Film maker follows Rocky path

Fiona Jackson plans to make a film on Rocky Horror Show creator Richard O'Brien.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/waikatotimes/4574906a6579.html

07 June 2008
By AARON LEAMAN

Next month Tamahere film maker Fiona Jackson will shoot a trailer for a planned film on Richard O'Brien the creator of cult musical The Rocky Horror Show.

Auditions for the 2 1/2 trailer were completed last month, with Auckland actor John Rawls chosen to play O'Brien.

The trailer will be distributed throughout New Zealand and overseas in the hope of attracting major funding for the ambitious feature-length film.

The trailer alone is estimated to cost about $30,000.

"Rather than try and make the film in a hurry and on a small budget we hope the trailer will explain to people our vision and attract financial support," Jackson said.

The idea to make a feature film on O'Brien and The Rocky Horror Show came after Jackson directed an interview evening with O'Brien in Hamilton last December.

The event was hosted by television presenter Mark Sainsbury a close friend of O'Brien and attracted 250 people.

O'Brien entertained the audience with a medley of songs and talked about his 30-plus years in showbiz.

"The evening showed me that there was so much interest in Richard and his life story," Jackson said.

"Initially I'd planned to write and direct a short musical about Richard, but because his story is so compelling and so interesting, the project has blossomed into something much bigger. I once asked Richard why he hadn't written an autobiography and he replied that he hadn't known where to start."

O'Brien says The Rocky Horror Show was inspired by his time spent living in Hamilton during the 1960s.

Jackson's film will explore two distinct storylines the story of The Rocky Horror Show and O'Brien's "journey of self-discovery".

"His life has had many highs and lows and there are lots of little bits which people aren't aware of," she said.

Jackson said O'Brien was also an excellent role-model for people working in the creative arts because he had taken risks to pursue his passions.

Jackson became involved in film making when she returned to New Zealand in 2001, having spent five years working in the US as a model and stunt woman.

"Sometimes you get to a point in your life where you say `stuff it' and just give things a go. For me making a feature film is my big venture. And Richard was the same in that he put himself out there and risked losing everything to follow his dreams. He's proof that someone from a smallish town can create something which is as good as anything you'll find on Broadway."

A statue of O'Brien, as the character Riff Raff, was erected in Hamilton's Victoria St in November 2004.

The statue was the idea of Hamilton man Mark Servian and stands at the site of the demolished Embassy Theatre.

Servian said O'Brien's life story was worth celebrating.

"Anyone who can create a show with such crazy characters and is able boil them down into a format which the world can understand has to be talented," he said.

"I think in a way the Riff Raff statue helped Hamilton begin to acknowledge an important part of its own history. The statue is a pilgrimage site for Rocky Horror fans, just as Graceland is for Elvis Presley fans, and it's also a counter-balance to the cow statue at the other end of town. Here you have a statue of O'Brien in fishnet stockings which says to everyone `You're welcome here. This is a place where unusual and talented people come from'."