Shorty shoots in Raro

Thursday 26: A few locals will get speaking roles and even more will be extras in next week’s filming of a Shortland Street episode in Rarotonga.

A large production crew of about 20 will soon be here along with a few of the star cast from Shortland Street.

Fans of the show – keep an eye out for the cast this weekend. It is the first time Rarotonga has been used as a filming location for the popular show.

Already five pre-production members of the New Zealand crew are on the island gearing up for about four to five days of shooting at various locations next week.

Line producer Jill Bailey says locals aren’t just being cast in the show – there is also about ten of them working with the production crew.

Serena Cowan is the extras coordinator and along with the second assistant director Kylie McCaw, they went through the audition process with about 20 locals yesterday.

Maurice (Mo) Townsend is the location/unit manager, after having a similar role on the crew of the children’s series Paradise Café filmed here recently.

Cook Islander Moe Hobbs is the first assistant director and is relied upon for getting a lot of the scenes planned out just right.

Director Wayne Tourell says the week of filming will be used to produce a whole episode of Shortland Street devoted to a romance story line in Rarotonga.

Tourell says no one will be murdered in the episode but there will be a lagoon accident which needs attention.

Yesterday he went on an Air Rarotonga scenic flight and some footage was made for the show. Tourell says they will use several locations around Rarotonga for different scenes. He says rain or shine they are looking forward to a great week of shooting ahead.

He and Bailey said the assistance given by CI Tourism’s Papatua Papatua and Kelly Hansen has been invaluable. - HG