Shooting will start later this month on The Most Fun You Can Have Dying, a sexy, audacious and youthful drama written and directed by debut feature filmmaker Kirstin Marcon (pictured).

Adapted from the novel Seraphim Blues by Steven Gannaway, The Most Fun You Can Have Dying will be shot in Europe and New Zealand. Director Kirstin Marcon says, “I am really thrilled to be making this film after six years of planning – we're shooting in London, Paris, Berlin – and Hamilton – and we’ll be taking the cast, the crew, and eventually the audience on an amazing ride”.

Produced by Alex Cole-Baker with Executive Producer Tim White (Out of the Blue, No. 2), the film stars promising New Zealand actor Matt Whelan as the young and charming Michael, who learns he has just a few months to live. Hating the role of ‘dying boy’, he steals the money raised for treatment and heads overseas determined to have the time of his life. Everything derails when he meets Sylvie, devastatingly beautiful, enigmatic, French, and seriously bad for his health.

Matt Whelan was this year’s recipient of the Qantas Film & Television Awards Best Supporting Actor award for popular TV series, Go Girls. Whelan recently completed and starred in South Pacific Pictures’ latest feature film, My Wedding and Other Secrets, due for release in New Zealand in March.

French “it” girl and actress Roxane Mesquida, will co-star as Sylvie. Mesquida’s two most recent films, Rubber (writer/director Quentin Dupiex) and Kaboom (writer/director Gregg Araki) were both officially selected to screen in Cannes this year.

Also in the cast are Pana Hema-Taylor (Boy) and Colin Moy (In My Father’s Den).

The Most Fun You Can Have Dying has been financed by the New Zealand Film Commission and private equity. The film will be released locally by Rialto Distribution. NZ Film, the sales arm of the NZFC, is handling world sales.