WRESTLING SPECTACULAR!

By Adam Simpson

PledgeMe.Project

Film,

NZ $3,315 pledged

48 people pledged

Closed

NZ $20,000 minimum target

This campaign failed to reach its target by 19/11/2012 at 12:00 AM (NZDT) and is now closed.

Make a Pledge

About

WRESTLING SPECTACULAR!

Project 2012-10-09 22:59:51 +1300

WRESTLING SPECTACULAR! is the long-awaited Feature-length Documentary Film following New Zealand's amazing untold history of Professional Wrestling.

From Sports Hall-of-Famer Lofty Blomfield Octopus-Clamping his way round the country on the wireless in the 1930s through to the phenomenal television popularity of Steve Rickard, King Curtis, Samoan Joe and others in ON THE MAT in the 70s and Legendary tag-team The Bushwhackers hitting the top in the late 1980s.

Told through interviews with more than 30 wrestlers and fans, WRESTLING SPECTACULAR! is a story of actual Blood, Sweat, Tears and Beers told by those who were there and illustrated with rare archive footage and stills discovered through a decade of research.

WRESTLING SPECTACULAR! is also a cinematic insight into the Wrestling Life of one of our own -Bushwhacker Luke as he returns home to fight for the first time in more than 20 years.

This is a once in a lifetime chance to help bring a colourful but untold part of New Zealand's cultural history back to life on screen. WRESTLING SPECTACULAR! is going to be a hugely rewarding ride that you can help make happen right here.

Comments

Updates 14

Thank You so much for your commitment to WRESTLING SPECTACULAR! It's been a hell of a ride over the past month trying to piece together this funding campaign and while it fell short I can't tell you how much I appreciate your commitment to the project.

So the way it works is that because it didn't reach the target you don't get charged anything.

Where to now? Not sure to be honest. I'll keep putting the doco together though, there's a couple more interviews I intend to shoot. I'm actually at the point where I can make the documentary, I just can't show anyone because I don't have any rights to license the archive footage...what a strange situation.

If you haven't already, then please do join our Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WrestlingSpectacular/

I'll be updating regularly and posting stills, teasers, interview clips etc..

Thanks so much once again for your pledges, I look forward to one day showing you WRESTLING SPECTACULAR!

That came around fast! So a long way to go but still worth a crack so please share with your networks for a final push! Here's a link to the story Close Up did on the documentary and bringing Luke over: http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/thursday-october-18-5140669/video?vid=5140716

Hello once again. I was reflecting this morning on the long journey i've taken to make this documentary. 2003 was when I first looked into it, knowing very little about documentary craft or storytelling in general. I do think that if strange things had fallen into place early on that I wouldn't have had the skills to do justice to this story, and that it would've ended up a much weaker piece. I also wouldn't have met most of the amazingly talented people both on camera and behind it who've enlightened and taught me so much.

We've got 5 days left so please keep sharing the love, I know you already have been and your continued support means so much.

http://youtu.be/Hhj5OUQKE3E

Ten years of research. More than 40 interviews across 3 countries. Extremely rare footage. A story stretching back more than 100 years...

...and just 7 days to raise enough to get it finished. Please click, share and shout about this to your friends!

Thanks again to you for helping, here's a nice link I found talking about Pro Wrestling in New Zealand in the 1930s.

Hi Everyone, well it's home stretch time and there's still a long way to go.

Thanks so much if you've contributed to making WRESTLING SPECTACULAR! a reality, you're commitment really is the only way it'll get made.

Please continue spreading the word, I know it's hard (believe me I know how hard this is) but I appreciate so much everything you've done to help.

I've just added a bunch of cool new rewards for you to tell your friends about! They include original cartoons by renowned Cartoonist mister j, and an extremely rare signed and certified promo card which will be signed by BOTH Bushwhackers!

You can see them all here: http://imgur.com/a/iTXNK

Have a Great Day

Adam

It's been a hard but rewarding couple of weeks shooting and our whole crew (3 of us) are full of sore throats etc. But everyone has done great work and captured really cool moments for the documentary.

Sunday night we arrived back from shooting the excellent Impact Pro Wrestling show in Auckland and now are settled into homebase.

It's really gratifying to know that these groups (IPW, NZWPW, KPW) are growing and have created a wrestling scene in New Zealand again, and to see the dedication of the performers is truly inspiring.

Sunday morning we shot Bushwhacker Luke holding a seminar for the IPW wrestlers, this after they'd all worked the previous night then derigged and rerigged their ring back at the training facility for the seminar. They appreciate so much having Luke back in New Zealand and being able to draw from his vast experience.

Back onto the Pledgeme campaign. Thanks again so much for contributing, i've got 20 days left and I believe the target can be reached with your help.

Please talk up and share the link with your friends. I know you believe in this project and i'd really appreciate it if you could keep passing on your enthusiasm with others. It's the only way we'll get there!

If you've got any questions, or perhaps any strategies to help get this project over the line, then please do contact me: [email protected]

Thanks

Adam

Thanks so much for helping get WRESTLING SPECTACULAR! to $1000! It's a great number to arrive at and i'm so thankful to you for committing to this documentary. That's 5% of the target done, Excellent!

I know quite a few of you have shared this project on Facebook, I really appreciate it eh, and i'm going to be adding more rewards very soon.

