TVNZ Spotlights Our Media Mess… Again

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The financial woes besetting TVNZ with a projected loss of at least $28 million, again highlight the inaction of the current government to address the issues with broadcasting, brought about by the severe negative impact international digital platforms are having on our local media companies. TVNZ advertising revenue is down nearly 16% in comparison to the same time last year. Read about it here.

This diminished advertising revenue is at the heart of the problems with all NZ media companies; screen, print and online.

Labour’s Aotearoa New Zealand Media Bill was intended to help address this but went west with the change in government.

Former Digital Media and Communications Minister Melissa Lee was supposedly formulating a response to the shutdown of Newshub and the reduction of News and Current Affairs at TVNZ as part of the new government’s response to the issues. There was even talk that she was looking at revising our antiquated Broadcasting Act. Then she lost her job and PM Chris Luxon appointed Paul Goldsmith to take over. Nothing’s happened since.

Meanwhile in Canada, the government there has after three years of back and forth passed Bill C11, the Online Streaming Act. The contentious law is intended to address the disruption of content distribution and monetization models that result in a global media market through amendments to their broadcast act. C11 targets social media platforms and streaming services such as Netflix, Crave, Spotify, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and YouTube and seeks to subject them to Canadian content requirements and regulations comparable to traditional broadcasters. Read about it here.

The global digital platforms and streamers fought C11 tooth and nail, citing amongst other things the trade agreements the law supposedly contravenes.

As I’ve written about previously, the Australian Government has been going through its own hand-wringing exercise about what to do, with a touted commitment to introducing a streaming quota by July of this year. The Australian screen industry has been pushing for a quota on the streamers to help protect their own domestic industry.

After years of walking the government corridors in both Australia and New Zealand, lobbying against anything that would affect their businesses, the studios/streamers, represented in our territory by the Australia and New Zealand Screen Association, has come out publicly declaring that content quotas would contravene the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement.

Screen Producers Australia have rejected this claim and stated their case for why it should happen. Read all about it here.

We can expect the same fierce reaction from the global platforms and studios/streamers to quotas or levies in NZ. They will undoubtedly haul out our General Agreement on Tarriffs and Trade and World Trade Organisation commitments—There are certainly views here that these are not insurmountable.

The New Zealand government is in the enviable position of seeing how other countries are dealing with this issue: Canada and Australia being two useful examples for us, while in Europe a number of countries already have quotas and/or levies already in place.

Our problem though is that past governments have essentially done little or nothing about it, as exemplified by the parlous state today of our broadcasters and media organisations.

By the look of things, I don’t think we are going to get anything better from the current lot.

 

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director

Last updated on 6 June 2024

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Sink Your Teeth into the Final Season of ‘Sweet Tooth’

The third and final season of Netflix’s Sweet Tooth is out today, with episodes three and four directed by DEGANZ member Robyn Grace.

Based on the comic book by Jeff Lemire of the same name, Sweet Tooth is a post-apocalyptic adventure series where a deadly virus and animal-human hybrid babies emerged simultaneously, leaving the world in disarray. Gus, a young part-deer boy sets out to find his mother in this new world and meets a ragtag team along the way.

This season Gus and the gang are off to Alaska in search of the answers to the series’ biggest questions. With new foes and threats on the horizon, alliances are tested while the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. It is sure to be a thrilling end to the series!

Robyn also directed on the series’ first two seasons, earning her a Children’s & Family Emmy nomination in 2022.

You can find the full series on Netflix now.

Last updated on 6 June 2024

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Sydney Film Festival Features DEGANZ Members’ Mahi

Sydney Film Festival (SFF) is on now, with features and shorts from DEGANZ members.

This year marks the 71st iteration of the festival with over 200 films from 69 countries in the programme. From 5-16 June, there will be screenings, film talks, red carpets, and parties across the city to celebrate the cinema and creatives selected.

SFF is launching the First Nations Award this year, establishing the world’s largest cash prize in global Indigenous filmmaking. 10 films have been selected including The Convert, Ka Whawhai Tonu, First Horse, The Mountain, and Lea Tupu’anga/Mother Tongue from Aotearoa with DEGANZ members involved.

Check out all films from DEGANZ members below!

The Convert

Programme Strands: Special Presentations, First Nations Award

Munro, a soldier turned lay preacher, comes to New Zealand to minister to the first British colonists, but he is converted by the powerful chief Maianui to serve a different purpose.

Editor: Luke Haigh

First Horse

Programme Strands: First Nations Award, Shorts Before Features

It’s 1826, and Aotearoa is on the cusp of colonisation. A young Māori girl’s encounter with a dying man and his horse exposes her to the best and worst of her rapidly changing world.

