Gabriel Reid began writing 'Impossible' as a feature film in 2017. He wanted to create a romantic musical comedy that would celebrate the changing face of his hometown, Auckland, New Zealand. Over the course of his lifetime, the city has become one of the most diverse metropolitan centers on Earth.
Devising an odd couple buddy pic, centered on a pairing that is both cross-generational and cross-cultural, including a Sikh protagonist, Gabriel Reid sought guidance from academic and filmmaker Dr Shuchi Kothari. A co-founder of the Pan Asian Screen Collective (PASC), Dr Kothari routinely contributes to discourse on matters of diversity, inclusion and representation.
Seeking a Sikh collaborator, Gabriel Reid reached out to filmmaker Karpal Singh. The two worked closely together on all aspects of Sikh representation and characterization. Having migrated from Punjab to New Zealand, Singh pursued a career in banking before committing to his lifelong dream of becoming a filmmaker. He trained at South Seas Film School.
Having developed early drafts of the feature film, Gabriel Reid sought feedback from producer William McKegg. The two met at high school in the 1980s. For several years McKegg worked at Andrew Lloyd Webber's London-based Really Useful Group (RUG). Returning to New Zealand, he acquired the intellectual property for Buzzy Bee (an iconic NZ children's toy) and developed it into a popular animated television series.
Gabriel Reid and producer Belindalee Hope met in 2017 when both were participants in a series of masterclasses taught by Dr Angus Finney and hosted by the Screen Production and Development Association of New Zealand (SPADA). Hope's career was forged on the battlefields of Middle Earth as a production manager on Sir Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' trilogies. She also production managed and had a cameo role in Jackson's remake of King Kong (2005).