Right now there are dozens of major film shoots happening all over the country. But the independent sector is doing well too - particularly one project from the top of the South Island. Northspur was shot on a shoestring budget in the Marlborough and Nelson regions, privately funded. And it's already made a breakthrough. The rights for distribution have just been sold to a major US film studio. One of the stars of Northspur is veteran trans-Tasman actor Marshall Napier (Bellbird) who sadly died a week ago, just before the premiere in Blenheim next month. Marshall plays a curmudgeonly loner defending his isolated cabin in a violent, post-pandemic world. Lynn Freeman talks to Northspur's screenwriter Justin Eade and director Aaron Flavely about the film, and the support from the local community for the growth of film industry in the Nelson-Marlborough region. Northspur premieres in Blenheim on the 1st of September at the Event Cinema, before opening around the country.