Workmates (Drama)
Director: Curtis Vowell
Producer: Morgan Leigh Stewart,Sam Snedden
Screenwriter: Sophie Henderson
Composer: Peter van der Fluit
Editor: Richard Shaw
Production Designer: Dan Williams
Costume Designer: Sacha Young
Key Cast: Aki Munroe,Chris Parker,Zoë Robins,Matt Whelan,Arlo Green,Sophie Henderson
Business and pleasure collide for a pair of work colleagues in this warm-hearted Kiwi rom-com – an ode to the magic of the theatre.
Best friends Lucy and Tom run the Crystal Ballroom, a cash-strapped but vital creative space for Auckland’s independent theatre scene. Patching up emergencies is all part of the job, but when an accident forces the business to shutter and Tom threatens out, Lucy faces losing both the theatre and the man she can’t admit she might be in love with.
Workmates feels like the sort of charming romantic comedy that could be ripped from real life, which is exactly what screenwriter Sophie Henderson (The Justice of Bunny King, MIFF 2021) has done. Lucy – played by Henderson herself – and Tom (Matt Whelan) are characters drawn from the five years she spent running the Basement Theatre (playing a thinly disguised version of itself) alongside Sam Snedden, who serves as one of the film’s producers. It’s also the place where she met her future partner in work as well as life, director Curtis Vowell, who draws out the delightful chaos and camaraderie involved in keeping the doors open. Vowell and Henderson’s third outing collaborating as director and writer (after Fantail, MIFF 2014, and Baby Done) is buoyed by an endearing love story, a cast of theatre lovers and memorable cameos from local comedians.
———
Director Curtis Vowell and writer / cast member Sophie Henderson are guests of the festival and will be in attendance at both metropolitan sessions of the film. Producer Sam Snedden and cast member Matt Whelan are also guests of the festival and will be in attendance at the Friday 22 August session.