The way I figure it, the Dak film didn't cost very much. Like, even if it cost $2 million, that's still pretty tiny for a film that's 20 hours long. Most 90 minute features cost between $1.5-5 million in NZ. Mine cost much less.
But honestly, the Dakumentary probably cost a few hundred thou total. The journos were paid to do their regular jobs, and chose to make films that contributed to the story.
I personally invested around $40-60,000, including ads and living expenses. - There was very little footage that wasn't already going to exist. And I doubt that Chloe paid those YouTubers. Hell, Chloe-related films are the only stuff that the Film Commission helped to fund. -
Like, Question Time and press conferences happen regardless of whether I paint over them, and the archival footage of Season 1 already existed.
Season 3 is the one that might have cost a pretty penny, and it's obvious that it's fancier.
But honestly, I made those AI videos from a $19.99USD per month subscription, and the images that I animated came from another $19USD per month subscription. Can't afford both atm, hence all the cartoons and comic strips. -
As I say, my best trick as a film buff is that I'm descended from Peter and Ant. NZ leads the world in pinching pennies on film productions. Well, Korea or Indonesia might top us, but in the English film world, NZ and Aussie are surprisingly cheap compared to US, UK or Canadian films. -
The great revolution of the doco is that it shows people that phone cameras can do amazing things. Dakta's phone camera footage is movie level, and mine's good too. There's nothing shockingly new in Season 1 or 2, though there's some nifty tricks. Tangerine got there first. As I've said, the 30fps shots on the phone camera looked way better than other footage that I used the posterize FX on. Part of that is the amazing ambient sound that the microphones pick up these days. The soft focus of my iPhone brought something as well: I'd already broken it by then.
These weren't iPhones for the most part. Garyfilm is my iPhone, but The Big Smoke and the Season 2 stuff was Samsung. - Was it worth it, given that I got called a fixated stalker and a sick trannie perv? Hmm... well, the film cleared my name, though I wish that hadn't been necessary. We're a bunch of losers, though. We lost in S01E02, and the subsequent 12 episodes haven't changed that (yet). It's unlikely that it'll change Luxon's mind, but the HRCA hasn't fully launched yet. This is more like the call to arms: the real fight is just beginning, and it's largely one that the medical profession is keen to fight, as all this great anecdotal stuff wasn't enough.
Perhaps the news media could run a new poll asking whether Kiwis believe that all drugs should be decriminalised. Helen and other HRCA bigwigs aren't willing to settle for decriminalisation, though: they want full legalisation or nothing. They chided me for pitching decriminalisation, but honestly that's something where we already know that 3/4 of NZ supports it. There isn't much polling data on legalisation that I've seen, so maybe that's something that the Drug Foundation could do...
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