Hooked

Determined to gain his father’s respect, the only thing he truly wants, Tim (18 ), sneaks off into the night and arrives at a mysterious fishing spot. It is here he stumbles across an unhinged lighthouse wickie named Fergus who tells him of a mysterious creature that lives in the bay. 

About the film 

Hooked is a 12-minute fantasy thriller short film, structured for the 2023 New Zealand film festival circuit.

If we had to summarize “Hooked” in three words it would be, “ Fantastical, mysterious and Human”. We have whittled down a broad idea that was only backed by characters and aesthetics all the way into a short script. This will be our first experience with distributed films, as young filmmakers, we wanted to take a dive into our country's false sense of masculinity and the generational differences that exist. Looking at why young males try to fit into a harmful representation of what it means to be a man.

Our film has become a strong message for the poor representations and expectations placed upon kiwi males. Our coming of age story tells a tale that casts out the dangers of placing someone on a pedestal and the importance of what it means to be yourself. Hooked is a story about validation, respect, and toxic masculinity. The project is honest and true, highlighting stereotypical male representation and the struggle these harmful representations place on young kiwi audiences.

Its a coming of age story that is nestled and wrapped in a dramatic and inspirational journey of one young man's mission to find respect. The audience will be able to gain a new level of understanding of Tim as he is really a reflection of so many thoughts that cut through a young kiwi males, being unsure of their true selves, refusing to show any emotions and seeking validation, these are things that will resonate with a lot of people, not just young kiwi males. Hooked is heavily reliant on its themes and tone, to be the successful film we want to create. I believe the themes of false masculinity ,validation, and respect, will be a major draw to the New Zealand film audiences.

The weight of the film will fall on strong actors, production design, locations, and direction. To prepare for this, we have been doing extensive research into actors and their abilities to fit our roles, organized for our team to go on detailed location scouts, and attended workshops run by the directors and writers to help improve everyone’s capabilities. I believe this project will be a success, as both, a learning opportunity, and a stand-alone film.

Meet the team

So far, we have a small team consisting of incredibly talented creatives in all leadership roles. We have also had a lot of interest in ‘below the line positions’ from some impressive and ambitious second year students, who do not have a lot of experience or knowledge in these areas. All in all, creating a team of filmmakers ready to tackle this project.

Our goal for the filmmaking is for ambitious, genuine, and like-minded creative practitioners to work together, all bringing their expertise and creativity to produce an inspiring piece of cinema for New Zealand and the world to see.

Christopher Hansen  - Director & Co-writer 

Caitlin O'Hagan - Producer

Oliver Aldridge - D.O.P & Editor

Corban Coventry - Writer, Co-Editor & Colourist

Oliver Snow - Production Designer & First AD

Jakkob Hannay - B.T.S

Leo Hay-Chapman - First AC

A J Johnson - Sound Assist

Ethan Rivers - Art Department

Jacob Smith - Lighting Assist

Hooked is being created as a part of our final graduate project for our last year of Massey University. All the donations we receive will be used to help pay our amazing actors, feed our entire crew and most importantly for making our sea creature. We want to make a visually striking and emotionally beautiful film and it wouldn’t be possible without your generosity and kindness in donations