Old Moon

The Story of Old Moon:

An unknown evil resides in the forest near a small town. In the midst of brutal murders, a young boy ventures into the forest in search of his missing cousin, believing she still lives. The boy’s father, Aden, groups together a motley crew to help find his son before the killer strikes again. None of them truly realise what awaits them on their journey. Who awaits them.

The idea behind Old Moon:

The aim of “Old Moon” is to tell the story of a group of people and how death has affected them all differently, either through guilt or grief. It’s about a father and son separated by their grief, and how they must find and understand each other in order to heal. There are supernatural elements built around the story of father and son, but the core of the film is the family dynamic and the darkness of death.

The film explores the themes of morality, guilt and grief. Each of the characters has been affected by the string of murders, and their actions are determined by these themes. The sense of morality is tested in the story when some characters have nothing or everything to lose. What are they willing to do in order to succeed?

The film is aimed at a varied target audience. Those who love fantasy, and the lore surrounding Lycanthropy will enjoy the story we’re trying to tell. The film takes inspiration from real-life stories such as “The Wolf of Bedburg”, where it was believed that lycanthropy was the cause of a series of horrific crimes. Those who grew up watching the cinema greats like “American Werewolf” and the classic Universal “Wolfman” will enjoy how we’re bringing this esteemed monster to life. Those who like layered narratives and complex characters will appreciate the different themes of “Old Moon” and the flawed characters that live within the story.

“Old Moon” will be an emotional and grounded story about guilt and grief that will leave you thinking about its characters and have you fearing what lies in the darkness watching. It’s everything you want out of a monster horror.

The team behind Old Moon:

The team behind “Old Moon” is a passionate and experienced crew, who have all previously worked together on “Willowstone”. We are all excited to work with each other once again to bring this story to life.

The Cast:

Ariki Erby - Returning from his incredible performance in "Willowstone", Ariki is teaming up with us once again, this time playing our protagonist Aden. Ariki is a renowned actor, having worked on hit shows such as Shortland Street, Emmerdale, and Wire in the Blood. We look forward to working with Ariki once again!

Mark Hadlow - Joining our cast is one of New Zealand's most prominent actors! Working on hits such as The Hobbit Trilogy, Meet The Feebles, Mortal Engines and the Billy T James Show, we are very excited to work with Mark to bring the character of Rewan to life!

The Crew:

Writer / Director - Tom Sweeney

Production Manager / 1st AD - Catherine Slow

DOP - Michael Lahood

1st AC - Connor Dempsey

Grip - Ryan Algar

Gaffer - Charlie Higgison

Grip/Gaff Assist - Joel Smollet

Continuity - Charlie Leeming

Sound Recordist - Kade Martin

Hair & Makeup - Lorian Skye Baker

Art Department - Michael Kenna

Music & Composition - Robbie Bevan

VFX - Capvista FX

How your support will help us:

In order to bring this story to life, we need your help funding it! Our current budget covers all our bases, but it’s going to take a big push to reach it! The funding will help go towards:

Transport: Our filming will be taking place at Waitarere Forest near Levin. We will need to hire a van to help get the cast and crew there, as well as pay for petrol for those who are travelling from outside of Wellington.

Location/Accommodation: Due to the filming location being outside of Wellington, we will be renting out Air BnB’s for all of our cast and crew for the duration of the film shoot.

Payment: We would love to pay our crew for the hard work and dedication that they’ll be putting into the film. Each one of them are great filmmakers, and I’d love to be able to compensate them for their time.

Food: We will be providing food for the cast and crew over the four-day shoot. We’ll need funds to help go towards purchasing the food and ingredients.

Gear: We’ll be paying our DOP and Sound Mixer for the use of their gear, as well as hiring top-of-the-line gear from Portsmouth like lighting, and lenses for the camera.

VFX: Our film is going to rely heavily on VFX as it’s a monster horror. We are contracting the up-and-coming VFX house Capvista to help bring our werewolf to life. We’d love to pay them for the many man-hours they’ll be spending making this fantasy world look real!

Thank you for checking out our project and helping us bring our vision to life! Please help spread the word, and if you’re able to donate, every dollar counts!