Former Invercargill woman Priscilla Frame worked on the New Zealand-made Box Office movie Broken.

Former Invercargill woman Priscilla Frame's hard work has paid off.

The Southern Institute of Technology graduate has used her double bachelor degree in audio production and contemporary music to work on producing film Broken.

The New Zealand-made Box Office movie opened in more than 50 cinemas throughout the country on February 1, and was played for free at City Impact Church, in Invercargill during Easter.

The movie, inspired by the true story of Tārore, a Māori girl murdered by a rival gang in the1800s, presents a modern-day interpretation of the events and centres on the theme of forgiveness.

Frame used to attend and worked on the sound, set up and pack down at City Impact Church in Invercargill while studying and after graduating in 2013.

"I learnt a lot there and developed my passion."

She then moved to Auckland in 2015, to pursue her career, where she was approached to work on the movie produced by City Impact Church in Auckland, and directed by Pastor Tarry Mortlock.

"I started from small beginnings and now we're here ... it's pretty amazing to be honest.

"I was really, really nervous, and a deep way out of my comfort zone, but we all banded together and came up with something amazing.

"The project exploded bigger than ourselves."

The movie was filmed mainly on the East Coast with the premiere held in Gisborne.

"We were a small crew of humble people just making it up as we went," Frame said.

There were about 10 crew members, but with volunteers and the Gisbourne community making up about 200 people who helped out.

For Frame, the best part was working with everyone involved, she said.

Now she wants to explore more avenues for her career including television and film, as well as pursuing her own freelance company - PJ Audio Ltd.

However, she was happy to see the Southland community backing her success with the local screening at her former church.

"New Zealand is good at supporting locals and especially Southland. People are quick to own them as pure Southlanders.

"It's good to know I've been in Auckland for three years and I still haven't lost my Southern roll."