Life + Style - 19 June 2020

THE WEEKEND

Photo courtesy of Barefoot Films

SEE PAGES 2 AND 3

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life+style The Weekend Sun ˜°19August, ˜˛°˝ June, 2020

Chloe and the …

A new comedy series for Tauranga As I stood at Tauranga Airport I wondered what the next week would bring. It was Tuesday, March 17 and we were filming three scenes of a pilot for a new comedy series.

Photos courtesy of Barefoot Films

The news of Covid-19 had begun to raise concerns, with 11 confirmed cases in New Zealand, and the health system was gearing up and readying in case of a wider outbreak.

People arriving from overseas were being asked to self-isolate.

It was only later that I realised travellers wouldn’t be seeing another welcome quite like ours for a while. Our director Anton Steel called “Action” and two of our main characters flew into each other’s arms at the baggage carousel. To say what happened next would give away the plot, but there was much stifled laughter as the serious fun of comedy took place.

Our local film crew had taken over the arrivals area and conveyor belt at Tauranga Airport. Outside our taxi and rather eccentric looking taxi driver waited.

We had extras scattered through the airport, all in on the action.

We were shooting the pilot for ‘Chloe and the …’ - an online regional comedy series written by Mount Maunganui writer Alyssa Stringfellow. Alyssa also stars in the series as

Chloe, a woman who just can’t seem to sort out her chaotic life. She is joined by some well-known faces including Survivor Nicaragua runner-up Tom Paterson, and Luci Hare from the television series Mean Mums and Auckward Love.

To bring people and equipment together like this takes a great deal of planning and was done with the help of Film Bay of Plenty.

The cast and crew of 47 people was made up of local talent and the pilot was shot over three days with the support of Priority One, Tauranga City Council, Tauranga Airport and the Millenium Hotel, Rotorua.

Three days doesn’t sound much, but the pre-production work had been going on for weeks, with locations, permits, casting, rehearsing and many meetings to work out all the required elements of lighting, sound, props, costumes and camera angles.

I’d come on as a location scout. My job was to find a cruise ship we could film on, a beach bach near Mount Maunganui or Papamoa, and an office and bathroom. Being a local helps, as I knew who I needed to talk to about getting on board a cruise ship, but also knew there were many necessary details and people to liaise with.

A phone call came in – “Sorry but we can’t let anyone on board any cruise ships now, because of coronavirus, we just don’t know what’s going to happen.”

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“We were shooting the pilot for ‘Chloe and The …’

- an online regional comedy series written by Mount Maunganui writer Alyssa Stringfellow”

I love the challenge of solving an impossible situation. The script required a number of scenes to be filmed aboard; how would we do this? I checked out some of the Mount Maunganui rooftop swimming pools. Could we film against the sky creating an illusion? Google became my friend as I raced through countless photos of hotels in the region.

The producer Paula Jones phoned.

“Check out Millenium in Rotorua.”

I drove over and met Anton there; he was smiling. I quickly saw why. In front of us, inside this top hotel - a bar and swimming pool. Perfect. The management was superb, also making available to us one of their offices and a bathroom to film in.

We filmed there on Monday March 16, meeting all of the hotel’s newly introduced health and safety measures. I now know that a week later we wouldn’t have been able to film there at all; the updates on coronavirus quickly taking the nation to Alert Level 2 on Friday March 20. We had only just scraped in.

Our extras had been recruited mostly from Facebook, as we’d put out a call asking for various characters such as a honeymoon couple, a vegan hippy, a cheerleader and a retired cruise ship couple, and they all came dressed for their part.

After driving around Mount Maunganui

and Papamoa, I’d narrowed down five possibilities for Chloe’s beach bach.

Our top choice - a bright yellow bach in Papamoa - was perfect. The owner was a delight, allowing us to take out his furniture and bring in our own. Flyers announcing our activity were delivered into letterboxes around the neighbourhood, the sun came out, and finally at the end of a long day, Anton called ‘That’s a wrap!’

Nowadays, because of Covid-19, every production, big or small, taking place in NZ will be required to register on the Screensafe website, including small web videos. This will assist the Ministry of Health with contact tracing and WorkSafe with monitoring.

For our production of ‘Chloe and The …’ , it is the first time a regional series has been proposed for the Bay of Plenty and the production team hope to have the pilot online in June.

I’m still amazed that we managed to film the pilot before all filming around NZ would be shut down. My father used to say ‘Wonderful are the workings of the wheelbarrow’ and I know what he means.

Good planning, hard work, lots of luck and we got there.

To follow updates on the series follow @ ChloeAndThe on Instagram and Facebook.

