17 April 2015 On Tuesday evening the DEGNZ board debated the effect that low-budget filmmaking has had on the pay rates of members. When the Escalator low-budget feature film scheme was introduced by the NZFC, it formalised for features the methodology used by producers to get short films made—beg, borrow and steal (metaphorically), and get […]
Tēnā kotou katoa. I have had two very different experiences in the last week that were refreshers on what it is to be Māori in the New Zealand film industry. The first was when I attended the down-home Māoriland Film Festival in Otaki from last Friday to Sunday, run by Māori power couple Libby Hakaraia […]
20 March 2015 On Tuesday evening I was fortunate to attend the 25th anniversary celebration of New Zealand on Air, hosted by Broadcasting Minister Amy Adams at Parliament. The crowd of 300 or so included many producers whose programmes have received funding from NZ on Air across those 25 years; a number acknowledged with awards […]
5 March 2015 Faced with a blank page and no hot topic I’m left to update you on some of the recent traffic across my desk. Screen Industry New Zealand (SINZ) got together last week for the first time in over a year. SINZ is an informal gathering of guilds (Writers, Directors & Editors, Producers, […]
18 February 2015 Why are there so few female directors making dramatic feature films in New Zealand? It’s a vexing question with no easy answers. A couple of stats drawn from published NZFC data: Of the 28 dramatic features (discounting Hollywood and overseas independents) released with NZFC investment from 2010 to April 2014, four (14%) […]