One More Win - Film

One More Win - Film

Project 2014-05-18 11:53:21 +1200

(Without your help, this story will never get told!)

ONE MORE WIN. The Documentary Film. 

The odds are against them. The rugby world believes they don't have a chance. But the small island nation of the Cook Islands and the rugby team (ranked 46) believe they have more that just a chance to play... 

They are one win away from playing England in game one of the Rugby world's biggest arena, the Rugby World Cup 2015. But first they have to beat a top international.... Fiji (ranked 11). Beat them and they are through.

They have recruited players from around the world and they will converge on Fiji to train and prepare for the game of their lives. But with only 2 weeks together the mountain will be tough to climb.

This story is about the people involved. Some work days jobs, just like the good old days. Some only play and train on weekends and for some this is their only shot to make it to the RWC. They will leave their families and loved ones behind and try and rally a small country behind them, including their adopted homes, Australia and New Zealand.

They will leave everything on the field, to win the right to play.

Why we want to make this film

We love a great story and especially an underdog story. This all that and a bag of chips! The team, the people behind them, the island community and the game itself are the perfect subjects to tell a compelling and inspiring story. Win or lose this team has already changed the face of pacific island rugby. 

The Access

We have been given complete access to the team for their build up and will be with teh team as they prepare and play the game. It is a unique opportunity to tell a real life David vs Goliath story and see all the blood, sweat and tears of this amazing jounrey.

Why we need your help

Sometimes great stories don't fit the standard models accepted by Tv networks and major cinema brands, but what is becoming more and more popular is public driven content. You have the ability to decide what makes a great story, pay for it up front and then get that content to watch or use as part of a unique group of "public producers". We call this a "pre-sale" in the industry. 

We have decided to ask you to be part of our production as "public producers" as we believe this story (in all our experience) needs to be made and will strike a cord with a large number of people globally. 

Your money will go towards pre-production and production of the film. We have post production services in place so we can finish it, but it costs a lot to make a film. So we are all doing this on the cheap without comprimising on the quality that we believe you'd expect in a documentary film.

Your contribution is key here. Without you we can't make it. We have just 15 days to make this successful. If nothing else buy a "pre-order DVD" and get your friends to buy one and share in something truly personal, truly behind the curtains of a grass roots rugby team, trying to make it on the biggest stage of their sport. This project will also help promote pacific rugby as a whole and promote that work that is done behind the scenes by players and coaches who volunteer thier time to make a dream like, playing at a world cup, happen.

Thanks in advance for all your support.

Who are We

Mt Barker Entertainment is a company that strives to tell compelling stories. We are a team of directors and producers with expereince in all forms of film production. This is project reflects our desire to create stories that need to be told and stories we believe you want to see on our screens... Sometime we have to make them on our own with the help of supporters.

The Team

Scott Kelso - Director

Greg Buckley, Andy Patrick, William Fleming - Producers 

The team have produced and directed content for all major networks in New Zealand, MTV, Disney and documentary cinema, not to mention high end commercial producton for global brands. The team have extensive production and development experience making entertainment content.

This project is a passion project for the team. We believe in this story and are doing everything we can to make it happen. That's why we have come to you.

The Full Story - 

In June, the Cook Islands will play the most important game in their short but colourful history, a game against Fiji to determine who will qualify as Oceania 1 for Rugby World Cup 2015 in England.

The Cook Islands is one of the IRB’s 14 Oceania Member Unions and has been in this situation before while attempting to qualify for the 1999 and 2007 tournaments. On the verge of qualification in 1997, they lost to Tonga and Fiji, and in 2006 lost a two-Test series to Tonga. 

So excited by the prospect of having another shot at qualifying, the Cook Islands Rugby Union has created a community campaign called ‘One Win, One Dream’. The campaign’s aim is to build community awareness of the match, support the Union’s voluntary work and to raise funds for talent identification, warm-up fixtures, team travel, team camps and preparations.

