EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush will headline Shearing The Love, a sports comedy marking the directorial debut of New Zealand writer and producer Tom Hern, whose work includes The Panthers, The Dark Horse, and Shadow In The Cloud.
Shine and Pirates Of The Caribbean star Rush will star alongside Thai actor Dom Hetrakul (The White Lotus S3) and New Zealand’s Daniel Musgrove (Westside), Musgrove also co-wrote the original screenplay with Natalie Medlock, Hern and Nua Finau.
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Principal photography is scheduled to commence in New Zealand in Q1, 2026, with Australia-New Zealand and UK deals already in the bag thanks to pre-buys from Rialto and Vertigo. Essential Film Group will be selling at the American Film Market.
Shearing the Love is a sports comedy set against New Zealand’s Golden Shears – the Olympics of competitive sheep shearing – and follows Brian Castlehead (Musgrove), a washed-up hairstylist to the stars, as he enters the competition world to prove to his dad (Rush) that he’s a real man.
The film is produced by Halaifonua (Nua) Finau, whose previous film Red, White & Brass became New Zealand’s highest-grossing local title in 2023.
Executive producers are Andy Thompson, James Norrie and Nina Kolokouri of Essential, Kelly Rogers of Rialto Distribution International and Ed Caffrey of Vertigo Releasing. Brad Smeele is also acting as EP. Finau and Hern’s production company, Tavake (Madam), is producing.
Hern commented: “Shearing is a raucous, heartwarming sports comedy. In the vein of the greats from the early 2000’s: Talladega Nights, Kingpin…. but with plenty of heart…A film that, through the belly laughs, declares ‘wherever you come from, whatever you’re into, the best thing you can ever be is you.’”
Finau said: “Amid a challenging climate in the indie scene, this project has rocketed into greenlight. This reflects the universal, fun appeal of the film.”
Kelly Rogers, CEO of Rialto Distribution, added: “Shearing The Love is comedy gold, a genuine crowd-pleaser. Packed with laughs, outrageous moments, and heaps of energy, it’s impossible not to get hooked from the very first scene. Audiences are going to be laughing, cheering, and talking about it long after the credits roll.”
Ed Caffrey noted: “We’re so excited to be a part of the Shearing the Love team, it’s one of the funniest scripts we’ve ever read and we believe will be a comedy classic!”
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