J.A.F.A. Episode Two: 20 Questions

Kia ora for one last time, kind backers.

When we first posted over a month ago, we were certain of our direction, but we were not certain that others would band together around us to make it happen. Turns out, we were right to make that leap of faith, because you came in and got our backs. 

The second episode of J.A.F.A. has made it from page, to set, and is now being refined in the post-production processes to get it onto screens. That's thanks to our writers and directors Red and Amy; our producers, Jessica, Lauren, Shannon, Ella and Luke; our production crew Daryl, Meggy, Louise, Daniel, Cedric, Jeri, Alice, Anne-Marie, Jackson, Maddie, Caitlin, Iona, Henry, Josh, Charlie, Clarissa, Faith, James, Harsh, Joey, Isiah, Imogen, Scott and Claire; our onscreen talent Karlton, Jessica, Jono, Lena and Jaime; and finally to you, our amazing backers.

We look forward to letting you know in the future about where this episode of J.A.F.A. ends up, and what our next adventures are.

With our eternal gratitude, e noho rā. 

Kia ora backers, and welcome to the final day of our campaign. It's crazy to find ourselves here after over a month of hard work getting ready to shoot, and then the shooting itself. More work lies ahead in post-production, but we are so grateful to have had you backing us through this, the most crucial part of the process with the majority of the cogs spinning and things which could go wrong. But they have all gone so, so well, we are happy to report.

Time for one last account from on set two weekends ago, but first, these photos, some candid shots which show how stunning the light in the location really was…

Here's the account from associate producer Ella Blake Brislen:

Best. Weekend. Ever.

I absolutely loved getting to know each and every person, new and old, whilst making incredible mahi together. It was a dream. Everyone made my job so easy and fun, I swear I've got abs from how much I laughed in between set-ups! By our second day, Henry and I were bantering about our height differences whilst Jackson, Anne, and I were dishing out nicknames left, right, and centre. Accidentally syncing up with Meggy whilst moving boxes around, play-flirting with Maddie and Shan over the RTs, and cheering on Cedric through our prop door are just some of the little bites of joy and fun we had throughout the weekend.

This crew made it, and they made it laughing, and we made it great and quickly too (cheering together when calling a picture wrap 30 minutes early on our last day together was the cherry on top) and we couldn't have done it without them.

Tomorrow, this will all be over. What a month it has been for us! Thank you, as always, for coming along on the ride. Ka kite!

Kia ora backers! Can you believe we only have two days to go until this campaign is over? We're still so chuffed that you got us over the line! We are just blown away by your kindness. You are making our dreams come true.

Today we have the second installment of the accounts from our weekend on set. First the photos, then the words...

Here's the account from Jess Bennett, producer and actor: 

As a production team member, I was stoked with how smoothly this project went. It was some incredibly hard mahi from everyone all the way from the beginning to our two shoot days, but everyone just put their heads down and got the work done

As an actor, I don't think I've ever been on a set that was so supportive and respectful of the work Karlton and I were doing on the day. This was an incredibly emotional script, and the two of us felt it, but we never would have been able to get to that space if the environment around us had been chaotic - I'm very grateful to the team for that.

I also have to highlight Ben and Amy's abilities as co-directors here, they were so polished with their communication it was practically like it was one person. Their direction was always just the right nudge in a certain direction and it was so easy to follow those adjustments.

And then finally I really have to highlight Mr Karlton Laing. A beast of an actor, he was so generous with his energy and what he gave to each take that performing opposite him was easy. He also puts down an absolutely incredible performance that I am so excited for everyone to be able to see when this film is all done! 

All this teamwork, practical learning, and fun - you made that possible. So thank you again, kind backers. We'll be back again soon with another update as we get closer to the end of this campaign.

Ka kite!  

Wow! What an amazing feeling it is to receive the email in our inbox today telling us that we've achieved our funding goal. We cannot thank you all enough. You are a part of the DNA of this project now, and integral to seeing ambitious and independent film in this country succeed, and for that, we hope you feel pride.

