It was July 2014 when Te Puke’s Capital Theatre hosted the world premiere of locally-made movie, ‘The Z Nail Gang’.

Fast-forward 11 years and this weekend, the cinema will hosts two screenings of the movie.Pukehina husband-and-wife team Anton Steel, who was the movie director, and Kylie DellaBarca Steel, who was producer, were behind the movie they described at the time as a feel-good action-comedy based around anti-mining protests in the Coromandel in the 1980s.

Z Nail director of photography Chris Matthews and actors Erroll Shand (left) and Paul Ballard in a rare moment of relaxation during the first day of filming in Maketu of 'The Z-Nail Gang' back in 2014.

Shot in locations around the Bay of Plenty in February-March 2014, hundreds of Te Puke, Pukehina and Pongakawa people, businesses and community groups came together to volunteer time, money and effort to make the movie – and more than 300 saw it first at the world premiere.

Eleven years later Anton said he had so many favourite memories of the film.“It was a film about a community coming together made by a community coming together and it will be very special for it to provide another opportunity to bring the Te Puke community together for the screening at the Capitol,” he said.

More than 400

Steel said the Te Puke and Pukehina communities were amazingly supportive in getting the movie made. “Over 400 people contributed time, talent and resources from Maketū Pies feeding the crew to people who opened up their homes to house the cast and crew.”He described the world premiere in Te Puke in JUkly 2014 as one of the most special nights of his life.

“[It was] a great way to show thanks to all those who helped realise this dream.“The Te Puke community showed so much support for our film.”

The premiere was on July 30, 2014. “I remember driving through Te Puke in November – over three months later – and our film was still being screened.”

‘The Z-Nail Gang’ helped launch multiple people into working in the industry and was a fantastic learning experience for many involved, said Steel.

“l learnt a lot making ‘The Z-Nail Gang’ that has flowed onto other directing projects like ‘Taking Back Our Beach’ [a documentary about the impact of the Rena grounding] and also in helping to grow the local industry by establishing Film Bay of Plenty.

The Z-Nail Gang Vanessa Rare supplied

“My one major learning from ‘The Z-Nail Gang’ and ‘Taking Back Our Beach’ is that it is always difficult launching a project with a limited budget for publicity. There was amazing local support for ‘Taking Back Our Beach’ for which we are very grateful.”

Reviving theatre

Showing the movie is just one element of a major project to bring the theatre back to life, not just as a cinema but as a destination under the Te Puke Kiwifruit Capital of the World Heritage Hub banner.

“I’m so happy that this screening can help launch a new chapter of life for the capital cinema – it is a fantastic building with a lot of history.”

The cinema will continue to show movies with two showings of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ on December 7 and two showings of ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ on December 14.

‘The Z-Nail Gang’ story is based on real life events and is set in a peaceful New Zealand coastal town. In the lee of their treasured mountain, Te Maunga, the residents move at a leisurely pace.

Local postman Ned passes the hours inventing musical sub-genres. Resident cop Tipene spends more time fishing than crime-fighting. The hardest decision for Dave is whether to make pottery or go surfing, leaving his ever-patient wife Mareeka to enjoy the serenity of their surroundings.

But someone else has an eye on this paradise and the serenity is shattered when Ned delivers a letter that will change their lives forever.

At Capitol again

The film features leading Kiwi actors, including Erroll Shand playing Dave, Vanessa Rare as Aunty, Geoffrey Dolan as Sgt Smith, Tanya Horo playing Mareeka, Jim McLarty as Ted Bates and Paul Ballard as Ned.

Steel’s current project, which has just passed the post product stage, is ‘Kids Unplugged’.“We are currently working towards launching this web series on multiple national platforms in autumn 2026.“We hope that we can get nationwide-wide support and viewership for this series that champions kids choosing the wild over wifi.

“When it comes to launching this exciting project, we are once again looking forward again to having its world premiere at the Te Puke Capitol Cinema.”