"Uplifting" | Find Your Voice
“Uplifting
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-Find Your Voice is a celebration of family and culture through one young man’s spiritual odyssey. The film tells the story of a young Maori musician who, after a divine windfall, returns to his native New Zealand in a quest to explore his musical roots.
Written by Chris Herd (director):
The Story of Find Your Voice:
I always wanted to make a film and decided it was time after 20 years of TV production. There were no offers from Hollywood, so I decided to make it independently. Ben Rupp, a close friend and US-based entrepreneur, believed in the dream and got us started, followed by several other important investors. And that’s how Find Your Voice was born.
As for the storyline, I’ve always been interested in the contrast and synthesis of culture. I am an Aussie, but grew up in the USA and the UK. When developing the screenplay, I was working on a series at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation with actor Adam Saunders. He was a great personality and we decided there and then to make a film together. I had an idea about a mixed-race youth winning the lottery and going home to find his roots. I got about 60 scenes down loosely and then passed the ball to Matthew Scott, a young and very fast screenwriter. He wrote about 250 pages and I got it back down to 160 before we started shooting. That length later proved a challenge to edit down in the cut.
Adam, who is Kiwi/Aussie, understood the part immediately, and provided a wealth of information and ideas for the screenplay and main character Elvis “E” Pineaha. I wanted our protagonist to be a budding pop star as I felt this would click with a young audience. Adam is one of those multitalented actors who can sing and dance, so playing the part was natural. Music also works on a metaphorical level as E strives to discover his voice and himself. This is one of the key themes in the film.