Every day in the New Zealand media there are stories about fracking.

But have you noticed how little real informed debate there is? How little solid information?

We looked at each other and said - someone has to make a documentary about this: a comprehensive, scientifically sound look at fracking in New Zealand
- a film that answers all the questions.

So here we are: FRACKING WHATATUTU, economic boom or environmental bust?

With just five streets and 300 residents, Whatatutu is an East Coast town you can miss in a blink. It's a tight-knit community surrounded by forestry and
traditional family farms -- and reserves so vast the area is "literally leaking oil and gas", according to Canadian mining company Tag Oil.

Armed with exploration licenses issued by the NZ government, Tag Oil and its partner Apache intend to extract oil and gas from the earth around Whatatutu
using hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking".

Mining advocates claim the practice is safe; others insist it leaves a toxic legacy.

Feature film documentary Fracking Whatatutu will cross-examine environmentalists and oil companies alike. Centering on Whatatutu, the film will delve into
fracking throughout New Zealand. It will cut through the spin as it drills for the truth about land ownership and mineral rights, water use and waste
disposal, economic benefits and environmental impacts.