Chance Meeting Leads to Filmmaking Success

Posted 3 years ago

Tags: Waikato Times, press, film making, media, indiefilm, borden li, murdoch daly

A coincidental meeting at Sydney Airport led to two university mates setting up their own film production company, Indiefilm Productions.

Borden Li was returning from a business trip when he saw Murdoch Daly walking past with a surfboard on his shoulder, on his way back home from a three-year OE.

"There had been no communication [during that time] ... we ended up sitting next to each other on the flight back to Hamilton and talking about what we could do."

Indiefilm was started after they began working together on web design and started receiving requests for web-ready film clips.

"The demand was there with clients wanting moving media for the web," Mr Daly said.

About a year ago, they found a space at 270 Victoria St and completely refurbished it as a photographic and green screen studio – and a vibrant meeting space to encourage clients to tap into their creative energy.

The business is now attracting both local and national interest, with work coming from companies like Monavale Blueberries and Zealong Tea.

Mr Li believes youth is on their side in the advertising industry, which is seeing a lot of changes towards internet marketing and using social networking.

"We are the Facebook generation," Mr Li said.

While they have amassed a large portfolio of commercial work in a short space of time, the pair have found the time to unleash their creativity on more personal projects.

Last weekend they received awards for best cinematography, best art direction, best makeup and the coveted audience favourite award at the Hamilton regional final of the V48 Hours filmmaking competition.

The competition gives teams 48 hours to write and produce a short film. While they were not selected to represent the region in the national finals, Mr Li hopes they will be selected as a wild card entry.

Another project close to their hearts is a video for Hamilton band Knights of the Dub Table, playing on Sky TV's Juice channel. Shot in Ngaruawahia, the clip shows the town's beauty and culture.

"Tiki Taane has commented that it is a beautiful taonga," Mr Daly said.

Link to original article on Waikato Times Website.