As a treat, here are some more candid shots from behind the scenes last weekend:

So what's next? Since we have five more days of campaign left  we're going to fully use the opportunity granted to us by Boosted, and implement a stretch goal. Any further funds we get will go towards these sorts of costs e.g. editing (expertise as well as software), music, and effects.

We'll be back on Sunday with more tales from the set. Until then, thank you, thank you, thank you eternally from the whole J.A.F.A. team.

Kia ora backers!

Well, here we are on the other side of filming now. That's right, we are wrapped for production - no need for our back up filming days. We got everything we needed on the weekend, and are now officially in the phase known as post-production.

Sunday went really well. We have so many photos and stories to share that we're going to split them over this update and the next. Without further ado, let's hear from the first couple of them, after these photos...

Account from writer-director Amy Workman: "Super productive weekend! I don't think I've ever been on a set that ran as smoothly as this one, honestly. It's sort of expected in film that you're going to be running a little behind pretty much every day, but we were running so far ahead on Sunday that we added like 5-7 shots that weren't even planned -  which also is just a testament to the creativity of the production team - namely Daryl, Henry and Meggy who are camera, lighting and art department respectively. They were really on top of it. It was a lot of spontaneity and some really pretty bonus shots that we weren't even expecting to get. Not to mention the performances from Jess and Karlton! This was the day where we had all of the heavy emotions and the biggest scenes in the film, and they absolutely brought it. They brought the game. Everyone on set was crying watching the takes. We could not be happier with the footage we got, and I could not be more excited to get it into post-production."

And producer Lauren Wilson had more to add about Sunday. They reported that the day was not without its challenges. With the high wind and cold weather on Sunday, the production team had their work cut out for them. They had to tie down the gazebo that the film unit was using, and make sure everyone stayed warm with clothing, hot drinks and water bottles. But as you can see, they all carried on and showed amazing teamwork, getting this mahi completed on time.

We have less than a week to go now before this campaign is over, and we only have 10% left to make our target. This is an all-or-nothing campaign, so if you were sitting on the fence about kindly throwing us some help, hopefully you can see now that we know what we're doing and that this film is really, truly a happening thing.

We'll be back on Saturday with more accounts and pictures from on set. Ka kite!

Kia ora backers, just a little update today as we are fully in the swing of things with filming. We wanted to update you on how the first day went yesterday, and then we'll come back to you with a full update later this week.

Producer Lauren said this from the set this morning: "Yesterday's shoot went really smoothly for a first day on a short film shoot. The zombies had a great vibe, and it was really quite physical. The only real challenges were when the rain and hail came in, and of course that always causes chaos, not only for unit but for shoot as well. We had some really funny moments of the zombies swordfighting in between shots, and they were having fun and staying warm, as it is quite a chilly shoot. We got some really amazing lighting and camera moments with Joey and Cara when they were running through the door, also when Joey was leaving to rejoin the zombies. We had some really beautiful hair and makeup and art department... Today we'll be dealing with high wind and it is a lot colder in the barn, so we've got hot water bottles and people trying to stay as warm as possible. We've got some really beautiful emotional moments for Cara and Joey that have come across beautifully on screen. Really, really enjoying the emotional capture of this script today." 

Looking forward to regaling you with further tales from the set later this week!

Kia ora backers, we've got a treat for you today. 

Last weekend, the stunties got together and rehearsed for the coming shoot. We've got photos below, and you can check out our Instagram account for a video of our stunt crew in action.

Here's writer-director Red's quick report on how the day went: "We brought the rehearsed concept to the on-set location and worked out how to apply the shape that we wanted to the limitations of the location. We had an awful lot of fun playing with the zombies, Jono, Lena and Jaime, and [Joey's actor] Karlton."

It sounds like they had a great time, and the team got a lot out of stunt choreographer Dan and Red’s leadership and combined love for stunt work.

Well... it's time. Next time we update you, it will be with news from the actual shoot itself. The team is prepared, quietly excited, and rearing to go. Time for some hard mahi, time for some good learning and teamwork, and time to get this show on the road.

See you again after the shoot!