Editor: Cushla Dillon

Ka Whawhai Tonu

Programme Strand: First Nations Award

Set in Aotearoa New Zealand in 1864, Ka Whawhai Tonu tells the story of a pivotal battle in the first New Zealand land wars in the Waikato region. A battle fought with impossible odds between Māori and the Colonial forces. This heroic conflict is told through the eyes of two young teenagers forced to take control of their own destiny amidst the chaos of the battle and their escape.

Editors: Te Rurehe Paki and Martin Brinkler, ACE

Lea Tupu’anga/Mother Tongue

Programme Strands: First Nations Award, Shorts Before Features

A young speech therapist disconnected from her Tongan heritage lies about her Tongan language skills to get a job. Out of her depth, she must find a way to communicate or else she risks her patient’s life. Sundance 2024.

Director: Vea Mafile’o

The Mountain

Programme Strand: First Nations Award

Rachel House makes her directorial debut with this riotous and colourful drama about three children discovering friendship’s healing power through the spirit of adventure.

Co-Editor: Cushla Dillon

The Moon is Upside Down

Programme Strand: Features

A mail-order bride from Siberia, the lonely wife of a wealthy property investor, and an anaesthetist looking for frisky fun, are the engaging central characters in this sharply observed slice-of-life set around Wellington.

Director: Loren Taylor

Last updated on 6 June 2024

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Early Selections for NZ Web Fest

Each month during its submission period, NZ Web Fest announces a few early selections. This year six DEGANZ members’ projects have already been selected to play during the festival’s run this November.

NZ Web Fest is an annual festival celebrating international online content, including podcasts, short films, and web series. This year marks the festival’s 24th run.

The Balloon

Short Film (Narrative)

On her birthday, an earnest, young girl finds unexpected solace when her mother seemingly fails to make any plans.

Writer/Director: James Fink-Jensen

The Creature

Web Series (Narrative)

Stuck in the online dating rut of endlessly swiping with no results, Aidan is ecstatic when he matches with his ‘dream man’. However, to leave for his date, Aidan must face the perturbed Creature lurking in the shadows of his home.

Writer/Director: Jake Tabata

Producer: Isabelle (Izzi) Hoskyn

Well Well Wellness

Web Series (Narrative)

A comedy web series that follows a silent retreat run by some well-meaning but hopeless wellness gurus. It follows the bumbling owners trying to save their haven, the mystic teachers who aren’t as deep as they seem, and the assorted mix of weird, wonderful, and worrisome retreatants who come to stay, find peace, or otherwise.

Director: Jack Nicol

TE ARA the Path

Web Series (Factual)

Holly Beckham (Ngāpuhi) is on a mission to be the first Māori woman to scale Everest. She has no alpine experience, but she has survived the depths of addiction and is climbing a mountain to recovery. Back in 1988, New Zealand’s Lydia Bradey, ONZM, was the first woman to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen. But instead of accolades, she became the subject of public bullying and misinformation, as people challenged her claims.

Together these two ‘wāhine toa’ (warrior women) venture into New Zealand’s mountains, developing a deep partnership of trust, honesty and grit as they attempt to summit Holly’s first peak, the iconic Tititea, Mt Aspiring.

Director: Alexis Smith

The Turning Point

Web Series (Factual)

The Turning Point follows a new generation of kaitiaki who value the well-being of their whenua. From north to south, they’re helping their communities protect and connect with Aotearoa’s natural environment despite the very real anxieties of the climate crisis.  They have only one thing on their minds: to make a difference!

Director: Steph Miller

 

Congrats to the selected projects!

Last updated on 5 June 2024

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‘Lea Tupu’anga / Mother Tongue’ Continues its Festival Run in Palm Springs

Lea Tupu’anga / Mother Tongue, directed by DEGANZ member Vea Mafile’o, has been selected for the Palm Springs International Film Society’s ShortFest 2024 and is in competition for Best International Short.

The film will screen in the Communication Breakdowns programme, highlighting films where misunderstandings change the trajectory of conversations, relationships, and lives. In Lea Tupu’anga / Mother Tongue, a young speech therapist disconnected from her Tongan heritage lies about her Tongan language skills to get a job. Out of her depth, she must find a way to communicate or risk her patient’s life.

ShortFest is an Academy Award, BAFTA, and Goya qualifying festival and is one of North America’s largest short film showcases. Each year, the competitive festival takes place alongside its Short Film Market and Forum, allowing films and filmmakers the opportunity to take the next step.

This selection follows the film’s international premiere at Sundance’s International Short Film Competition in January 2024 and its current run at Sydney Film Festival.

Congratulations Vea and the team!

Last updated on 5 June 2024

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