World Premiere of Billy T: Te Movie

MEDIA RELEASE June 2

World Premiere of Billy T: Te Movie
to open Hoyts Cinemas, Te Awa at The Base

The World Premiere of Billy T: Te Movie on August 15th is the opening highlight of Hoyts Cinemas state-of-the-art complex in Te Awa at The Base in Hamilton. The Base is the single largest and newest retail centre in New Zealand and is the flagship investment of Tainui Group Holdings. The multi-million dollar Hoyts cinema complex boasts the most state-of-the-art cinemas in the country with full digital capacity. The premiere of Billy T: Te Movie will be attended by special guests including business and tribal leaders, celebrities, filmmakers, politicians and Billy’s family, friends and colleagues who feature in the film, as well as some well-known comedians – winners of the Billy T Award over the years.

Andrew Cornwell, General Manager of Sony Pictures NZ, the film’s distributor, says he is delighted the film has been selected for this honour. “It is exciting to have this wonderful film for kiwis of all ages to open Hoyts’ new cinema complex. It’s very appropriate since Billy is of Tainui descent and is buried with his ancestors on nearby Taupiri Mountain.” Taupiri is the most sacred mountain of Tainui.

Following the premiere, the film will be released in cinemas nationwide on August 18th, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Billy’s death.

Billy T: Te Movie celebrates the life of the legendary Billy T James, New Zealand’s best-loved entertainer. The film explores Billy’s extraordinary talent as musician, singer, comedian, actor, writer and artist . . . it even attempts to uncover the source of his trademark giggle. With humour and love, the film tells of Billy’s meteoric rise to national fame and his tragic downfall into ill-health and financial collapse.

Featuring digitally re-mastered footage of Billy’s performances and never-seen-before archival images, Billy T’s story is set alongside interviews with his family, friends and colleagues. Audiences will leave with laughter in their hearts and tears in their eyes

The film is directed by Ian Mune (What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?) and produced by Tom Parkinson and Robert Boyd-Bell through their company BTJ Movie Ltd. It is financed by the New Zealand Film Commission, NZ On Air and distributor Sony Pictures. The script is by Mune and Phil Gifford (one of the writers of the original Billy T James Show), research by Dianne Lindesay and Kaitiaki (Maori liaison) is Tearepa Kahi (Taua). Director of photography is Waka Attewell (Starlight Hotel), production designer Rob Gillies (The World’s Fastest Indian), costume designer Gavin McLean (The Maori Merchant of Venice) and editor Margot Francis (Memory & Desire), and the composer is long-time NZ music identity Bernie Allen with post-production at Images & Sound Post.

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