Kia ora folks, and welcome to another update on our campaign. We're gearing up for those shoot days on the weekend, and can't wait to get started.

We've mentioned a few times that our zombies are a little different, but we haven't gone into too many specifics. So for those of you who are worldbuilding nerds, here's the post you've been waiting for...

8 facts about the zombies of J.A.F.A. 

(a non-exhaustive list - we want to hold a few secrets back for the future after all!)

1. These zombies don't seem to like running. Freshly turned ones still retain some strength and speed, but it looks as if they lose these qualities as they decay.
2. No trace of the people they once were remains. No personality, no memories, no intelligence. Just the rotting body.
3. The infection can spread through biting and the exchange of fluids - such as their horrific vomiting attack they deploy on their victims.
4.  J.A.F.A. zombies throw up a bloody dark red colour... because of their diet, of course...
5. No one yet knows exactly where the infection that causes zombification comes from. Some speculate it could be related to climate change, because it seems to be water-borne, so maybe the disease was trapped in the ice somewhere. This is why you'll see a lot of water protection gear on characters in J.A.F.A. e.g. umbrellas, raincoats, using duct tape to protect places and things from water. (It really doesn't help that New Zealand is such a wet country!)
6. When people first started getting sick and there were still scientists working on this, it looked as if it began with a bacterial disease which weakened the body and made the desire to drink water much stronger. Then, once the disease had done its deadly work, the parasite would take over, animate the body and look to infect more people.
7. There are rumours the disease might be able to be passed to other mammals. Without access to scientists and information broadcasting though, it's hard to say if this is true, and if so, how to stop it.
8. There is no known cure.

That's all for now. More later this week on the crew of the shoot, and then an update on the actual shoot itself. See you then!

Kia ora backers, and welcome to the second half of the campaign. Anyone still on the fence, please consider dropping in now before it's too late. With exactly 50% and 18 days to go, we are cautiously excited, and gearing up for our shoot days next weekend. Looking forward to updating you on that when we get there.

Meanwhile, today you get to meet our producers Shannon Freeman and Lauren Wilson.

Shannon is a recent graduate of the Unitec Performing and Screen Arts course, and has dipped her toes into different crew roles over the years. Starting as Art Department on Someone Will’s debut film Cream Donuts, stage managing Humble Cowboy’s Debut theatre performance Oi Fred and most recently being Costume designer on J.A.F.A Episode One, Shannon is extremely excited to add Assistant Producer for Episode 2 into her kete and for everyone to see the massive amounts of effort put into this episode.

J.A.F.A. drew Shannon in because of the potential for apocalyptic fiction to explore the best and worst of humanity. You see people going to great lengths to help each other, but you also see acts of vicious lawlessness. It's a place where people cling to family and friends while the world crumbles around them, making it such a potent genre to explore.

Producing is one of the toughest positions in film, with a large workload but barely any visibility to make up for it. Shannon is looking forward to seeing how it all works, and hoping to balance both fun and sticking to schedule in her approach.

Would she survive the zombie apocalypse? She sincerely doubts it. In fact she'd probably pass out in a high adrenaline situation e.g. merely seeing a zombie.

Lauren is an award winning creative artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau. As the Kiwi part of Kiwi Americano Productions, Lauren is excited to produce alongside the amazing Someone Will Production and their fantastic team with Amy on hand as a co-director. Lauren is excited to jump into the beautiful script of 20 Questions and explore the themes and relationship Red has created. They are also excited to be mentoring and boosting young and diverse creatives in this industry while telling uniquely kiwi stories. 

Having produced for a couple of years now, Lauren appreciates the balance of this team, both in co-working with Shannon, but also in the combination of very experienced people and new blood. It's going to be magic to see it all come together. 

They were drawn to J.A.F.A. as a production for many reasons, including the commitment to inclusivity and diversity on the team, and love of the genre. Lauren prefers comedies like Shaun of the Dead to the truly scary stuff, but they especially love the mix of tragedy and comedy in J.A.F.A., and the tender humanity of this script in particular. They are looking forward to seeing what Karlton and Jess bring to the screen, and how the team brings the Kiwi version of the zombie apocalypse to life.

