Andrew Adamson’s ‘Shelved’ Launches China-New Zealand Production Alliance (EXCLUSIVE)

New Zealand-born director of “Shrek,” Andrew Adamson has joined forces with Tim White to produce “Shelved,” a major live action-CGI fantasy film. The picture about two slacker robots who fret about being replaced by humans, is to be set up as a New Zealand-China co-production with a production budget in the range of $20-40 million.

“Shelved” is expected to be the first of several films that will be jointly-presented by Chinese fund Super Entertainment and New Zealand effects and services company Digipost, as its diversifies and expands into a role as a producer. “Shelved” was revealed on Tuesday in the margins of a New Zealand Film Commission presentation at the Shanghai International Film Festival.

The story and the movie are feature-length expansions of a 2013 award-winning short film of the same title by director James Cunningham and writer Kathryn Burnett. Cunningham and Burnett both reprise their roles on the feature.

The producers unveiled a three-way development and finance deal involving White’s Southern Light Films, Super Entertainment and Digipost, which has been acquired by Auckland-based financier Elizabeth Zhong. While the finance will be substantially sourced from Shin Ning’s Super Entertainment, the film is likely to be structured as an 80:20 New Zealand-majority venture. Former CEO of the NZFC, Dave Gibson introduced the parties.