Twenty years after his death, a new movie is being made to celebrate the life of iconic New Zealand entertainer Billy T James.
Directed by Ian Mune, Billy T: Te Movie celebrates the life of James, who became New Zealand's best-loved entertainer, and will be released nationally on August 18.
Born William James Te Wehi Taitoko, by the time he died of heart failure aged 42 he had won numerous awards and wide acclaim for talent as musician, singer, comedian, actor, writer and artist.
The film tells of James' meteoric rise to national fame and his tragic downfall into ill-health and financial collapse.
Featuring digitally re-mastered footage of his performances and never-seen-before archival images, Billy T's story is set alongside interviews with his family, friends and colleagues.
Director Mune cast Billy as the cult favourite hard-case Maori-Mexican, The Tainuia Kid, in his 1984 movie Came a Hot Friday.
The script is by Mune and Phil Gifford, one of the writers of the original Billy T James Show.
Billy T: Te Movie is produced by Tom Parkinson and Robert Boyd-Bell through their company BTJ Movie Ltd.
Parkinson discovered Billy performing cabaret in the Avondale Rugby League Club in 1978 and cast him as Dexter Fitzgibbon in the television variety series Radio Times and produced the TV series The Billy T James Show.
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