ONFILM AUGUST 2011

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N Z ’ S S C R E E N P R O D U C T I O N I N D UST R Y M AGA Z I N E

onfilm.co.nz

Back on screen: Billy T James

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Billy T: Te Movie hits the big screen PLUS: Scheduling stoush: Underbelly vs. Nothing Trivial Line producers talk about their lives TVNZ enters unchartered waters

contents august 2011

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A private view

Onfilm columnist Doug Coutts and cartoonist Barry Linton wave goodbye to the cry of the Huia, the call of the floor manager, and the TVNZ charter.

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Editorial

A quick word from editor Steven Shaw; Cartoonist Andy Conlan has a laugh at TVC auditions.

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COVER: Billy T James is back on NZ screens this month, in Ian Mune’s Billy T: Te Movie as well as the dramatised telefeature Billy. Cover photo: Phil Fogle. Above photo: Geoff Short.

Short cuts

Philip Wakefield rounds up NZ box office and television news from the NZ screen industry.

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The Road Less Travelled: The Making of Te Movie

The Ian Mune-directed Billy T James documentary Billy T: Te Movie opens this month. Producer Toby Parkinson backgrounds the production.

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Billy biopic hits small screen

He produced the original Billy T James Show and now he’s

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back producing Billy, a dramatised telefeature about NZ’s most celebrated comedian. Tony Holden talks to Philip Wakefield.

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TVC feature: Balancing on new platforms

These days advertisers are also requiring their TV commercials to screen on new media platforms. Peter Parnham asks whether it’s time to drop the T from TVC.

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Finding your niche

Onfilm looks at several companies involved in specialised areas of TVC production.

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Holding the line

Ande Schurr talks to line producers about the challenges of bringing in international TVC work.

A legal view considered when using music in a screen production.

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TVNZ’s pain relief

Unchartered waters: Peter Parnham examines the demise of the TVNZ charter and asks how it will affect commissioning of local shows.

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Across the ditch

James Bondi, our ex-pat spy based in Australia, rounds up industry news from the Lucky Country.

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Production listings

Volume 28, Number 7

Est 1983

Editor: Steven Shaw (editor@onfilm.co.nz), 021-905-804 Contributors: Doug Coutts, Peter Parnham, Philip Wakefield Ad Manager: Kelly Lucas (admanager@onfilm.co.nz) 09-366 0443 Production Manager: Fran Marshall Designer: Cherie Tagaloa New Subscriptions: www.onfilm.co.nz/subscribe Subscriptions Enquiries: subs@mediaweb.co.nz, 09-529 3000 Pre-press and Printers: PMP Print Onfilm is published 11 times a year by Mediaweb Limited, which also publishes The Data Book.

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w e i v e t a A priv Eras of (mis) judgement It was sometime in the 1960s that architect Sir Basil Spence scrawled the outline for the by doug coutts Beehive onto a soggy paper napkin in Bellamy’s restaurant. And just a few decades later, the Labour gummint took much the same approach in developing a charter for public television.

The main difference was that Bas went on to develop a full set of working drawings while Hobbsy and her crew merely smoothed out the napkin and faxed it off to interested parties.

Anyone who’s taken the time to read the Charter – about three and a half seconds, and that’s for readers of English as a second language – will realise how loose the definition of “made in New Zealand” was. If just one crew member had a slice of Fonterra’s finest in his lunchbox, that was good enough for the whole show to qualify as locally-produced.

Well, pretty much.

Some might say the only sentence that anyone at TVNZ took as gospel was the one that went “… support and promote the talents and creative resources of New Zealanders…”and only until individual staff credit cards were knocked on the head.

But anyway, that’s history, gone the way of the Huia, the broadcasting fee, the Leyland P76 and public broadcasting. Of course the current gummint hasn’t quite closed the door on public broadcasting – it’s one of those things like free educa-

tion and health services that would be nice if only we had the money. But if Don Brash, coincidentally the only person still alive to have actually seen a Huia and eaten it raw, becomes Finance Minister in a few months’ time, they’ll hear that door slamming shut as far away as Reykjavik.

Still, the clamour for free public service broadcasting is there. Not from many of the people who’d be forced to watch it, just from the people who’d like to earn a living making it, or from the academics who want to work their way towards another sabbatical in Venice by pontificating upon it.

The supporters, including opposition MPs who got us into this mess in the first place, are keen to point out the success of TVNZ 7, the channel whose success is impossible to measure since it’s not part of the ratings system.

(Although some have suggested a simple “hands up who watches” approach

might work, and certainly wouldn’t require a calculator with more than a four digit display.)