Speaking of, would they survive? Lauren has fitness and resources, but wonders if it would be worth surviving the loss of family, friends, and life's small pleasures, such as a stress-free trip to the beach.

You can keep up with Lauren here and Shannon here.

In just a week's time, we'll be on location making the magic happen! We can't wait to regale you with tales from the set. In the meantime, thanks as always for your kind support.

Ka kite!

Kia ora and greetings to backers (and those still snooping around and thinking about it - haere mai, come aboard!)

We are at 49%! This is so massive. Thank you so much for your generous support.

Today we profile actor and producer Jessica Bennett, who will portray Cara in 20 Questions.

Born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau, Jessica is a multi-faceted performer and creative, working in both stage and screen. Graduating from Unitec in 2021, she has thrown herself into the industry, working as an actor, director, writer, producer, and other crew roles. Jessica is one of the artistic directors for Someone Will Productions, and is incredibly excited to be able to help bring this story to the screen as both cast and crew. Jessica is also a proud Equity member, and part of the Equity Youth Committee.

To Jessica, Cara is a character who is practical and always planning. Her brain is always in action as she fights to survive in a hostile world. She would have had a rough time before meeting Joey, but now he's her person, the one she'd do anything for. They've seen dark things together, and have a deep camaraderie. 

That's what makes it so heartbreaking, what happens during the course of Episode 2. Jessica is looking forward to the challenge of presenting someone who is both trying to be present for her friend, who also can't help but try to find a solution to this impossible problem. Beyond that, Jessica loves the fact that the wider world of J.A.F.A. presents her and all the other creatives working on it the chance to explore loads of different angles on the zombie apocalypse.

If Jessica found herself in the zombie apocalypse, she would want to be the planner and delegator in a well-rounded team of survivors, planning journeys and assessing risks. She would hate to be on her own. Bunkering down in a mall has its appeal, but she worries about all the glass that could get smashed, so maybe somewhere big and concrete like Costco might be more her thing.

You can keep up with Jess here on Instagram.

We're coming up fast on the halfway mark of our campaign. We'd be so grateful if you could share it to anyone you think might be interested in supporting us. Thank you again for your kind support.

Ka kite!

Kia ora folks and welcome to another J.A.F.A. update. Today we profile Karlton Laing, who will play the role of Joey.

Karlton is an accomplished actor and stunt performer with a dynamic career spanning 10+ years in film, television, and theater. Bringing a unique blend of physical prowess and narrative depth to storytelling, Karlton is ideally suited to drive the vision of Joey in J.A.F.A, a role which demands authenticity, grit, and emotional resonance. Some of Karlton’s recent credits include: Heart Eyes, Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, Ahi and the Stars, M3GAN 2.0, various Viva La Dirt League episodes, and the soon to be released Chief of War. Karlton is drawn to the dystopian genre for its ability to explore human resilience, moral ambiguity and narratives that challenge audiences to confront some uncomfortable truths. With all these things at the helm, Karlton is poised to bring this dystopian short film to life, utilising his acting and stunt experience to create a gripping, authentic narrative that, he hopes, will resonate with audiences.

When looking at the character of Joey, Karlton sees a man who is resilient and has endured many hardships. He lost everything in the apocalypse, and was dehumanized in many ways (except for the main way, being zombified) but when he met up with Cara, all that changed. With everyone and everything else he remains tough as nails, but with her, he allows his humanity and vulnerability to come through.

Karlton is very excited by the possibilities that the world of J.A.F.A. presents. He loves that the zombies are a bit different: they might still possess some form of intelligence; they appear to be parasitic; they use spitting bile as a vector of infection. All of that is a change from the usual zombie norms. As an actor, Karlton is looking forward to exploring the dual drives of Joey in these final moments: can Joey keep his panic under control for the sake of Cara, while also facing down the end of his own life? It's going to be a fun challenge for him, portraying someone who is a man of action usually, but is brought to a screeching halt in this one moment of resignation to fate.

