Editing Whale Rider (section)

==Production==
[[File:Whangara panorama.jpg|thumb|right|The community of [[Whangara]], where the film is set]]
The film had budget of NZ$9,235,000.<ref name="nzfc">{{cite press release |title = Film Fund 1 Interim Report |url = http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/getattachment/ca1ca4b3-ec45-4bc9-bbd2-fab47679da78/Film_Fund_1_Interim_Report_(1).aspx?disposition=attachment |publisher = [[New Zealand Film Commission]] |date = 18 May 2009 |access-date = 5 July 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100602015536/http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/getattachment/ca1ca4b3-ec45-4bc9-bbd2-fab47679da78/Film_Fund_1_Interim_Report_(1).aspx?disposition=attachment |archive-date = 2 June 2010 |url-status = dead}}<!-- To open archive URL file download, file extension must be changed to .pdf --></ref> It received $2.5 million from the New Zealand Film Production Fund.<ref name="nzfc"/> Additional financing came from ApolloMedia, Filmstiftung NRW, the [[New Zealand Film Commission]] and [[New Zealand On Air|NZ On Air]].<ref name="tor">{{cite press release |title = Whale Rider To Debut in Toronto |url = http://www.whaleriderthemovie.co.nz/articles/press2.html |publisher = [[South Pacific Pictures]] |date = 5 July 2010 |access-date = 5 July 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100603172336/http://www.whaleriderthemovie.co.nz/articles/press2.html |archive-date = 3 June 2010 |url-status = dead}}</ref> Casting director Diana Rowan visited numerous schools to find an actress to play Pai. 10,000 children were auditioned before narrowing it down to 12. Castle-Hughes impressed Caro in the resulting [[Acting workshop|workshop]] and was cast as Pai.<ref name="prod">{{cite press release |title = Production notes |url = http://www.whaleriderthemovie.co.nz/html/themovie_prodnotes.html |publisher = [[South Pacific Pictures]] |access-date = 5 July 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100526144224/http://www.whaleriderthemovie.co.nz/html/themovie_prodnotes.html |archive-date = 26 May 2010 |url-status = dead}}</ref> 

The film was shot in [[Whangara]]{{refn|A small town in the [[Gisborne District]].|group="note"}}, and in [[Auckland]].<ref>{{cite press release |title = Technicals |url = http://www.whaleriderthemovie.co.nz/html/themovie_technicals.html |publisher = [[South Pacific Pictures]] |access-date = 5 July 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100526153826/http://www.whaleriderthemovie.co.nz/html/themovie_technicals.html |archive-date = 26 May 2010 |url-status = dead}}</ref> Producer John Barnett said "This novel was set in Whangara and it would almost have been heresy to shoot anywhere else. There are very physical things that are described in the book – the sweep of the bay, the island that looks like a whale, the meeting houses, the number of houses that are present and of course, the people whose legend we were telling.{{nbsp}}... If we'd gone somewhere else and tried to manufacture the surroundings and the ambience, then I think it would have been noticeable in the picture."<ref name="location">{{cite press release |title = Notes about the location |url = http://www.whaleriderthemovie.co.nz/html/location_notes.html |publisher = [[South Pacific Pictures]] |access-date = 5 July 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100526151220/http://www.whaleriderthemovie.co.nz/html/location_notes.html |archive-date = 26 May 2010 |url-status = dead}}</ref> 

The [[Beached whale|whale beaching]] was depicted using full-scale models created by Auckland-based Glasshammer Visual Effects.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Glasshammer visual effects production photos|url=http://www.glasshammerfx.com/archives-whalerider.htm|access-date=23 January 2012|archive-date=7 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207172759/http://www.glasshammerfx.com/archives-whalerider.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The {{convert|60|ft|abbr=on}}-long [[waka (canoe)|waka]] seen at the end of the film was made in two-halves in Auckland before being transported to Whangara. The waka was given to the Whangara community after filming concluded.<ref name="prod"/>