It’s certainly watched by those who appear on it, and by those with an interest in old New Zealand television programmes – who are presumably the same people. I’m certainly an avid viewer and like nothing more than sitting back with a nice cup of cocoa (laced heavily with Lagavulin) and reminiscing over an episode of Top Town (that’s me in the silly Akubra and too-short shorts) or the Gallery episode where Brian Edwards single-handedly averted nuclear war or a postal workers’ strike, we both forget which.

But the main reason for watching TVNZ 7 is to see my various accumulated TV credits roll up and that’s something I’ll miss come mid-2012.

Or even sooner.

And that’s because the role of floor manager is also set to become

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history. I’m not talking about the namby-pamby run-around-afterrugby-players-and-netballers floor managers paid minimum wage by the commercial sports broadcaster, or the film school graduates filling in time before they get to direct their first short film. No, I mean the real bona fide career floor managers. TVNZ has made the last of its staff FMs redundant, opening the door to a complete lack of studio etiquette and an abundance of sloppy cues, not to mention standing about because no-one’s thought to bring a key to open the green room.

So bid farewell to deep and meaningful television, to the cry of the Huia and to the call of the floor manager – once gone, they cannot ever be brought back.

Still, we’ve got the rugby to look forward to.

e t o n s ’ Ed Where’d you get your bag?

Andy Conlan’s view

L

ocal comedy is in a far better state these days than it was over 20 years ago when Billy T James united us around the telly and reduced us to tears of joy. His was a comedy about us, about New Zealand. He allowed us to laugh at ourselves and helped us to figure out who we were as a nation.

This month marks the 20th anniversary of his death, an anniversary celebrated on the big screen with Ian Mune-directed feature doco Billy T: Te Movie.

But, as they say, that’s not all: During August TV One is screening a dramatised telefeature about his life and death and Sky TV’s Comedy Central is playing James’ 1990 variety special Billy T James, Alive & Gigging and original classic episodes of the Billy T James Show.

In this issue we hear from Billy T: Te Movie producer Toby Parkinson, and Billy and Billy T James Show producer Tony Holden. The people behind these productions knew James well. Mune directed James as the hilarious Tainuia Kid in Came A Hot Friday, a role that further cemented his local celebrity. They recognise his historical importance and the influence he had across several generations of viewers. He was their friend and colleague.

But most of all they – and we – acknowledge James as a consummate performer, an all-rounded entertainer whose grin and trademark giggle put a smile on our faces. The memory of that smile remains with us to this day. And now, thanks to the work of many good people in the screen production industry, his good cheer and laughter can be shared with another generation. May his star shine on.

– Steven Shaw, editor

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august 2011

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Heavy hitters: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and at right, The Hangover Part 2. Photos: Š Warner Bros Ent. All rights reserved.

Short cuts

By Philip Wakefield Boy wizard keeps box office buoyant Harry Potter’s box office wizardry helped to cast off the effects of Christchurch’s February earthquake on the weekly top 20.

Part two of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final instalment in the eight-movie franchise, significantly narrowed the gap between this year’s accumulated box office and 2010’s, which, after 30 weeks, was still nearly $14.5 million ahead.

But last year’s total gross was unprecedented because of the combined popularity of Boy and Avatar, while this year’s has been hit hard by the February earthquake. “I would conservatively say it represents a loss of five percent to our total market,�

Motion Picture Distributors Association president Robert Crockett says. “With two major multiplexes nonoperable and the loss of the ‘art’ screens, even outside of the considerations of the impact on the local and national economy, plus consumer behaviour, it has obviously and naturally impacted our business.�

HP7: Part 2’s first week gross of $4.03 million gave it the highest opening week of all time in NZ and placed it fourth on the list of the year’s highest grossing

releases to date.

By week two, and with another $2 million in receipts, it was in second place, after Transformers: Dark of the Moon (which was about to be eclipsed at press time, with only $90,000 separating the two).

Week 30 also saw Cars 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2 enter the top 10 films of 2011 race, in eighth and ninth positions respectively.

As a result of these movies pumping up school holiday business, the accumulated box office edged ahead of 2009’s, to $100,187,768 and was only 12.5% behind 2010’s, the smallest lag yet.

HP7: Part 2 opened on 149 screens – more than any other Warner Bros release through Roadshow NZ – and generated more than half of its first week gross from 3D sessions.

The industry doesn’t collate 3D data but generally the format drives about 30% of family fare and at least 50% of movies like Transformers.