When asked what he would do in the zombie post-apocalypse, Karlton would look to fortify one of three locations: either a boat out at sea, somewhere up high, or a supermarket/mall so long as the points of entry were highly defensible. 

You can keep up with Karlton on his Instagram.

We're looking forward to sending Karlton's portrayal of Joey out into the world someday. Thanks again for your support and attention. 

Ka kite!

Kia ora backers,

Thanks again for your epic support! Today we want to tell you about co-director and co-writer Amy Workman, and to give you an update on the big milestone we just passed: the table read with the actors.

Hailing from Los Angeles, Amy is an international film professional with over a decade of experience. Amy last worked with Red, Jess, and Lauren on her own short film, Adventure's End, a Kiwi Americano Production, and she is thrilled to be working alongside them once more to bring this episode of J.A.F.A. to life (and undeath). As a writer, Amy loves to dig into dialogue and subtext, making this grounded drama the perfect project for her to collaborate on with Red. With acting experience on projects like Teen Wolf, Frasier, American Housewife, and Heart Eyes, she also has a wide range of directing tools in her belt, and specializes in working closely with actors to ensure a safe and creative environment where spontaneity can thrive.

Amy came into the industry as an actor, but with her sights set on writing and directing. She has more of a comedy background, which might seem strange for working in horror and post-apocalyptic material. But both comedy and horror share a major element in common: timing is absolutely vital to make both jokes and scares land. Amy strongly believes that the contrasts of light and dark in any work are the secret sauce to bring out the best in any material.

She is looking forward to the visual challenges that filming J.A.F.A. will present, and loves the way that the worldbuilding of J.A.F.A. is different from other pieces of zombie fiction (more on the world in another update later in the campaign!). Another thing she can’t wait for is getting to shoot day, and going deep into the material with the actors.

Amy is not your typical zombie film fan, but to her, that’s going to make the film stronger. She reckons all film should come from a love of story first, before taking genre into consideration, and she is passionate about the storytelling going on in this world, even if it’s not a world she would have ever foreseen herself working in.

If you want to know more about Amy, check out her Instagram. Also you can check out some video conversations between Amy and Ben about this project over here.

And now for a mini-update: Last night was our table read. The actors and production crew have all made sure they’re on the same page so we can hit the ground running. The team will now spend the next (slightly less than) three weeks gearing up for the shoot day. Those days will just fly by, and we’ll find ourselves on set real soon.

Thanks again for your steadfast support. Ka kite!

Kia ora backers,

Wow, what an opening week for our campaign! You’re all so amazing and generous, we can never thank you enough.

Today, let’s meet co-director and co-writer Benjamin “Red” Forrester.

Red has been writing since the age of 13 and working in the film industry since 19. They were lead writer for SWP’s debut film, Cream Donuts, have self-published a queer fantasy book titled In Foolish Company, and work as a stunt performer in the NZ film industry. Having produced the last two SWP productions, Red eagerly pitched this project with themself as co-director alongside Amy Workman, to learn more about the role of director and to bring the script to life in the most hands-on way possible. 

Life in an undead world is often portrayed so monotonically. In 20 Questions, Red wanted to come at the post-apocalypse from a different angle, to find “comfort in the unease and bring discomfort to the comfortable,” as well as broach the subject of meaning, in a world where food, water, and shelter are the only real concerns. This short film presents a moment in time which so many of us seek, but so often lack the appropriate context to achieve: asking the people closest to us the hard questions, and baring our hearts for them to hold.

On the practical side of things, Red really loves the fact that the post-apocalyptic genre gives them the chance to use a lot of ordinary environments and objects around us. In taking regular New Zealand and making it desolate, they get to play with tone in so many ways, be it through the script, the direction, the physical settings, the lighting, post-production effects and more. Furthermore, it allows Red the scope to fit another of their favourite trademark film elements in: that being stuntwork. As a stuntperson themself, they appreciate the oft-misused tool of action as a narrative device. It’s not just there for spectacle, although that is part of the equation. Action with intention on screen can tell you so much about story, character, tone, you name it.

