"Getroud met Rugby - Die Onvertelde Storie" is a spin off from the very popular and successful KykNET drama "Getroud met Rugby". The film is the "untold story" between season 2 and seaon 3 and stands on it's own legs independent of the series. As such it has the familiar feel and some of the familiar characters of the TV series but stands on it's own as a fulfulling cinema experience.

Story Sinopsis
Getroud met Rugby - Die Onvertelde Storie (the untold story) is the tale of two broken people (Izak Davel, Altus Theart), rugby players whose paths cross in order to find themselves.
Reghart Venter (Izak Dave) is a mechanic from the wring sides of the tracks. He was a promising rugby player but lost his way. After several charges of fighting and assault he gets a final warning - pull yourself together or go to jail.
Regharts sentence is to do community service - practicing rugby with a fallen hero of the Stryders Rugby team, Fafa Beltrame (Altus Theart). "Fast Fafa" was once the fastest wing in the country en a hit among the ladies. Fafa lost his way after he and his wife Kiki (Hannah Grobler) seperated after losing their daughter. Fafa seeks his refuge in drink and in the process alienates everyone who ever cared for him.
When Reghart, unwillingly, is dragged to Potties Place (the local Stryder Rugby Team bar) by his friends he meets Lize (San-Marie Nel). For the first time in his life there is something he cannot fight against. His heart.
Through the metaphor of rugby the two broken men inadvertently helps one another to find their way again.

PRODUCER BIANCA ISAAC TALKS ABOUT GETROUD MET RUGBY

How did the film come about - it is based in a TV series but what were the actual developments into a feature?
Living Dream Films was started by Cobus Rossouw and Bianca Isaac (Director/ Producer team) after the completion of "Kruispad" and three seasons of "Getroud met Rugby", a drama series for kykNET, from 2009 - 2010. Living Dream was formed with the vision of producing feature films and we were already in development with our first feature film when we are asked as producer/director team to make a new season of "Getroud met Rugby".It became an incredible opportunity on both business and creative levels. On a business level it meant taking a known product to the market with an already existing audience. On a creative level it meant the exploration of a story that could fall outside of the aspirational world of "Getroud met Rugby" and go to the "other side of the tracks". For the series we had a couple of locations in Krugersdorp and driving to set in the mornings I loved the mine dumps and mine houses - a beautiful juxtaposition to the opulent world of the series. At the time there was also a whole outcry about the Bob van Reenen Stadium in Krugersdorp which was as motley as Ellis Park is a great world stadium. Hence there was always a loosely defined idea there that excited me. A rags to riches, rugby "Rocky", underdog idea.
Much credit must go to kykNET (Karen Meiring - Head of Afrikaans Channels and Marida Swanepoel - Commisioning editor) who immediately saw value in the opportunity and gave the project their immediate backing by extending the rights of "Getroud met Rugby" to Living Dream Films to make the film. The only proviso with the film was that it could not drive any story-line in the upcoming series in 2012. At the time of approaching kykNET we'd already made 26 hours of Getroud met Rugby. Hence developing the feature film was challenging but made easier by the fact that we understood our world and characters so well. And so "Getroud met Rugby - Die Onvertelde Storie" was born.

What were the challenges in regards to development, pre, prod and post?
More than anything our biggest challenge on every level was time. Given that we started developing the series (13 x 1 hour programs) we literally had one month to get a step outline together for the film before we started to develop the series. Cobus (Director/ Writer) was also a writer on the series and it was a challenge to find the time to write a combined total of six hours of script whilst moving into pre-production. Then as we moved into production it was a challenge to find the time to write subsequent drafts on the film script.
We made a choice to shoot the film and the series at the same time. Due to the fact that we shot the series per location it made logistical sense to shoot the film in sync with our unit movements. This meant that some days were "series" days and other days were "Film" days.
We thought that the film would be a natural extension of the series and as such it should be easy to maintain continuity in terms of rhythm because we worked with the same crew. We underestimated the discipline and working rhythms of the film making process and it became quite hard to jump between the series and the film.
As far as post was concerned it was again time. We had set our deadlines according to how we would produce television. We managed to make all our deadlines but it took a huge effort.
Having pointed to time as the biggest challenge it would also be fair to say that it also simplified the process in that it forced us to constantly have measurable outcomes. Scripting was done in less than two months from start to finish. Production had to fall in the time we shot the series etc. It really forced us to be succinct.
Kudos to editor C.A. van Aswegen (Film Factory), sound Ben Oelsen (Presto Post Production) for making some very tight deadlines.

