maxwell: “He was committed to keeping the character energised and up-beat and he understood that the role had to be sexy and sensual. Because his character only appears during the last third of the film, his entity has been built up over a storyline and suddenly he’s there, inside the lives of people we know much better than his. It was an incredibly important role to get right and he pulled it off extremely well. He has a very naughty smile, he looked great and put on an amazingly capable performance.”
With the key cast in place, producer Michele Fantl transformed her home into the production office. “Although it was quite stressful at times, it worked out well because I was able to integrate family and work. If we had moved into our office downtown I would rarely have seen my husband and children, but this way I was part of the filming process and yet still part of the family.”
Writer/director Garth Maxwell prepared for the shoot by workshopping with the cast before a full week of rehearsals. “I never expected the script to be the final product and I’m not dictatorial in that sense. I hoped the actors’ involvement would keep it rolling and make it leap from the screen with energy and life.”
He also drew on his experience working on fast turn-around television productions such as Pacific Renaissance’s “Hercules” and “Xena”: “I didn’t feel handicapped or freaked about the schedule and was able to move really fast,” he says. “I’ve been working on the script for four years so I felt very prepared in terms of what it’s about, although shooting out of order you constantly have to think about the tone of the scene. But I was very open to the actors’ inspiration and could include it really fast, so I felt very free and light on my feet.”
“The shoot was ambitious but Garth demonstrated a really strong ability to work with the actors on set and change things on the day,” says Dowling. “I know the crew were impressed with his ability to think on his feet and to deliver the script in the best possible form in the least possible time.”
“From the very beginning Garth had a really strong vision and every day we’d see that vision in the rushes,” adds Fantl. “As well as getting the material we required, he also wanted to have fun and he wanted to make sure everyone working on it had fun and I think that shows. There was a lot of heart involved, because the characters meant a lot to him and again that comes through.”
“I loved working with Garth, he’s very special,” comments Rena Owen: “He’s incredibly professional and knows what he wants. Rarely do you work with a director who is so incredibly open. Garth has such an enormous amount of compassion, warmth and humanity and he really, really cares. He gives you so much space and commitment; you can spit the dummy if you have to, but nothing phases him. I’m very proud and feel very honoured to be a part of this project because I know how much it means to him.”
Many of the personnel attracted to the film obviously felt similarly and the production was able to secure particularly hot, up and coming talent. “Our heads of departments are all amazingly talented young people,” says Maxwell. “I think it’s linked to how they related to the script and the fact that we have three twenty-one year olds in the cast.”
Adds Dowling: “I think this is a young person’s film, because many of the characters are young and a lot of the issues, people and places relate very strongly to a youth audience. To get a kind of truth and reality about those situations we made a conscious decision early on to mix a crew who were familiar with that world and could achieve that look and that feel with ease. Also, due to its strong, independent feel, we wanted to use people in the industry with a new, fresh energy and provide them with their next step up.”
The first of these is Cinematographer DARRYL WARD, who has shot numerous music videos and made a real impact on the commercial scene. Explains Maxwell: “Darryl was amazingly attuned in terms of matching images to atmosphere and he’s an easy person to communicate with. He’s incredibly open and talented. Parts of the script had a beautiful emotional complexity, so I wanted the film to look great and needed someone who could realise images that would match. Darryl was just perfect.”
“I liked the fact that it’s a contemporary film with a lot of intriguing characters and great music,” says Ward. “The schedule was very tight, so we kept the lighting relatively simple and worked very quickly and I think my music video background helped in that respect. I also had a really good crew. Working under pressure can bring about an amazing energy which I think has ended up on film, performance-wise especially.”
“Within the industry it was pretty well known that Darryl was going to shoot a feature film at some stage, but I think we gave him that opportunity several years before he would otherwise have got it,” adds Dowling. “He knew he was getting that break so he jumped in and worked extremely hard to give the film a unique feel and realise Garth’s vision. His background, like Grace’s and many of the other heads of department, is very grounded in the world of Sally, Fig and Mark and I think that comes through very strongly.”
GRACE MOK the Production Designer, was another crew member with an innate sense of the characters. “Grace has fabulous style which gives you great confidence when you’re talking about the production designer,” laughs Maxwell. “She supplied ideas from the moment she got her hands on the script and was great at working within a minimal budget. She pulled it off with flair and was able to transform a space with a piece of string and a loin cloth! She was gorgeous to work with and has a great sense of humour, which translates through in her placement of things, the colour she uses, the bizarre and dirty interiors of some of the young characters and the pristine, linear interiors of Stephen’s. There were all these extremes and Grace just kept on responding right from the beginning. She was great - a very clever lady.”
“Garth had a particular idea on how he wanted the film to look and he spent a lot of time with Grace talking it over,” adds Fantl. “She found locations and devised a look that is exciting, accessible and truthful to the story. She has done an incredible job.”