Crockett reckons the “huge and entertaining spectrum� of releases, ranging from Bill Cunningham New York, The King’s Speech and Tangled to Bridesmaids, The Hangover 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, contributed to the “exceptional results�. “My picks that were not tent pole re-

leases that punched above their weight this year have been Source Code $1.1 million, Burlesque ($1.9 million), Sarah’s Key ($750,000), The Tourist ($1.7 million), Water for Elephants ($1.3 million) and Love Birds ($500,000) to name just a few – but there’s more to come. “Big hopes for the rest of the year include The Help, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Cowboys & Aliens, The Immortals, Contagion, Abduction, Billy T: Te Movie, and Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.�

TVNZ targets Wilson successor amid new season roll-out TVNZ has tapped an international search firm to recruit a successor to former programming chief Jane Wilson.

Wilson exited the top post after an employment dispute that has left TV One and TV2 largely being run by her lieutenants since April.

TVNZ had considered several succession options, including her responsibilities being subsumed by head of TV Jeff Latch and content & acquisitions chief Andrew Shaw.

The hunt for a new programming boss comes amid TV One and TV2 rolling out their mid-season replacements and on the eve of the 2011/12 US TV season kicking off.

Shaw returned from the LA screenings in May happy with TVNZ’s foreign prospects for next year – and not just those in its output deals with the likes of Warner Bros and Disney-ABC. “Every show matters,� he says. “TV One and TV2 are in a really good position. Both are performing very well. We have a strong core slate of returning shows and some significant potential in new shows.�

He says procedural drama continues to be the dominant form. “There are more shows where people have a twist, like an extraordinary ability to recall or an eccentricity that can be applied to crime solving.�

Along with variations on Two and a Half Men, including I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Two Broke Girls and Man Up – he was heartened by the emergence of “some really good, female-led, characterdriven comedy� and believes this year’s market was stronger than 2010’s.

Shaw was particularly impressed with the US version of Prime Suspect; the fantasy series Once Upon a Time and The Secret Circle; action dramas Alcatraz and Person of Interest; and what he dubs “Desperate Housewives in Texas�, Good Christian Belles.

Were there any trends that local

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producers should heed?

“There’s nothing a New Zealand producer can learn from a US producer who can spend $7 million on a pilot. It reflects on how well the industry here does with a small amount of money to run it. In terms of dollars spent and quality of the product produced, New Zealand is spectacularly competitive.”

Will FTA RWC coverage score own goal?

The impact of the Rugby World Cup on free-to-air programming already is being felt, with TV3 ditching its traditional Sunday night series for movies.

The network doesn’t want to launch a new season of popular shows on a night when they’ll be interrupted by RWC coverage.

“We’ve had to carefully manage where some second-half of the year shows are launching, and I’m worried that some great new content might under-deliver because of rugby games elsewhere,” programming chief Kelly Martin says.

But veteran media buyer John Dee, of JDee Media, doubts coverage will be unduly disruptive for the networks because it’s spread over many weeks and key games are concentrated around the weekend.

Moreover, he believes Sky will be the natural default channel for core rugby fans. “The challenge for TV One and TV3 is to draw audiences when their coverage is a mix of delayed and live,” he says.

“By the time live coverage kicks in for the quarter-finals, viewers will be in the habit of finding live games on Sky. “Those without Sky who watch delayed coverage will probably watch it on their channel of default. For example, core TV One viewers will watch it on TV One and core TV3 viewers will watch it on TV3.”

For the same reason, he thinks TV2 and Prime will resist aggressive counterprogramming.

“I think all TV2 and Prime need to do is continue to offer viewers their existing programme fare, which is already a good alternative to rugby.”

FTA coverage is being spread across three channels as a result of Government intervention in the negotiations for RWC broadcast rights. Maori TV

will show all 48 games, of which 16 will be live.

But providing all Kiwis with the chance to tune in means fragmenting audiences for advertisers. “It devalues what should be a premium event that is exclusively on only one free-to-air channel,” Dee argues.

“With all networks having the same coverage, the points of difference will be in the presenters, the studio look, pre-game build-up, post-game and half-time analysis, how they promote it on- and off-channel.

“Sky does a very poor job in most of these areas, probably due to them having a captive paid audience, they feel no need or pressure to provide a viewing experience beyond simply screening the game.

“Admittedly, TV One with Martin Devlin did a superior job to Sky in covering FIFA World Cup. But the challenge for all channels will be to provide a balance between coverage and commercial messages, which is where they all generally fail miserably. They need to respect the viewer and not bombast them with endless commercials and station promos.”

Dee hopes the International Rugby Board’s insistence on Sky commentators being called by their proper names and not their “blokey nicknames” will lead to Sky delivering more professional coverage of rugby – “not just for the Rugby World Cup but for all rugby”.