What camera/s did you shoot and on what was the director's style and approach to telling this story?
We shot the film on the - Sony EX3 with Letus adaptors and Nikon primes to create a film look and feel.Because the film is an extension of the series we didn't vary much in style, palette and grade.
From the outset we took our cue from the game of rugby itself. Even though Getroud Met Rugby never shows any rugby being played (at best we show the players train) the game of rugby is never static - there is always movement with an interplay between moments of intense impact followed by various forms of movement to prepare for the next passage of impact. To this end the series was shot handheld to give the series a "stylized verité" feel. The frame at the very least will always breathe. To amplify narrative whether in dialogue or action we have made use of small crash zooms, whip pans and fast editing.
For the benefit of the film we had to tone it down marginally due to the complicated and finicky camera rigs and the additional challenges that came with focusing. Easy Rigs were used to assist the operators, especially with longer lenses and action sequences.
Trevor Calverley, Director of Photography was integral to this process. Trevor was also DOP on 26 episodes of "Getroud met Rugby" the series.

What do you think will appeal to a SA audience about the film and what are your distribution plans regarding international festivals etc?
I am hoping that the South African audience will be moved by the very things that moved us when we created the script and made the film. During the creative process I am only guided by what I witness and feel in any given moment. I say this because I am reluctant to pre-suppose or guess at an audience's sensibility, I work on the premise that if the /performance/shot/scene/act/film creates an emotional movement in me it may create a similar emotional movement in an audience. Structurally I feel the film is strong, the story beats are sound and the twists come as a surprise - give the audience what they want…just different. I feel we have achieved that. I have empathy for the characters, their perspective trials and tribulations make me root for them, they move me in several ways, I end up caring for them.
"Getroud met Rugby - Die Onvertelde Storie" is at its very heart a love story that explores loss, forgiveness and redemption against the backdrop of rugby.
At this stage of proceedings we are concentrating our efforts as Living Dream Films to ensure that we have the most successful local release possible.

How did you go about casting for the film and what was your prep in terms of getting the actors familiar with the script/the way you worked with them on set/ how you are as a director with approach to actors?
Casting generally is quite an intense process for us. We use a casting director to go through the initial audition process after which we sit down and narrow the field down to a shortlist per character. From the shortlist I start sitting in on the auditions. This is important for me because the character on paper now becomes physical and it never matches the picture one has in ones head. From this point the process by definition becomes an organic one. Every actor brings a different energy so the character by definition becomes slightly different with every audition. I then go through a process of pairing actors up. If people don't have chemistry together I want to know about it now and not on set. At this stage I also give a lot of notes and suggestions to see how the actor responds to me and I to them. It is incredibly important that we have an understanding at this stage where we have the relative luxury of time as opposed to the pressures of set. For the film we probably sat through four days of mixing and matching male leads, male and female lead to make the most informed decision we could. By the time we cast Izak Davel and San-Marie Nel as the male and female leads we had certainty that it was the best choices for the project. After days of this the actors also have a strong sense of how I work, the tone of the script and that they organically become that character.
My path to directing was to go to drama school (London - UK) to familiarize myself with performance. It is a particular focus of mine.
On set this translates to incredibly disciplined rehearsal time. Generally one finds that every department has more time on set than the actors. I find that if you rehearse intensely it cuts down on shooting time and one gives the actor the best chance possible to hit emotional beats.

When is the film being released in SA, is it countrywide - what is your marketing approach regarding the film?
"Getroud met Rugby - Die Onvertelde Storie" is being released countrywide on 11 March 2011 through Ster Kinekor Distribution. The entire release is on a digital platform and we are looking to release in 40 - 45 sites. Marketing is first and foremost aimed at our existing audience. To this end we are running an extensive television campaign with our media-partners kykNET and Mnet. Complimentary campaigns exist in the form of radio and print campaigns.

This is your first feature film - do you have others in the pipeline and can you mention them if you do?
"Getroud met Rugby - Die Onvertelde Storie" is Living Dream Films' first feature film. Even though we have a lot of experience in long form and broadcasting we had a lot of lessons to learn about the film industry and the business around it. We have several projects ready to be developed but our primary focus for the moment is to do all we can to ensure the most successful release possible. 
Living Dream Films wishes to thank all the people who have been very generous with their time, energy and tolerance levels to make this project happen.

PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN FILMS

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