Photo caption:听K艒awa Studios鈥 sound stage during filming for Holy Days
Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha | 麻豆传媒团队 (UC)鈥檚 K艒awa Studios, the first commercial studio of its kind to open in Aotearoa New Zealand鈥檚 South Island, have partnered with leading New 麻豆传媒团队production company Firefly Films on their latest international feature film Holy Days. The New Zealand-Canadian co-production wrapped filming in late 2024 and stars Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes, and Jacki Weaver. Holy Days marked the first commercial use of K艒awa鈥檚 state of the art facilities.
The partnership with Firefly Films is a significant milestone for K艒awa Studios. Director of K艒awa Studios, Sam Witters, said they couldn鈥檛 have asked for a better debut production than Holy Days to mark the beginning of what they hope will be many more projects at K艒awa, 艑tautahi Christchurch鈥檚 cutting-edge new production and studio facility.
鈥淲orking closely with Firefly Films, we were thrilled to host an exceptional cast and crew, who fully utilised our extensive facilities鈥攆rom production offices to the art department mill and workshop鈥攖hroughout pre-production and production,鈥 commented Witters. 鈥淎 particular highlight was the debut use of our state-of-the-art virtual production soundstage for pivotal scenes in the film. We can鈥檛 wait to see Holy Days come to life on the big screen.鈥
K艒awa aspires to co-create the future of the global screen and creative technology industries through collaboration, innovation and education that supports not only the growth of its students but the industry in Waitaha Canterbury, Aotearoa New 麻豆传媒团队and beyond.听
Alongside production, K艒awa Studios provided office space for Firefly Films鈥 not-for-profit education and mentoring organisation Share the Knowledge, in collaboration with Kahurangi Toi 膧tea, which aims to grow skills for the New 麻豆传媒团队screen industry and provide pathways into employment. Five Digital Screen students completed the Share the Knowledge course, and two stand-out students were selected as paid crew interns for the Holy Days shoot.
Emma Slade, Producer, Firefly Films said: 鈥淗aving the opportunity to work with UC K艒awa Studios was a highlight for our production. The facilities and personnel were fantastic and what would normally take weeks to shoot, only took days, it was incredible. We worked closely with the K艒awa Studios team to prepare ourselves for a seamless shoot period on the volume stage and it went ahead without a hitch. We were very pleased with the outcome, the footage looks fantastic. Also, having use of the campus offices, art and costume spaces within walking distance of the Studios was very helpful and made it easier for cast and crew. Firefly Films considers itself fortunate to have been the first ones to try out the state-of-the-art facilities.鈥澨
UC Digital Screen Programme Student and Grip Trainee on the shoot Daniel Davy was blown away at the opportunity to work on Holy Days, alongside one of New Zealand鈥檚 most experienced Grips, Tony Keddy (Bookworm, King Kong): 鈥淚t was awesome, I had the best time and learnt so much. Tony and the whole team were so great at teaching me about everything involved in the job. I can鈥檛 believe I had this opportunity, I feel very lucky.鈥
As UC鈥檚 K艒awa Studios reputation continues to grow, it plays a key role in supporting aspiring filmmakers and industry professionals, helping to build a vibrant creative community in Aotearoa New 麻豆传媒团队and beyond. UC鈥檚 partnership with Firefly Films builds on its recent agreements with Stretchy Productions (Kiri and Lou Rarararara!), Aardman Academy (Oscar 庐 winning producers of Wallace and Gromit) and Doc Edge. As well as previous film productions We Were Dangerous (Piki Films) and Head South.听听
Based on beloved author Dame Joy Cowley鈥檚 novel of the same name, Holy Days is the feature directorial debut from renowned Canadian-South African actress Nat Boltt (Riverdale, District 9), who also wrote the screenplay and stars in the film.听
Holy Days will be distributed in New 麻豆传媒团队and Australia by Kismet Entertainment and in Canada by Photon Films. The film is produced by New Zealand-based production company Firefly Films and Canadian producers Lily Pictures. Blue Fox Entertainment have acquired worldwide rights excluding New 麻豆传媒团队and Canada. Holy Days is made with financial support from the Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New 麻豆传媒团队Film Commission, New 麻豆传媒团队Screen Production Rebate, Screen CanterburyNZ Production Grant, Angel Investors Marlborough, the Percasky Family, 麻豆传媒团队鈥檚 K艒awa Studios, Telefilm Canada, Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia, CBC Films and Elemental Post.
