The Stats

• 25.88 TB Footage

• 29,210 different files

• 11 months of work 

• 19 production days 

• 300+ hours of dailies

• 60+ days of post-production

Credits

Written & Directed By: Joshua Kirk
Senior Producer: Tom Soldan
Associate Producer: Lauren Ellis
Director of Photography: Joshua Kirk
Edited By: Joshua Kirk
Original Soundtrack: Jonny Higgins
1st Assistant Camera: Joshua Barry & Tim Williams
Underwater Camera: Kina Scollay
Drone Operators: Colin Aitchison, Jared Buckley, Joshua Kirk, Tim Williams, Joshua Barry 
Data Wrangler: Danielle Eagle
On Set Sound Operator: Isaac Stewart
Grip & Lighting: Tim Williams
Colourist: Matic Prusnik
Graphic Design: Ben Alden
Logo Animation: Jeremy Cooper
Distribution Facility: Department of Post
Addition Footage Supplied By: Lumiere Studios, Colin Aitchinson, Michael Bradley, Betty Wants In, Kathryn Sheldon
Digital Renders: Stan Janousek
Hair & Makeup: Asher Gibbins

Production Commentary

This project is our biggest to date, so we have recorded a little commentary for your entertainment to chat through a few more behind the scenes details while watching through the film with you. Coming soon!

Details

In April 2020, shortly after NZ had come out of lockdown from Covid-19, Ōra King approached us with a problem - due to the border closures, they were unable to gather chefs to NZ to take them on their regular familiarisation tours. These tours show chefs around the New Zealand King Salmon (NZKS) facilities to highlight all the work that goes into raising the best salmon in the world.

Learning about the Ōra King story provides assurance that every salmon received is not only going to be of the highest quality but is also sustainably produced. This journey is so much more than just an informative tour; it’s the foundation of a lifelong relationship between chefs and brand, and it builds trust and confidence.

We know the power of a good story, but the challenge with this project was to inspire the viewer as well as present a tonne of information in the process. We worked on a pitch to Ōra King and began work on our most audacious project to date. Over the next 6 months we worked through pre-production elements which included a lot of research, phone interviews, emails, meetings, location scouting, scheduling of production days, coordinating with multiple staff and contractors, which led us into 19 production days across the South Island.

We conducted over 30 interviews with staff, chefs and third party industry experts, filmed in 11 different locations locally with a focus on the 4x NZKS sites. In addition to those production days we also re-organised all the footage we’d collated from filming various projects for Ōra King over the past 2 years as well as sourcing additional archival footage from around the world. In total we have 25.88TB of data which is certainly making our server work a little harder than normal.

Once production was wrapped, the enormous task of post-production / editing began. Each of the 30+ interviews were transcribed then handed over to Joshua our director/editor to make sense of all the raw footage. Over the next 60+ days, the raw footage was shaped into the beautiful story of what is now ‘Ōra King - Our Story’. The beauty of this project is we now have a massive archival library to pull from for future projects as well as this long form story.

After 60+ days hidden away in the dark edit suite pictured above, Joshua emerged and we worked with our close friend Jonny Higgins, another Nelson local, who crafted an incredible original soundtrack which gave the visuals a new life. With Matic Prusnik’s final touch in the colour grade, we now have a film that we as a small team of 4 from Nelson are extremely proud of. Every working part of this production, bar a few historical & international clips, have been produced by people from the top of the south, and we’re really stoked about that.

So here it is, the final 30minute brand film showcasing the Ōra King story
that was launched in cinemas May 2021 in NZ. Enjoy!

Ora King - Our Story Documentary