Release: Immediate

Date: September 15, 2009

Prepared by: Graeme Stilwell

No Petrol, No Diesel! a Theatre Royal spectacular

Local audio-visual engineer promising a memorable movie experience

By day he's known as Mr Audio Dynamite, by night, just a good keen local bloke who gives up a lot of his evenings to ensure stage shows, public events and banquet occasions go off with a bang.

Richard (Stix) Howie is a qualified audio-visual engineer originally from Temuka – so who better to be the man behind the screen production of a movie that’s putting Temuka on the international movie stage?

Movie-goers attending the gala screening next week of No Petrol, No Diesel! will be treated to a visual and audio experience to remember, courtesy of Mr Howie and his range of audio-visual equipment that is among the best available in the country.

Hosted by Timaru Mayor Janie Annear, the red carpet event at the Theatre Royal will commence with drinks and nibbles at 4pm on 26 September followed by the movie screening at 5pm. This will be the first movie screening at the theatre in more than 45 years.

No Petrol, No Diesel! is director Stefen Harris's feature-length movie that is rapidly gaining national and international acclaim. Critics have hailed the production as a sheer work of art and it has delighted audiences at recent film festivals. Its witty one-liners and humour bubbling away below the quite serious plot, range from gentle sniggers to laugh-out-loud tension relievers.

Shot in Temuka and the surrounding district, the movie tells the story of a garage owner who dies in a suspicious car crash. Rumours circulate that he spent 30 years on a water-powered car, and the search begins for his journals and car.

Mrs Annear said opportunities to showcase the Timaru District’s movie-making potential don’t come along often.

“Our region is spectacularly beautiful and movies made here provide a fantastic opportunity for us to promote ourselves as a destination, not just for the world’s movie producers, but for international tourists and New Zealand visitors.”

Sharing the Temuka district's evening in the movie spotlight will be some of the people who made it all happen.

Mr Harris said those attending the gala screening would have the opportunity to mix and mingle with national entertainment icons David McPhail, aka (Sgt Elvis from Temuka police), Mark Hadlow (the evil Mr Bligh) Janice Gray (Stella the publican from the Temuka Hotel), Jim Moriarty (Oscar Devlin), Helen Pearse-Otene (Frankie), Jim Firth (the lawyer) and Sue Wells (the TV reporter). Mr Harris will also be present.

Special preparations are being made for the temporary transformation of the Theatre Royal including the installation of a 6 metre-wide screen and a state-of-the-art sound system.

But Mr Howie's technical masterstroke comes in the form of a very high-powered 10,000 ansilumen rear-projector which unlike most movie theatres will be installed behind the screen and project forward towards the audience.

“This is a very powerful projector and is so big it cannot hang off the ceiling of the Theatre Royal or off the circle so it will sit on the stage behind the screen,” Mr Howie said.

“It’s as big as we can provide in a portable format and the visual quality is stunning,” he said.

“And the sound system will also provide a fantastic experience for the audience.”

Tickets for the gala event are $20 for adults and $10 for children and are available from the Timaru i-SITE, the Council office in Timaru and the Council library/service centres in Temuka and Geraldine. The movie is rated M and starts at 5pm.

ENDS