You can find out more about Red here @reds.stuntwork (Instagram) 

Red can’t wait to get started - and you’re the ones responsible for giving them the ability to achieve these big dreams, so thank you. Stay tuned for our next update, where we introduce the other half of our director-writer duo, Amy Workman. If you can’t wait, check out our Instagram where Ben and Amy have been having conversations about the project on video.

Ka kite anō!

Kia ora backers,

Thank you once again for having our backs as we gear up to shoot Episode Two of J.A.F.A. 24% of our target in three days - we're absolutely chuffed! Thank you so much for bringing our dreams so much closer to reality.

Please feel free to share any of these updates, or our Boosted page itself, with anyone you think might be interested in backing out mahi. We're also on Instagram and TikTok, if you want to share our posts there - see further down for our handles.

If you missed out on our first update, you can always pop over here to read it. In that, we give a bit more background on the story of Episode Two. Today, our update is all about the two production companies working on this short film.

Someone Will Productions is composed of Jessica Bennett, Benjamin "Red" Forrester, Ella Blake Brislen, and Luke Weerdenburg. The company was formed organically around the short film Cream Donuts, which we worked on in 2022 and 2023. You can watch that here. Since it all worked out so well, we decided to go again, this time working on the short film which would later become Episode 1 of J.A.F.A - because we didn't know at first that the world would grip us and drag us back into it for more. That's right: the first episode was meant to be a standalone. But as more and more ideas came flooding in, and we realised that we could achieve a larger-than-life apocalypse on a relatively low budget compared to other genres, the team decided to stick together and have it become an anthology series. And now here we are, gearing up for the second episode in what we hope will be a long and happy string of stories to tell.

You can follow Someone Will Productions for more about all our projects past, present and future, on Instagram or on TikTok.

Kiwi Americano Productions formed in 2023 around the short film Adventure's End, which is currently in post-production. Founded by Lauren Wilson and Amy Workman, they brought it together to tell stories that celebrated the diversity of Aotearoa. They knew the Someone Will crew from Amy having been an actor on Episode 1 of J.A.F.A., and various members of Someone Will taking roles both on and off screen for Adventure's End. Someone Will reached out to collaborate on Episode 2, and now the teams are working together to bring this work to life.

You can find Kiwi Americano Productions on Instagram or on TikTok.

Thanks again for your support. It means the world to us to have you at our backs. Ka kite!

Kia ora to our earliest supporters!

Thank you so much for jumping right on to our campaign on the very first day. It means everything to us that you believe in what we're doing enough to back us so early. $150 in just 12 hours - thank you so much, that's truly epic. 

We're looking forward to regaling you for the next five weeks with our regular updates. It's not just going to be gushing like the above. No, we have a whole five week calendar of details to deliver to those who want to know. 

In today's update, let's deep dive into the story of Episode Two: '20 Questions'...

Joey and Cara make it to a house in the apocalyptic wasteland, with zombies hot on their heels. In their tussle to slam the door shut, Joey is injured and infected. Feeling the unstoppable transformation taking over his body, he asks Cara to let him die in the manner of his choice: not screaming, bleeding, wailing. Just talking.

Writing and directorial team Ben and Amy (who you will get to know a little better soon in the coming update where we interview them) wanted to explore another aspect of the J.A.F.A. setting in this second episode. It was already established that this was Aotearoa in the zombie apocalypse. And we like to subvert things a little bit down this end of the world, don't we? The previous episode showed a small, silly moment in a fairly average day for two survivors. This time we wanted to do something a little higher in stakes, still showcasing the human and the domestic... just with the zombie apocalypse as the setting.

The zombie genre is full of men making heroic sacrifices to save their families, or communities, or even just one other survivor. So what if we took that trope, and subverted it by making poor Joey's death ultimately not all that special, except perhaps to him and Cara? After all, so many of us don't get a big dramatic death where we are glorified afterwards as a sort of martyr. Even if his circumstances seem extreme, Joey's doing something so normal and human, as we all must do some day. We're lucky if we get as much choice as he does.

The script is gripping and tender, and we cannot wait to bring it to life for you.

Thank you again for your support!