Bottle Money

Bottle Money is a film that will speak to those with a big heart that beats for the vulnerable. Help us make it happen!

About our film

Bottle Money – As 16-year-old Nelson protects his siblings from the chaos of their unstable mum, he must decide: how much longer can he stand to love her?

Bottle Money is a short drama in the kitchen-sink realism style that takes viewers inside the world of Nelson, a young man forced to care for siblings Leroy and Ramona, due to the erratic behaviour of their alcoholic mother. Having experienced a traumatic state intervention before, Nelson’s mission is to keep up his family from being torn apart and protect his family.

Although we want Bottle Money to be a realistic ‘slice of life’ with serious and sensitive themes, the heart of the film reflects the idea that love is the most important element for a child’s well-being.

We want to place you, the audience, directly into the frustrating world and vulnerability of the situation. By seeing the world through Nelson’s young eyes, we discover the complexity of family life and the weight of his responsibility.

We plan to develop Bottle Money into a feature film.

Why we need your help

Bottle Money has been in development for three years and the script was shortlisted for the New Zealand Film Commission Fresh Shorts Funding 2021, narrowly missing out on funding. Our team is now committed to telling this story, but we need your help.

The script is polished, the locations are ready. Your support is needed!

Your donations will go towards our production costs during the shoot, including paying our talented cast and crew and feeding them. The donations will also pay for the post production, like editing, sound edit and colour grading etcetera.

We really appreciate any help you can give us. We believe this project is strong enough to get into big international film festivals. It’s a project that will further our filmmaking careers. 

Why we need to tell this story

Our story will speak to those who have been neglected, to those who as young people longed for stability, love and care and who felt confused about things they couldn’t control.

The Team Behind Bottle Money

Writer/Director – Rebekah Tyler, graduate of The Directors' Program at TAP.

Producer – Madison Smith

Executive Producer – Emma Mortimer

Director of Photography – Jack Barry

Casting Director – Tim Carlsen

Acting Coach – David Van Horn

Acting Coach/Chaperone Emma Campbell

Intimacy Co-ordinator – Romy Hooper

Director's Assistant – Thomas Fink-Jensen

Production Team – Miles Muir, Alice Pearce, Jono Capel-Baker, Anna Dawson, Fiona Ironside and Molly Curnow

Cast:

Mum – Romy Hooper

Nelson – Jack Tyler

Baz – Troy Kingi

Luna – Davida McKenzie

Eli – Tom Robson

Plus we have two amazingly talented young actors playing Ramona and Leroy!

Thank you!

All donors will be named in the credits and we appreciate any donation that you can offer.

All donations go via the Arts Council and are tax deductible.

To help us even further - please share this page with your networks. People can only give their support if they know about our film. Please help us spread the word!