Rosalie Liddle Crawford

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From treehouse to desktop I’ve driven past the Treehouse Gallery on Cameron Rd many times and wondered how it was faring as New Zealand transitioned out of lockdown.

Business owners across the bay have had to quickly adapt and embrace what it meant to be open and to operate again. Some refer to it as ‘the new normal’. Others feel like nothing will ever be normal about it again, so the future is there for defining and taking in fresh ways.

The Treehouse Gallery in Gate Pa which closed about five years ago on Cameron Rd, reopened in June 2019 with co-owners Debbie Allen and Nicci Baxter joining forces to bring an appealing range to Tauranga buyers.

Usually hundreds of cars pass by the shop daily, which is nestled next to a computer business and a rug shop.

“I was in horticulture for about 15 to 20 years, trained in floriculture and horticulture, and had my own gardening business in Hamilton,” says Nicci who relocated to Tauranga about 20 years ago.

“I’ve had to give up my gardening and landscaping career last year because of chronic pain, so I’ve had to rethink about what I can do as a career. This opportunity with Debbie came up.”

Debbie had run the shop previously and has an established clientele.

Nicci Baxter outside the Treehouse Gallery in Gate Pa. Photo: Daniel Hines

Renowned for the rustic metal and wood pieces created from recycled materials, the gallery is also popular with people looking for one-of-a-kind items such as small tables, bird boxes, and frames.

Debbie works with clients to meet their particular needs, and the pair make and sell bespoke furniture, furnishings and art.

Nicci has been involved with the Incubator group of artists for some time, and is still involved helping with gigs at The Jam Factory.

“I was doing back-up singing in a band and hoping to get back into some music eventually. I really love being part of the Jam Factory. Here at The Treehouse Gallery I’m doing art, photography as well as upcycling furniture.”

She’s looking forward to making more creative pieces, and during the lockdown period has been focusing on building a stronger social media presence for the gallery.

“The best way of keeping everyone safe during Covid 19 is by trading online,” says Nicci.

“We have virtual tours of the shop, and sell through Facebook buy, sell and swap pages, with contactless delivery or pickup.”

Debbie has also made the best of the opportunity while the gallery has been physically closed, to work from home, making more stock to replenish the shop now that it’s Rosalie Liddle Crawford open once again.

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life+style The Weekend Sun ˝

The Grand Bazaar Eclectic macrocosm of music awakening I first saw the video come up on Facebook.

It was late March, late at night, and we were in the early days of the national lockdown.

The gunslinger striding out across South Island high country, atmospheric instrumental music filling the room around me. Immediately my mind was there, experiencing that immense sense of solitude found in wide open spaces. New Zealand is a beautiful country and this new alt rock band ‘The Grand Bazaar’ was bringing the country’s soul to me.

I looked to see who the musicians were. An odd collection of names – Mama Hollywood on vocals, Slendrmann on guitar, Hound McFox on bass, and Mr. E on drums. Mysterious, masked and walking away from the camera.

A bazaar is where you can find anything; colourful, mysterious, with all sorts of things lurking in the corners and being revealed at different times. What was The Grand Bazaar?

Slipping down this musical rabbit hole, I managed to track them down; the band formed in late 2019.

‘The Gunslinger’ is their debut single, filmed over 11 days in 17 different locations during February 2020 in the South Island. Released in early March it’s capturing a growing market in South America and Europe with over 40,000 views on their Facebook page. I wonder if it’s because, during March, the whole world is in the throes of the worst pandemic since 1918, the sight of NZ scenery helping us escape global madness into another dimension. But then again there’s the colour and that bass guitar. This first track lyrically is led by the feel of the music.

Their second track, the surreal sound effect laden ‘Solitude’ was filmed in Australia, and released in late March. A vastly different feeling and direction. Swiftly following that was a hard hitting seven-minute track called ‘The Fall of Arcadia’ in mid-April. This was getting interesting, as clearly it was filmed during lockdown.

I knew by then this was a Tauranga-based band, keeping their identity mysteriously hidden.

I think I know who they are. I made contact and set up a Zoom meeting. They wore masks, and wove for me some of their thoughts.

“What is The Grand Bazaar? As the illusion of time unfolds, the question will be, what isn’t The Grand Bazaar? We’re not something to be pigeonholed or labelled and our audience will find that we have very open borders.” This was from Slendrmann, displaying his spirit of undistorted eternal now-ness.

“Our creative aspect is informed by what we’ve been reflecting on which has become a portion of our sentience. Anything can be quantized and delivered as a creative concept and that is what we are here to delve deeper into, by bringing a sense of resolution to those who relate to our way of seeing the world.”

