Written by on Sep 29, 2014. Posted in Production News

Heckler films five adventure sports in an hour for Tourism New Zealand and STA Travel

Production company Heckler recruited stunt man Chuck Berry to film the innovative campaign 5X1NZ for Tourism New Zealand and STA Travel. The promotional spot follows Berry as he experiences five different adventure sports, one after the other, in less than an hour.

Filming took place in and around Skippers Canyon near Queenstown on New Zealand’s South Island, the hub for the country’s adrenalin sports industry.

Berry started the challenge by getting airborne for a skydive onto a snowy mountain peak, which he then descended on a snowboard. The next challenge involved a mountain bike ride to a bungy jump, where he was then plucked out of the air for a jet-boat river ride.

“Queenstown's terrain is one of the only places on the globe where all five extreme sports are possible in such close succession,” explains Andrew Fraser, Director of Marketing for Tourism New Zealand.

“The footage was shot on a series of Red Epic cameras, as well as some cleverly-positioned GoPro Hero 3+ cameras. The shoot was planned very carefully as we only had one shot at getting it right. We're also shooting a potentially dangerous stunt in a remote environment so all aspects of the shoot and stunt itself were all carefully considered. The entire shoot was complete in under an hour.”

New Zealand is of course internationally renowned for its cinematic landscapes that have been showcased around the world in numerous commercial campaigns, as well as in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films.

One of the most high-profile commercial shoots of recent years was the Be a Hero campaign for the GoPro HERO3 camera. The spot was largely filmed in New Zealand and has been viewed more than 34 million times on YouTube.

5X1NZ Credits:
Clients: Tourism New Zealand and STA Travel
Agency Producer: Honae MacNeill
Executive Creative Directors: Matty Burton and Dave Bowman
Production Company: Heckler
Creative Director: Peter Galmes
Queenstown Production Manager: Annie Weston
Queenstown Location Manager/Fixer: Daz Caulton
Director: Justin McMillian

(Images: Tourism New Zealand)