For filmmaker, Neepawa ‘too good to be true’
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- Published on Wednesday, April 30, 2014
By: Kate Jackman-Atkinson
myWestman.ca
If all goes according to plan, later this year, Neepawa will have its own starring role in a movie. Matthew Hickenbottom, a filmmaker based in the British Midlands, recently visited Neepawa and came away convinced that it would make the perfect location for a movie he’s preparing to make this summer.
On April 22, Hickenbottom came to Neepawa for his cousin Mike Reader's son's wedding. The Reader family immigrated to the Neepawa area from England and had been encouraging Hickenbottom to come and visit. Hickenbottom’s trip to Neepawa coincided with preliminary work on his next project, a psychological thriller. “After reading the script, I arrived and the town looked exactly as I had read in the script,” he said.
Initially, he and his partner in the project, John Walker, had planned on shooting most of the film in the UK, with a few exterior shots in Long Island, NY.
However, the more time he spent in Neepawa, the more potential he saw in the town. “We’re now looking at the possibility of bringing the production here… We’re looking at the logistics and planning,” he said.
This would mean doing almost all of the filming in Neepawa and using a local cast, except for one British actress. This well-known horror movie actress would play a small cameo. “We have a saleable name,” he said. Only three people would be coming over from England.
Hickenbottom has been taking lots of pictures of the town and sending them back to Walker. These pictures show what the town can offer and how these locations fit with the script.
The movie will be set in a fictional town and is about a young girl whose parents die. After their death, she inherits their estate, which includes an abandoned movie theatre she didn’t know about. Her and her school friends decide to stay there and strange things start to happen.
The film seeks to capitalize on a thriving segment of the film industry, the horror and psychological thriller genre. “There’s a very big underground scene… They’re very popular,” he said.
With an old movie theatre being the story’s dominant location, the Roxy Theatre is one of the major attractions to filming the movie in Neepawa. Hickenbottom said they were able to have a good look around the theatre and take some pictures.
Initially, they had been planning on shooting the North American portions of the movie in October, but Hickenbottom said that given the climate, if they shoot in Neepawa, it might be sooner. The movie will be shot all on location and it will take between 10 and 14 days.
Hickenbottom is a musician and began his television and film career writing music for children’s programs. From there, he was hired by Disney to write music for Disney TV programs, which gave him the opportunity to participate in film schools. He wanted to become more involved in making movies and built up his camera knowledge and production experience. Today, he runs his own production company, Post Office Studios.
Both Hickenbottom and Walker have done extensive work on television and movies, but most of that has been for projects initiated by other filmmakers and production companies. “The ambition is to have a film of our own,” said Hickenbottom.
Most of Hickenbottom’s work has been in period dramas set in England, although he has recently done one set in the United States in the 1950s
While the movie will be shot on a low budget, the team’s expertise and equipment will be used to make a quality looking product. “It will look very high budget,” said Hickenbottom.
Hickenbottom is hoping to be back in Neepawa this summer to shoot the movie. As a location, Hickenbottom said, “It’s too good to be true.”
If anyone is interested in more information, they can contact Hickenbottom at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
In photo: British filmmaker Matthew Hickenbottom is hoping to film a movie in Neepawa later this year. Filming for the psychological thriller was originally to take place in England and Long Island, NY.
Photo by Kate Jackman-Atkinson
