"goodbye pork pie" was filmed chronologically over six weeks in late 1979, following the north to south route taken by the film's protagonists. filming began in the northern town of kaitaia and ended in invercargill, near the bottom of the south island. director geoff murphy, who co-produced the film with nigel hutchinson, had been good friends with star tony barry (smith) as well as bruno lawrence before "goodbye pork pie". the three had played together in multi-media group blerta.