Henrik Meyer

The broadcast of our latest adaptation of a novel by Emilie Richards, “Good Time Man” at German pubcaster ZDF was a great success and broke a couple of records. With 6.58 million viewers and a market share of 18.5% it is the highest-rating ZDF Sunday night movie in the year and the highest-rating movie of the 10-film Emilie Richards program ever.

Thank you to all in cast, crew, and administration for the splendid labour-of-love. This was a picture-perfect intercontinental and intercultural co-venture between Germany and New Zealand.

Kia Ora,
Henrik

German pubcaster ZDF will broadcast my latest film which I worked on as Creative Producer for Polyphon International in Germany at 8:15PM on Sunday, May 6, 2012. The title translates roughly to “Traces from the Past”.
We filmed the MOW recently in New Zealand and GFC Germany was the local co-producer. The drama is directed by Christoph Schrewe and the lead cast includes Gesine Cukrowski, Oliver Bootz, Saskia Vester, Olga von Luckwald, Dylan Holmes, Peter Davor, Rawiri Paratene, Carol Seay, Teresa Woodham, Ayse Tezel, John Givens, Jesse-James Pickery-Matteucci among others.
The story is about Jessica, a 40something piano player who lives a restless life, haunted by the inability for long-term commitments in her professional life as well as in her personal life. After her parents deceased, she learns in a letter written by her mother on her deathbed that she is actually adopted. Her adoptive parents never dared to tell her. Jessica is in a state of shock and realizes that she needs to find answers to the questions about her roots. She needs to find her roots in order to heal. So, she travels to New Zealand – the land where she was born.
The film is a beautiful work I am very proud of. It was labour of love together with a splendid crew and cast. Thanks to all and let’s keep our fingers crossed for good ratings and - more importantly - happy and satisfied viewers.

Also during this winter in the northern hemisphere, I am producing a TV movie in the summer of New Zealand, which is called in the Maori language “Aotearoa” or “the land of the long white cloud”.

“Good Time Man” is the working title of the MOW, German broadcaster is ZDF, co-producing companies are Polyphon International and GFC Germany. The love story is directed by Christoph Schrewe and the lead cast includes Gesine Cukrowski, Oliver Bootz, Saskia Vester, Olga von Luckwald, Dylan Holmes, Peter Davor, Rawiri Paratene, Carols Seay, Teresa Woodham, Ayse Tezel, John Givens, Jesse-James Pickery-Matteucci among others.

We are shooting in Auckland since January 23rd and plan to wrap in Russell in the Bay of Islands on February 18th.

It is an honour and a joy to be working with this cast and crew, and it is simply wonderful to see all the familiar faces again and meet new people - all friendly, courteous, and super professional.

This family feature film is a Swiss/Canadian co-production project with Switzerland as the majority partner. The screenplay is written by writer/director Nino Jacusso based on Federica de Cesco’s youth book and the majority producer is Franziska Reck of Reck Filmproduktion in Zurich. The Swiss Federal Office for Culture (BAK) is onboard as is the Swiss Television SRG and other Swissfunders.

90% of the financing for this 80/20 Swiss/Canadian treaty co-pro is in place and all territories outside Switzerland are still available. The film will be shot entirely in British Columbia. With all the Swiss power behind the project, it is a story entirely about Canadian First Nations people! This is the story in short:

Thirteen-year-old Shana lives with her father in a small First Nations village in Southwestern Canada. Her mother died just two years ago and ever since Shana cannot get her bearings. Thanks to music – Shana plays the violin – the encouragement of her new teacher and her encounter with a wild wolf, she manages to find her way in life.

The project has the support of the Lower Nicola Indian Band in British Columbia and will be filmed in close cooperation with the band. The film will be shot mostly on their land, and the cast and a lot of crew will be from that region too. In April 2012, filmmaker Nino Jacusso will start working with the local First Nations People to form the ensemble and start rehearsing and pre-prepping the filming for a summer 2012 shoot.

Red Cedar Films is proud to be the Canadian co-producer and is actively looking for partners in Canada in order to close the remaining 10% financing gap..

End of March marked also the end of principal photography of the two back-to-back MOW of the Emilie Richards anthology, “Whiskey Island” and “Duncan’s Lady”. It was an intense time in the summer of NZ with shooting on amazingly beautiful locations with an outstanding cast and crew - just wonderful people. The professionalism, accuracy, hospitality, generosity and warmth of the folks down there just humbled me.

I am back in Vancouver now and will go to Hamburg, Germany next for picture editing and other post works.

Cheers and Kia Ora!

Henrik Meyer has signed on as the creative producer of the next instalments of the popular German TV anthology series “Emilie Richards”, which are currently in pre-prep in New Zealand for a production in February/March on the North Island.
Executive Producer of this Polyphon International production is Beatrice Kramm, the director is John Delbridge, and the Executive in Charge at broadcaster ZDF is Thorsten Ritsch. The New Zealand producer is Matthew Matcalfe of General Film Company in Auckland.
Henrik knows many of the crew from his previous engagements with Polyphon in Canada and is glad that he has the opportunity to be involved in creating strong, romantic stories based on the bestselling novels by the popular US writer Emilie Richards — in amazingly beautiful settings. More info shortly. Kia Ora!

Henrik Meyer and production company Red Cedar Films have entered into an option, purchase and screenwriting agreement with visionary, world-renown and bestselling Sci-Fi and Cyberpunk author William Gibson (from “Neuromancer” to recent “Zero History”) and his congenial screenwriting partner Michael St. John Smith for their highly original feature film treatment “Archangel”.

The brand-new, international co-venture “Archangel” is a groundbreaking Sci-Fi thriller set in the summer of 1945 in post-war Germany, at ground zero of modern civilization.

While Gibson and Smith currently continue to work on the story of “Archangel”, Meyer is negotiating the further development and production financing with potential partners in North America and Europe.

Stay tuned for further news on this exciting, global Sci-Fi motion picture thriller.

Currently, screenwriter Michael St. John Smith is adapting Ivan E. Coyote’s celebrated novel “Bow Grip” into a screenplay.

Producer Henrik Meyer (”Everything’s Gone Green”) of Red Cedar Films is glad to confirm that the screenplay is being developed with the participation of Telefilm Canada, and the option of the underlying material is funded with the assistance of Astral Media - The Harold Greenberg Fund.

Peggy Thompson (”Better Than Chocolate”) is providing tremendously valuable input as story editor.

The story in one sentence: When his wife unexpectedly leaves him for another woman, a forty-year old small town Alberta car mechanic discovers that his sudden desire to play the cello is actually the first step in a remarkable personal journey on the road between loneliness and love.

Stay tuned for further updates.

I will attend the Filmfest in München this year from June 26 to July 1 and look forward to seeing my friends and colleagues there as well as new European films and German television movies. Hope some additional Europe-Canada co-ventures will be the outcome of this journey.

Happy Summer!
Henrik Meyer

Spring has arrived in Vancouver, well actually it arrived during the ‘Winter’ Olympics, which were exciting times here in BC. Now everything is blooming, but is it also booming? The verdict is still out for that. The Canadian dollar is currently very strong, which is not good for the service production business. But there are very good news: BC raises the tax credit for service productions from 25 to 33% of the local labour spending. In combination with the regional bonus of 6% outside of Vancouver and the Federal tax credit of 16% you can expect about half of your BC labour expenses being paid back to you. I gladly provide you with a more accurate estimate based on the specifics of your production. I am happy to hear from you. Happy Easter!