The Long Drop

THE FEATURE FILM

The Topp Twins and their cast of characters have been making Kiwis laugh for decades - and gathered a significant audience overseas. A Documentary Feature about their lives, The Topp Twins Untouchable Girls, broke NZ box office records and won awards around the world. Now they are ready to make the Comedy of their lives - and stand up again for what they believe in - the protection of NZ's water. This film is destined to become a Kiwi Classic.

It's the year 2022 and Kenny Boy Moller (Lynda Topp)  - high country sheep farmer and volunteer fire fighter - spends the morning making the heartbreaking decision to sell his family farm, the afternoon failing to put out a raging fire at his best mate Ken Smythe's (Jools Topp) house and the evening building a long drop toilet. It's a shit of a day. Kenny Boy's beloved community of Mollerville, a small rural village in the South Islands high country, has run out of water.

It's not all roses for Nigel Nutley, the town mayor, either. He's spent all the council funds building a traditional Russian Spa and Beauty Parlour for his recently wed mail order bride Natalia. With no money to supply the locals with fresh water they are reduced to drinking recycled dairy industry water and to showering in portable showers in the town square.  The pub's run dry. The bowling green is brown and Mollerville's famous flowerbeds are dead.   The community, well those who haven't fallen ill with the nasty tummy bug going round, is up in arms.

Ken Smythe is Mollerville's local journo with New Zealand ambitions and a flair for global cuisine. With his house burnt to the ground he moves onto Kenny Boy's farm to help get it ready for market on the promise he'll never cook flamb�ed Bomb Alaska again. The two bachelor boys, OCD Ken and hoarder Kenny Boy are an incompatible match but Ken's not here for long.  Armed with all the latest film equipment he's preparing to hit the world as a one-man film unit, specializing in natural disasters.   And as the water crisis in Mollerville accelerates Ken enthusiastically leads the media frenzy.

The discovery of a giant aquifer, brimming with pure liquid gold, should solve all of Mollerville's problems. Instead, as Kenny Boy and Ken attempt to unite their community, far greater forces come into play. With Los Angeles sinking into the Pacific, China in flood and Australia on fire Mollerville becomes a war zone.    It's a war over water.

Kenny Boy has never aspired to leave his beloved South Island but the world comes to him. And as environmental protestors from around New Zealand and the globe gather on Kenny Boy's farm, he becomes part of a multi-cultural and life changing adventure.  Whether they win the fight or not Kenny Boy knows two things for sure. His family land has found a new family and he's going to start farming grasshoppers.

 THE TEAM

The Long Drop will be written and directed by Felicity Morgan-Rhind, who has made award-winning commercials and short-films, and directed the Topp Twins in three series of TOPP COUNTRY. Lynda and Jools Topp will bring their comedic genius and story-telling skills to the table too. It will be a collaborative effort to create this story for the large screen. 

Producer is Arani Cuthbert, the Topp Twins long-time manager and producer. Some of NZ's best film crew will work on the film, including Editor Chris Plummer (In My Father's Den, Boy) and well-known Kiwi actors will also feature. (Watch this space for more).

UNIQUE KIWI-NESS

The Topp Twins, and their altar-egos, represent quintessential Kiwi qualities, such as honesty and standing up for what's right. They make us look and laugh at ourselves, as only great comedians can. The film celebrates our unique NZ character, our connection to the land and what it means to be part of a family, and a community.

The Long Drop is a parable of our times. Water is becoming a very contentious subject, and big dairying has been found to be a major driver of drought in places like Canterbury and Hawkes Bay. Mollerville, a fictional rural town, is a microcosm of NZ society. While big contemporary issues, such as water quality and control, gender fluidity and acceptance, are tackled within our story, we will steer away from cliches and sterotypes that are often thrown up whenever alternative realities come together. Although the film deals with a serious subject it will nevertheless be a hilarious and entertaining romp through the New Zealand countryside.

One unique quality of "Kiwi-ness" that has often been identified is an acceptance of difference : as a nation we have a progressive record in terms of gender politics. The Topps have mined this seam of tolerance throughout their careers and are the ideal ambassadors of diversity. While they have created cross-gender comedy characters that challenge usual stereotypes, their target audience is most definitely middle New Zealand.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We invite your participation in bringing this special film to life. We are now running a 60-day donation-based crowdfunding campaign to raise $25,000 to go towards writing and workshopping the script.

Ideally though we would LOVE to raise $50,000 then we could really fast-track the film.  This will ensure that we commence principal photography in the South island next March. Your generous donation will go towards development expenses for the film, such as script writer fees, location recces and travel / accommodation costs for our Team to get this baby off the ground.

Please help us reach our target by making a tax-deductible donation to our campaign. 

Boosted is an all-or-nothing platform, meaning that if we don't reach our target in 60 days, we won't receive a single dollar.

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!

THANK YOU

In recognition of your valuable contribution, you will receive our eternal gratitude and be kept informed of our progress throughout the making of the film and its release. All donors will be offered a credit of thanks on the film's official website. 

Thank you for taking the time to check out our campaign. We are grateful for your support in helping us make THE LONG DROP a reality! Kia ora!