‘Murderbot’ Earns Killer Reviews

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The first four episodes of Apple TV’s Murderbot are out now, with episodes to come from DEGANZ member Roseanne Liang. The ten-part series drops weekly on Fridays, with Roseanne’s episodes coming out on 20 June and 4 July.

Since releasing on 16 May, the show has earned itself many rave reviews. NPR claims it is ‘the best new comedy of 2025‘ and the show currently has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The goofy sci-fi series takes place in a high-tech future, where a rogue security robot secretly gains free will. To stay hidden, it reluctantly joins a new mission protecting scientists on a dangerous planet… even though it just wants to binge soap operas.

Keep up with the series on Apple TV to be in the loop for Roseanne’s episodes!

 

Last updated on 28 May 2025

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DEGANZ Watch List: Music & Mayhem

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Check out these new works from DEGANZ members!

The local screen and music industries have come together this month for NZ Music Month. Members Mia Blake and Miryam Jacobi were behind the new music video for local artist Len Blake. Meanwhile, fellow member Gal Hochman marked her series debut with the launch of Beyond the Beat—a vibrant, genre-bending music production series shaking up how we experience iconic Kiwi tracks.

Beloved comedy series Homebound 3.0 has made its comeback for season two, with Hweiling Ow (DEGANZ) directing half of the episodes this season.

In the short film space, DEGANZ member Tema Pua celebrates the online release of her micro-budget short, It Lies at Night.

Alone

Music Video

Director: Mia Blake

Producer: Miryam Jacobi

Watch the official music video for Len Blake’s latest single, Alone.


Beyond the Beat

Factual Web Series

Director and Creator: Gal Hochman

Beyond the Beat is a bold music series that flips the script on Aotearoa’s most iconic tracks. Each episode pairs a rising Remake Artist with a legendary hitmaker to reimagine a beloved tune in a completely new style. Guided by visionary producer Mazbou Q, the Remake Artist infuses the track with fresh energy and cultural flair—blending collaboration, experimentation, and creativity. The reimagined song is then dropped live on air, as the original artist hears it for the very first time. Five artists. Five massive hits. One mission: to redefine the future sound of Aotearoa.


Homebound 3.0

Comedy Series

Director: Hweiling Ow 

After successfully navigating a fake relationship that has now become real, Henry and Melissa fake a pregnancy to obtain an early inheritance from their cashed-up, overseas relatives obsessed with furthering the family line.


It Lies at Night

Drama Short Film

Director: Tema Pua

Anne and her sister have spent years on the run. Despite befriending a neighbour and finding an old promise from their beloved dad, Anne’s unease grows. Forced into a fight to protect her mind, Anne must grasp her father’s message if she’s to survive the night.

 

To see more recent work from DEGANZ members, check out our other DEGANZ Watch Lists!

 

Last updated on 28 May 2025

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‘Myths & Maidens’ Wins at Voyager Media Awards

Myths & Maidens, edited by DEGANZ member Cushla Dillon, won the Best Current Affairs (long) or Documentary category at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards.

The annual awards ceremony encourages, showcases, and acknowledges the best of Atearoa’s news media across all platforms. Since 1973, the awards have recognised the work of journalists, reporters, feature writers, columnists, cartoonists, reviewers, photographers, and video journalists.

Myths & Maidens is a self-proclaimed love letter to Moana women. It delves into collective trauma, challenges, and inequities faced by women across Pasifika. By sharing women’s stories, the Coconet TV documentary tackles issues of colourism, fat-phobia, and how our societies have been taught to view women of colour across the ages. Yet in the face of all this, Myths & Maidens highlights how Pasifika women’s resilience and celebration of themselves is an act of colonial resistance.

The judges commented on the doco saying,

‘Myths & Maidens’ is a wildly original and thought-provoking documentary about female identity in Pasifika society. The producers used creative devices and structured the story in a clever way to make the subject matter compelling. With the western gaze of artists like Paul Gauguin and the historical representation of indigenous societies now facing closer scrutiny, this documentary is an important addition to that very important cultural reckoning.

Congratulations, Cushla and the entire Myths & Maidens team, on the win!

 

Last updated on 29 May 2025

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‘1978’ Seeks a Boost for Post-Prodctuion

April Phillips (DEGANZ) is crowdfunding to finish post-production on 1978, a feature film she co-wrote and is co-directing.

Set in 1978, the film follows the lives of a rural Māori-Pākehā family fighting on two fronts: the loss of ancestral land and the closure of their small country school. Inspired by one of the team’s childhood, 1978 shines a light on the strength of community and identity in the face of change.

So far, the team has self-funded the film over the past three years. It is now 80% complete but needs a final push to make it over the finish line. All funds raised from the Boosted campaign will go towards visual effects, colour grading, and the final delivery costs.

You can find out more about the project and support it on the Boosted page.

All the best to the team on the crowdfunding, and we look forward to seeing 1978 once it’s finished!

 

Last updated on 28 May 2025

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Here’s Hoping

View from the Top banner

Donald Trump’s tariff threats on film is causing considerable angst globally and extreme nervousness in New Zealand, even though detail is still entirely lacking, apart from Jon Voight’s plan, which seems to have triggered Trump’s reaction.

In discussions with the Directors Guild of America two weeks ago, I was informed that production in the US was already down by around 40%. Estimates put the global decrease at 17 – 20%.

Anecdotally, we seem to have a reasonable level of international production here right now with at least two Evil Dead films, Gollum and Zelda. The forward slate from June is supposedly looking positive at this point, too. Of course, things could change dramatically in an instant, depending on which way the wind is blowing Trump’s ‘do’.

Even though NZ seems okay for now, there is concern regarding the uncompetitiveness of our international screen production rebate at 20% plus a possible 5% uplift. When they can get a guaranteed federal 30% plus state rebates that can add up to 10% or more in Australia, it’s not hard to see why US production continues to go there.

The US guilds are cautiously supporting the call for more production to stay in California and the US, even though there is a general acceptance that runaway productions are still a necessity for the system to function.

The NZ above-the-line guilds and associations who depend primarily on domestic production for our members to be gainfully employed are much more interested in the funding available for making local films and programmes.

Scripted is still the biggest employer of crew, while scripted and factual are good job sources for both directors and editors. The funding available from NZ On Air, the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) and Te Māngai Pāho (TMP) is therefore crucial for the creative, cultural and financial wellbeing of DEGANZ members.

For NZFC and NZ On Air, funding comes from Vote Arts and Culture and for TMP, Vote Māori Development. For many years, the funding was essentially at a default setting. But as we all know, NZFC funding was cut last Budget, although NZ On Air’s and TMP’s funding remained the same. With the Coalition still focused on cost cutting, how our funding bodies will fare come Budget time next week is on many people’s minds.

International production is the rich cousin when it comes to the New Zealand screen industry. But international and domestic are in a symbiotic survival relationship, even though those who work primarily in international sometimes forget that. Should international production drop off, we are going to need a greater increase in funding for domestic production than we already require to carry the load. Here’s hoping Minister Goldsmith has pointed this out to his cabinet colleagues in a convincing manner.

 

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director

Last updated on 15 May 2025

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