It’s a cold Melbourne afternoon, as I sip from my cup of coffee and prepare to make a call to Neihana Tonkin; filmer and producer of ‘Bread and Butter’. With only a few days before it premieres in Melbourne, he sounds like he needs more than a mere cup of coffee to make his deadline, perhaps a few buckets of the stuff would be more appropriate…
SOUTH BANK, MELBOURNE – 1:05pm
What’s happening Nei?
Having a break… I did an all-nighter and haven’t been to sleep. I got an email yesterday saying the video had to be in today for a video/sound check. They’ve just got back to me and said I’ve got until Monday now, [Laughs}
Hectic. Have you finished it now?
It’s probably 95% done. I kinda want to film a few extra things. Just with some of the guys that haven’t got tricks for the montage.
Who can we expect to see?
Scott Standley, Jesse Noonan, James Hall, Pat Roberts, Paul Battlay, Sean Paul and a montage featuring a whole lot of other friends I’ve been filming with for the last 2 years.
Is it mainly Melbourne skaters?
Not really, I’ve filmed a lot with Ben Weir and he’s from Perth, same with Sean Paul, Scotty is from Ballina and Jesse is from the Gold Coast. It’s just footage I’ve compiled from random trips I’ve been on. It kind of wasn’t really a plan to make a full video but it just all turned out that way.
At what point did you decide it was going to be a full feature?
A few years back I was filming with Pat Roberts, Scotty and Battlay and I was originally going to make web clips. It got to the point where I had all this footage and Battlay was like, “Why don’t you just save it all and make a full video?”. So, that’s what I did.
It’s awesome the premiere is at a legit cimema, Nova right?
Yeah.
How did that come about?
I was originally trying to get the Malt House Theatre and it turned out being quite expensive, then someone mentioned Nova so I looked into it and it turned out being more affordable than first expected. The Vans Propeller premiere was there too. I thought it might be nice to have it in a proper cinema rather than a bar. Should be nice to sit down properly and have good audio and a good quality screen.
“That’s real bread!!! Darwen and Battlay were the guys behind that. It took them maybe twelve hours or probably more making the titles… “
I guess if you’re filming HD you may as well make the most of the quality right?
Yeah, for sure. I still of course love the street premieres like the ones at iMax and Lincoln Circle. They’ve been so sick. It’s nice to just have everyone rock up some where publicand have a drink in a park or wherever. BYO. But, yeah you’ll be able to have a drink at the cinema and maybe have a party somewhere afterwards. Should be just as fun.
Where’s the after party?
Probably Jezza’s bar – Jack and Bones. Pretty sure they’re keen, will have to talk more with Jez about that. [Laughs]
What sorts of things have happened over the past 2 years filming for this thing?
Well the craziest thing would be when Corey smashed his face in that ditch… [WATCH THE FULL STORY HERE]. Nothing really topped that slam. On a brighter note we went on a rad trip in New Zealand for two weeks. Jesse (Noonan) came for half of that – he pretty much filmed most of his part in the 5 days we got to skate. It was crazy. I think he maybe filmed 5 tricks in one day, really good tricks too.
Who else is somebody to look out for in the vid?
Scotty – his tricks are insane. Really happy with all the footage and his skating is just insane. Battlay’s part as well – I’m really into it.
Any story to the name ‘Bread and Butter’?
It’s pretty random, every time we’d go on a trip or even just go skating we would call each other ‘me bread’. Everyone made a habit of saying it and then ‘me bread’ turned into ‘me bread ‘n butter’. I guess it’s just referring to your staple tricks or your friends being your ‘Bread and Butter’.
And the video title design?
That’s real bread!!! {Laughs]. (Jake) Darwen and Battlay were the guys behind that. It took them maybe twelve hours or probably more making the titles. It was crazy. It took them so long because they would have to cut out all the letters for each persons name and hang them up to shoot, then photo shop. A huge thanks to those guys because if they didn’t do that I probably would’ve been lazy and just used some Times New Roman or Comic Sans or something, [Laughs] They saved the day, I’m super hyped on the titles.
Wow, so it’s not just the main title that is made with bread?
Yeah, everyone has their own bread letter cut-outs and they each got their own condiments. They’re insane!
Sounds like Battlay has helped a lot with this project? With the photos, titles and obviously skating..
He’s the best dude. He’s helped with everything – organising trips and keeping me on my toes with filming and editing the video. I’d be pretty useless without that guy.
Anything else you’d like to say about the video?
I hope the titles look nice on the big screen. Thanks for everyone’s help, and to all the sponsors.
Bread and Butter premiere:
June 2nd, 8:30pm
Cinema Nova
380 Lygon St Carlton, Victoria.
