Blind Bitter Happiness - By Peter Feeney

Blind Bitter Happiness is a TV series pilot written by actor Peter Feeney, based on his novel of the same name.

While most of New Zealand is relaxing at the beach, our amazing cast and crew will be cashing in their holiday to help us achieve our goal: to film Episode 1 of Blind Bitter Happiness as a TV pilot in January of 2021. With this proof of concept episode complete, we want to make it easier for any broadcaster to give the thumbs up to our series. But failing that, we’ll go back and film Episode 2 in May 2021 and stream the two episodes as a seven part web series direct to the public.

Along the way, our production will give great learning opportunities to young crew and talent in Auckland. Experienced industry professionals, like actors Lisa Harrow and Peter Feeney, DOP Grant McKinnon and Nigel McCulloch as Head Producer, are mentoring and sharing their know-how with our emerging crew and actors.

Our story takes place in Auckland’s North Shore - revolving around the passionate and explosive nine-year-old Scarlett Fahey and her family – and we are fully enrolling the North Shore acting mafia, employing the acting talents of Andy Granger, Lisa Chappell, and more. We will also be unleashing some fresh teen talent from Peter’s own Acting Studio, The Actors Lab!

We’ve already done the hard yards in pre-production, and now have key cast, crew and locations confirmed – with more to follow (we’ll keep you updated on this page!) All of these amazing people are working for free. But we still need to cover essential costs, such as catering, equipment, petrol, costumes, shooting permits, art department props – and more.

Your support is hugely appreciated and will allow us to make something fresh, funny and unflinching: NZ TV has never seen anything quite like this.

The Team:

Peter Feeney (Writer & Director)

Peter brings a long experience in acting to his teaching: he is a professional actor based in Auckland and Melbourne, who has acted in TV, film & theatre since 1994 and taught actors since 2001. He is director of The Actors Lab Studio, a boutique Screen Acting School in Auckland, is a tutor in The Actors Program and an acting coach. He’s performed in theatre in New Zealand and Australia and worked with Cicely Berry (Royal Shakespeare Company), Bob Benedetti (US Emmy Award winning Television producer and Broadway Theatre Director), Rob Marchand and Dean Carey. Notable credits over a long career include the Kiwi zombie hit Black Sheep; Australian mini-series A Difficult Woman, UK TV’s Cold Feet, as well as numerous Australian and US TV shows & tele-features. In 2019, he was a series regular on ‘Playing for Keeps’ (now screening on TVNZ) and a guest on the NZ-Canadian co-production ‘The Sounds.’ He is a recurring character on the iconic Kiwi TV series ‘Brokenwood.’

Peter has worked as a theatre director and casting director. He is a published author. His first book Blind Bitter Happiness was serialised on Radio NZ and in Metro magazine, and his second book, Acting and How to Survive it, a Handbook for actors, was published this year. In 2020 he adapted Blind Bitter Happiness for TV. His third book, and second novel, The Moon-Watcher, is due out in 2021.

Grant McKinnon (DOP)

Grant is a well established DOP through out New Zealand having worked on Head High, Filthy Rich and Brutal Lives to name a few. Grant enjoys the collaborative process between director and DOP, and believe his strength is understanding of the camera as the "unseen actor". Grant looks forward to collaborating with Peter and upskilling emerging talent throughout the duration of the shoot.

Jonathan King (Advisor to Director)

Ex-graphic designer Jonathan King learnt about filmmaking while directing more than 100 music videos, including NZ Music Awards best video nominee Behold My Kool Style. King’s feature debut was 2007 comedy horror hit Black Sheep, about GE sheep run amok. It screened around the world. He followed it with an adaptation of Maurice Gee sci fi classic Under the Mountain, and self-funded twister REALITi. He is currently working on a few international projects like Stillwater starring Matt Damon.

Nigel McCulloch (Head Producer)

Is one of the three who created 'Thedownlowconcept' which is one of New Zealand’s most prolific comedy production companies. It has been successfully creating comedy for television and radio for the past thirteen years. Nigel has been apart of the team that brought us 7 Days, New Zealand’s most successful comedy panel show now into its 7th season. The company has written, directed and produced three scripted comedy series Hounds (2012) and Coverband (2014) as well as feature film Gary of the Pacific in 2017.

Our Emerging Crew

Our emerging crew consist of four individuals who have some experience in screen production, but are hoping to understudy our industry professionals. This team is Brogan Wilkinson (Junior Producer), Sam McKillen (Editor), Thomas Fink-Jenson (Cast Coordinator) and Emma Campbell (Acting Coach). The aim is to up skill these individuals so they can take on a more senior role in later episodes of the series.

If you want to find out more, you can read the show bible via this link.