The Union President Lara Sadaraka reveals: “In 2013, we won the Oceania Cup by defeating Papua New Guinea (37-31), Solomon Islands (39-12) and Tahiti (38-5). This was stage one of the qualifying process for the Rugby World Cup. The next phase of the qualifying process is a one-off Test against Fiji.”

“In essence the Cook Islands are ‘One Win’ away from participating at Rugby’s showcase event. This presents the Cook Islands with a wonderful opportunity and we are excited with the potential this holds for our proud nation. We are not overwhelmed by the task at hand, we are ready and raring to embrace it and give it our very best shot.”

IRB invests in development of Pacific Rugby

It is a big task given that Oceania Rugby has been dominated for many years by Fiji, Samoa and, to a lesser extent, by neighbours Tonga. The Pacific Islands do represent one of the world’s most amazing Rugby nurseries and the IRB is investing significant funds in ongoing development through high-performance programmes in the three senior island nations.

Nonetheless, Rugby has been played in the Cook Islands since the 1920s. In 1954 the Rarotonga Rugby Union was formed but it was only in 1989 that a national body, the Cook Islands Rugby Union, was established in an attempt to centralise the Game in Rarotonga and the other 14 outer islands that make up the country. In March 1995, the Cook Islands Rugby Union became a Full Member of the IRB.

Like many of the Pacific Island nations, a large number of Cook Islanders live and work in New Zealand, where many play Rugby. Many players of Cook Island heritage have played for New Zealand, including most recently, Rene Ranger. And, for such a small nation, they compete at some of the highest levels of the Game. The Cook Islands men’s Sevens team participates each year at various tournaments and has qualified to compete at this year’s Hong Kong Sevens and also the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Undaunted by their Fijian opponents, the Cooks have been busy preparing for the qualification match and, according to the team’s manager Cam Kilgour, this campaign will be a strong one.

“The past 10 months have seen big changes in and around Cook Islands Rugby in terms of our structure and the player base. Barry George (Fifteens head coach), Chad Tuoro (Sevens head coach) and myself know how important it is to have the Cook Islands as a tier two nation and we believe we have the talent to do that, both in the Cook Islands and around the world, especially New Zealand.”

Oceania Cup win was the first step

“First and foremost, if we are to succeed in this goal we need to have improved programmes for all our players and set up strong competitions between them. The 2013 Oceania Cup in PNG was the first step and a big step forward for our plan to develop. Now we have the chance to play Fiji in a one-off match.”

“This is our biggest opportunity to date. We have some very good players and, with the amount of players who have now made themselves available to play for the Cook Islands, we believe it's not a long shot like in the past.”

“Spearheading the challenge will be prop Stan Wright (Auckland, Leinster and now Stade Francais) who, as a professional, has great influence on other overseas Cook Island players. His leadership on and off the field carries huge respect in the Cook Islands community.”

“Hooker Francis Smith (Tasman Makos) and wing Chay Raui (Auckland) bring more leadership and experience to the squad with ITM Cup experience. Other notable players high on our radar are Tim Bateman (NZ Maori), Joe Kamana (Melbourne Rebels) and Sam Anderson-Heather (Otago), plus others in Japan and in Europe.” 

Only 80 minutes away from RWC 2015

“We now have great competition for spots and the fact that we are only 80 minutes away from opening Rugby World Cup 2015 against England at Twickenham is a huge incentive. Over the past few weeks we have added Brent Semmons as forwards coach and current Auckland Sevens coach Paul Feeney as our backs coach, adding even more strength to our challenge,” added Kilgour.

Fiji is currently ranked 11th in the IRB World Rankings while the Cook Islands are ranked 46th. Fiji has 8,500 registered senior male players compared the Cooks’ 500 spread across 29 clubs. So you can see why the Cooks Islands are excited by the challenge of having the opportunity to play Fiji and to qualify for RWC 2015. If they pull it off it would be a major but welcome surprise, the realisation of a dream that begins and ends with one win.
Read more at http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/qualifying/news/newsid=2070335.html#k6klsmdTSFwE1AhY.99

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