The Hutt News - The New Tomorrow
June 21st 2005
Locals are stealing the limelight in the new Cloud 9 production The New Tomorrow, with seven of the main characters coming from the Hutt Valley.
Filming continues for the next 12 weeks, with locations including Belmont Regional Park and at studio sets in teh old Film Unit building on Fairway Drive.
It's a similar recipe to Cloud 9's internationally successful Tribe series, in which gangs of children find their own ways of survival in an adult-free world.
Executive Producer Ray Thompson says the new show is "younger and more innocent" than the original but deals with the same sorts of themes.
"It's every child's dream," he says. "They're creating a new world."
He wouldn't be drawn on whether The New Tomorrow is a sequel or a prequel to the five series of The Tribe. "It could be 1,000 years in the future or 1,000 years in the past", he says. "All will be revealed in the final episode."
Mr Thompson says he continues to be "amazed" by local talent. "People talk about Wellywood but there's a lot happening in the Hutt"
For some of the technical and production crew it's valuable continued work after shooting of Peter Jackson's King Kong would up.
Cloud 9 left only a skeleton set-up here when its production base was moved to Brisbane two years ago. "It's good to be back," he says.
The New Tomorrow, which Mr Thompson says will pump $6.5 million into the local economy, it will begin screening in the UK and Australia in September. It's not confirmed whether one of the channels here will pick it up.
Mr Thompson, who owns a vineyard in Martinborough, is also exploring the possibility of creating a new drama set amongst the vines.
He was the writer for the very successful BBC production Howard's Way and envisages a drama with a vineyard setting in the style of Australia's McLeod's Daughers but with a New Zealand focus.
"It's not going to be about the wine but about the people," he says. It's reported he pitched the idea to Australian network executives earlier this month.