“This is us in Truth,” says Mama Hollywood.

“This becomes our tribal beat, our love and our freedom.”

“I know who you are,” I replied. I let my statement sit vibrating in the ether air as the screen slowly faded to black, and The Grand Bazaar was gone once again, resonating in harmony with the macrocosm.

I will search them out again - on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Spotify.

Rosalie Liddle Crawford

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Gunslinger

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Hound McFox

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°˙August, June, June, ˜˛˜˛ 2020 life+style The Weekend Sun ˜°19 ˜˛°˝

Block 5 Kombucha Perfecting a local brew A beverage described as “vinegar beer tea” sounded pretty disgusting to Tauriko’s Matt Gillon at first. Little did he know, the drink called kombucha, would inspire future business.

Block 5 has been up and running for just over a year. It’s largely a one-man operation, which takes place in the “Brew Lab” – an old farm shed on his family’s property.

“My friends and I renovated the shed ourselves, which possibly saved around $100,000.

“None of this would’ve been possible without my friends and family. Before I had a labeller, they spent many late nights with me placing each one on by hand.”

Block 5 recently celebrated brewing its first 10,000 litres and 30,000 bottles – thank goodness for that labeller.

A love of science and nod to his time at university inspired the name.

“Block 5 was my hall of residence when I studied at Waikato University. Also, because I’m a low key science nerd, Block 5 is the latest next-generation space rocket from SpaceX. “Nothing kombucha related, but between Uni and space travel, it’s a pretty motivating name.”

Matt had his first taste of kombucha while

Matt Gillon in the Brew Lab.

studying abroad in California in 2014. It certainly exceeded the “vinegar beer tea” taste he was told to expect.

“I’d describe it as a drink that’s slightly tart and jam-packed with flavour from natural ingredients. I think that sells it a tad better.”

When he returned, New Zealand’s own kombucha hype was starting to simmer, but the products didn’t taste like the kombucha he remembered from the US. In fact, it wasn’t even what Matt would consider kombucha.

“Kombucha is fermented tea, that’s why it contains natural probiotics. I’d read the labels of supermarket kombucha and it was always just carbonated water with probiotic powder added in.

“It hasn’t improved much since then. I still see so many random products claiming to be kombucha, from dissolvable tabs, to drinks that are predominantly fruit juice.”

The frustrating line-up of mainstream options inspired Matt to give kombucha brewing a go.

Somewhat by chance, he already had the skills he needed to be a kombucha producer.

He worked at Bethlehem’s Somerset Cottage for five years as a chef, starting when he was still attending Bethlehem College.

“They always encouraged us to try new things with food and used local ingredients, which is something I continue to do.”

While a chemical engineering degree may

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“Fermented food has been around for many moons, but we’re only just beginning to understand the positive e˜ ects it has on the body”

seem much more left of field, Matt says it has helped him throughout the entire process.

“Having an engineering background has helped me understand the science behind brewing, and how to renovate the shed.

“It’s also how I got to do an exchange to the University of California and try heaps of other random subjects, one of them being wine and beer making.

“I really enjoyed it. As soon as I got back to New Zealand I was keen to keep going, and did a placement at Good George Brewing in Hamilton.”

Block 5 has four regular flavours: raspberry and vanilla, ginger, blueberry, and green apple.

Each brew starts with a fermented green and black tea base, before being combined with whole ingredients.

Matt is always creating new flavours.

“I’ve made kombucha with dragon fruit, a mix of ‘good greens’ like kale and spinach, and at the moment I’m trying to perfect a chia seed kombucha.”

“For suppliers who have Block 5 on tap, I like to throw in a new one-off flavour every time they order.”

The 30-year-old has big plans for Block 5.

“Many small-size breweries want to stay

small to keep their businesses authentic, but I want to grow as much as possible.

“It angers me that big drink companies can just bottle up sugar and can call it whatever they like, and that’s what is made available to us. I want to show that we can enjoy delicious drinks that aren’t terrible for us.”

He also wants to learn more about the health benefits of kombucha, beyond its ‘good for the gut’ reputation.

“Fermented food has been around for many moons, but we’re only just beginning to understand the positive effects it has on the body.

“It’s nice to know that something I’m making can actually help people, and that real kombucha’s benefits aren’t just spin.”

In the meantime, Matt is working much like a scientist – staying up until the early hours of the morning in a lab, perfecting his creations.

“It’s a funny time in business, which has been a good motivator to keep going.”

“I’m stoked to see how loving people have been when it comes to supporting local businesses during these strange times. I like to think this neighbourly way of life will stick around.”

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