Another essential aspect in creating the look of the film was the actors’ wardrobe which had to clearly identify the world in which their characters lived. For this task the production hired Wardrobe Designer KIRSTY CAMERON. “I don’t think I’ve seen many films or worked on one where the wardrobe has so clearly marked out the territory of characters the way Kirsty has,” comments Dowling. “Her choice of wardrobe and they way she involved the cast absolutely defined our characters and gave them an image so clear you can take one look at them and instantly know where they come from. This is not another world, this is urban, modern-day Auckland, which I felt would be hard to define. Kirsty put a stamp on it that helped everybody find their feet. The minute the cast put their costumes on they knew who they were.”
“Where would this film have been without these people?!” exclaims Maxwell. “Kirsty’s wardrobe design was a major contribution to how these characters came together. She was very generous in all sorts of ways - explaining how characters can move in a garment, how they can share garments, and so on. She’s also very good at saying no! It’s great to have a wardrobe person who can say I’m sorry, I don’t know where your head’s at, but that character would never put that on!”
“From the moment she read the script, Kirsty knew who these characters were, so she was hugely important,” agrees Fantl. “But this wasn’t just limited to the younger characters: Katie’s frocks were in fact written into the script. We wanted to create this slightly crazed diva character who would be seen in a number of glamorous ensembles.”
Rena Owen suggested Molyneux Designs, “an amazing design team in Auckland who make couture clothes,” explains Cameron. “They had just seen “The Fifth Element” and were interested in the fact that Jean Paul Gaultier had designed its wardrobe and thought it would be cool to design for a film. About a week later, we rang them up to discuss making Rena’s dresses, so it was fantastic timing! Everything was made to fit her perfectly and she was also able to get involved in the process.”
“Rena's dresses are a force unto themselves!” exclaims Fantl. “They are totally glamorous and spectacular. Molyneaux pulled together these incredible frocks that are all about curve, cleavage, line and a beautiful, classic-length. They’ve created a fabulous look.”
“I got to have a wardrobe to die for!” agrees Owen. “It’s lovely to go from an extreme like Beth Heke in “Once Were Warriors” where they had to make me look older than I was, to playing my own age and having the chance to wear some utterly glamorous dresses!”
In addition to the wardrobe, the music was an intrinsic part of the film: Maxwell had written the lyrics into the script early on and they reflect many of the themes and issues in these people’s lives. “Three of the six characters are musicians, so the music had to work,” he explains. “I wanted to incorporate the best of what we’re doing musically right now.”
Fantl had just completed producing a TV1 television drama “One of Them” with music by ANGUS McNAUGHTON (Headless Chickens) and CHRIS ANDERTON (The Hit List). “The music was awesome,” she says. “They did a fabulous job and really rose to the occasion.” Maxwell had also been impressed by the DLT album, “The True School”, which McNaughton co-wrote and co-produced: “It blew me away. It’s a very contemporary, urban sound, which was just what we were looking for.”
McNaughton brought Anderton and guitarist DAVE GOODISON on board to workshop with the director. “The four of us ended up trying things out in the studio and conducting sessions with vocalist SANDY MILL, who also contributed,” says Maxwell. “I wanted catchy, popular music with a contemporary sound that could sell.” Comments Fantl: “The music is integral to the film, so we needed something that was original, intriguing and powerful, especially as the band is made up of just two girls on guitar and drums. What they have achieved is brilliant: We’ve got three songs that we think could be potential hits.”
New York-based artist, Bic Runga (whose album “Drive” achieved triple platinum status in New Zealand) was keen to be involved, but was unavailable due to her fast-rising singing career. However, she provided “Sway”, the number one single from “Drive”, for the film. The production also secured the Screaming Meemees classic, "Stars In My Eyes".
Also key, was finding a suitable editor. “There are plenty of experienced editors around but some of them just couldn’t click with the project,” says Maxwell. “Cushla got it! CUSHLA DILLON had cut “Topless Women Talk About Their Lives” “and I thought she did a flawless job of that. She thinks about drama and has a very nice, light touch. She has a sharp feel for the music as well and this film is very much about the making of music. I loved working with her, she’s followed her instincts and they are very, very good.”
“I feel very lucky that I have been able to include women in heads of department - at least three main areas,” Maxwell continues. “It’s a film with strong female characters, two young musicians and an international star. Having women around in important collaborative positions has made those characters stronger, more colourful and given them as much life as we could have ever hoped for.”
"The finished film is the result of input from many areas, but particularly from a group of film-making talents who are also friends - Stewart Main, Rex Pilgrim, Peter Wells, Michele, Jonathan and myself - we've all worked together before in various permutations and this history of working together and hanging out together has helped keep WHEN LOVE COMES true to its sense of friendship, optimism and life."
“It’s a warm, happy, fulfilling film,” agrees Fantl. “I hope it makes audiences feel good about themselves and that they come out thinking about life and love. I think they’ll enjoy every minute of it.”