Here's a great little video of Bushwhacker Luke's record-breaking turn at the Royal Rumble. Woooaahhhh!!

Adam

Hello again, this time from Luke's hometown of Sunny Wellington, New Zealand. Yesterday we appeared on TV1s Breakfast show during the weather breaks and then hit the road south where Bushwhacker Luke met up with old friends and told some great stories.

We're gearing up for Luke's first Wellington Show in more than 20 years this Friday at Wellington High School. You can go to www.kiwiprowrestling.co.nz for more details. If you're in the city I really hope to see you there, come and say hello!

Thanks again for your commitment to this project. 26 Days to go and still a long way from the target so please keep sharing it round. I really appreciate it.

See you Friday!

Adam

Day 2 of Armageddon and Luke is absolutely living up to his reputation, with loads of head-licking, and loads of bushwhacking. Great crowds. Seeing all these people lining up to meet him reinforces the decision to bring him back to New Zealand. We've shot about 10 hours of footage so far and I can't wait to get it into editing in Wellington.

But then there's the footage we can't shoot and don't own. It's called licensed vision and it includes all the On the Mat footage we want to use, actually anything we source from the TVNZ archive. It also includes anything we use from the Film Archive and finally anything we get from WWE of the Bushwhackers in the 90s.

This stuff goes by the second, and while i've got a pretty good one year festival deal with TVNZ, it's still going to be around $15,000 for their footage alone.

I appreciate so much that you've come on board to help get it there, still got a long way to go and 29 days to get to the finish line so please share the pledgeme among your friends., that would be fab.

As a bit of a treat i've added a link to some On the Mat footage from the early 1980s.

Adam

Today we had a really good lunch in Auckland with 70s Wrestler Ono Bolle (scuse spelling) We had a really nice reaction to the Close Up story and today Bushwhacker Luke was on The Rock at 4pm, 7 Days on TV3 at 9:30pm and Jono and Ben at Ten. Such a good character, and some really good, entertaining telly.

Thanks so much to those of you who've come on board today. It sounds lame but every dollar counts towards helping with those dreaded footage licensing costs.

Please keeping sharing the site, and if you're in Auckland, come to Armageddon this weekend! If you see me say hello! i'll be hanging out by the wrestling ring for most of it, and i'd love to talk to you :)

click below for Luke's 7 Days bit with former wrestlers Peter Lane and Johnny Garea, at about 6 minutes in.

Have a great weekend.

Adam.

What a day. We began by shooting a segment with Bushwhacker Luke for the Jono and Ben Show which airs tonight (Friday) 10 pm on TV3. Then we headed out to Mission Bay to shoot a couple of promos for the local shows he's Headlining. These shows will sell out btw, so get in at WWW.WRESTLINGSPECTACULAR.NET

This evening we found a bar to watch the Close Up story. Really pleased with it, click the link eh I hope you enjoy it.

Then finally, we took Bushwhacker Luke to a 7 Days episode where he tore the roof off the place! Honestly, the crowd and the cast were shocked and amazed by his...let's call it candor. You've got to see this tonight 9:30pm on TV3 (preceding Jono and Ben).

Also tomorrow Bushwhacker Luke will be on Robert and Jono's Drive on The Rock! Listen in if you can for some great stories of a life on the road..Bushwhacker Style!

Finally Thanks so much to those guys who've come on board today. It means an awful lot. Please share the love for this project far and wide, and have a great Friday.

Hey Check out Close Up Tonight at 7pm on TV1 for a story on the development of WRESTLING SPECTACULAR! and Bushwhacker Luke's first visit home for more than 20 years!

Also Thanks so much to those who've already come onboard. I appreciate your support, and it not only helps get WRESTLING SPECTACULAR! made but every pledge confirms my confidence in the value of the project.

Thank you

Adam

Pledgers 48

Craig Stanaway

09/11/2012 at 11:42am

Ben Thomas

09/11/2012 at 11:40am

Andrew Gibb

01/11/2012 at 3:28pm

Bob M Brown

01/11/2012 at 12:40am

Steve McCleary

30/10/2012 at 9:30am

Grace Adams

25/10/2012 at 9:55pm

Robert Tripe

24/10/2012 at 5:00pm

Jenna Ward

24/10/2012 at 3:35pm

Tim Hyndman

19/10/2012 at 9:10pm

Travis Cummings

19/10/2012 at 5:24pm

Leighton Cox

18/10/2012 at 7:52pm

Ben Caldwell

18/10/2012 at 6:11pm

Fiona MacDonald

17/10/2012 at 11:39pm

Michelle

17/10/2012 at 10:22pm

Jarrod Baker

17/10/2012 at 1:58pm

Amy Shand

17/10/2012 at 1:36pm

justine

17/10/2012 at 12:56pm

David Madjar

17/10/2012 at 12:43pm

Followers 5

Followers of WRESTLING SPECTACULAR!

Sayers Paul

Robert Whitaker

Darryn Voll

Travis Cummings

Anna Guenther

WRESTLING SPECTACULAR!

Project 2012-10-09 22:59:51 +1300

WRESTLING SPECTACULAR! is the long-awaited Feature-length Documentary Film following New Zealand's amazing untold history of Professional Wrestling.

WRESTLING SPECTACULAR! is also a cinematic insight into the Wrestling Life of one of our own -Bushwhacker Luke as he returns home to fight for the first time in more than 20 years.