A tale of two Billy Ts Ian Mune’s Billy T: Te Movie feature (see producer Toby Parkinson’s piece on page 10) will win an unusually wide release for a documentary on August 18, when Sony Pictures opens it on 70 screens. It will premiere four days ahead of TV One’s dramatisation, Billy, which will air in the Sunday Theatre slot.

“I would prefer to be on our own to avoid any potential confusion,” Sony’s general manager Andrew Cornwell says.

But he believes Billy will neither help nor hinder Billy T: Te Movie, which has its world premiere at Hoyts’ new alldigital cinema, The Base, in Te Rapa, on August 15.

Cornwell believes James’ enduring legacy justifies going wide with a documentary that targets heartland

NZ films to premiere in Toronto and Venice N

ew Zealand documentary feature The Last Dogs of Winter will have its world premiere in the highly regarded Real to Reel programme of the 36th Toronto International Film Festival.

Directed and produced by Costa Botes (Forgotten Silver, Candyman, Struggle No More, Daytime Tiger), The Last Dogs of Winter examines the plight of the Canadian Eskimo Dog (or Qimmiq), once crucial to human survival in the Canadian arctic. Today, the breed faces extinction.

Costa Botes will be in Toronto to present the film at the festival, held 8 to 18 September. The Last Dogs of Winter is financed by Lone Pine Films Ltd and the NZFC. Meanwhile, NZ feature film The Orator (O Le Tulafale) will premiere in competition in the Orizzonti (New Horizons) section of the 68th Venice International Film Festival.

Filmed entirely on the island of Upolu, Samoa and in the Samoan language, The Orator is a contemporary drama written and directed by Tusi Tamasese. It tells the story of Saili, who lives a simple, humble life with his beloved wife and daughter in an isolated, traditional village in the islands of Samoa.

Produced by Catherine Fitzgerald (Rain of the Children, Two Cars One Night) with associate producers Maiava Nathaniel Lees and Michael Eldred, the film was shot by acclaimed NZ cinematographer Leon Narbey (No 2, Dean Spanley, Whale Rider, Illustrious Energy).

The Orator is financed by the NZFC with assistance from the Government of Samoa.

It will be distributed in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands by Transmission Films, which released Boy. Tusi Tamasese and Catherine Fitzgerald will attend the premiere of The Orator with the assistance of the NZFC and the Venice International Film Festival, which runs from 31 August to 10 September.

NZ Film, the sales arm of the NZFC, is handling world sales of both films.

NZFC ceo Graeme Mason said “The recent selections of two New Zealand features by coveted film festivals like Venice and Toronto is an extraordinary commendation on our ability to tell global stories on a global stage. For the second time in one week, I am thrilled to congratulate a New Zealand filmmaker on a job well done.”

New Zealand.

“The Topp Twins movie (The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls) shows there is a market for characters that are well loved, and Billy would just about be at the top of that list.”

He cites a Facebook tribute to the comedian that has more than 154,000 fans.

Cornwell believes that proportionally, a higher percentage of the box office will be in the provinces rather than metro multiplexes and he thinks the movie’s natural constituency will be patrons aged 35-plus who have a living memory of James.

“It will be interesting to see how young it plays. I think it will get some interest from younger people. It’s a bit like Elvis – the mystique and legend grows, it doesn’t diminish.”

Cornwell says the timing of the release couldn’t be better. While he’d

have liked it closer to the 20th anniversary of James’ death, on August 7, going out nearly two weeks later means it will face light competition.

“We wanted to get it out before the Rugby World Cup but after the US summer blockbusters. So it’s a window of opportunity.”

Billy T: Te Movie will be that week’s only new release. It will coincide with Sony re-issuing a raft of Billy T James DVDs, in new, re-branded packaging, and Sky TV’s Comedy Central reviving The Billy T James Show from August 31.

Two days earlier the channel will screen Alive & Giggling, a record of the entertainer’s first stage show after his heart transplant, which he performed on April 29, 1990.

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Continued on page 9

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Nothing Trivial. Photo © South Pacific Pictures Ltd.

Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud.

Photo: Florence Noble, supplied by Screentime Ltd.

Continued from page 7

TV3 under the gun over Underbelly NZ NZ On Air appears to have made TV3 an offer it couldn’t refuse over the programming of Kiwi gangster drama Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud.

The broadcaster has been forced to turn its schedule upside down to accommodate demands by the funding agency and production community that Underbelly NZ not debut opposite TV One’s 8.30pm Wednesday NZ drama, Nothing Trivial.

It was a brave, if naïve call, by TV3 programming boss Kelly Martin to schedule the Screentime series against South Pacific Pictures’ latest flagship hit.

The political stakes were huge, ranging from the clout of the major players to Underbelly NZ, with its Aussie origins, having been greenlit with nearly $4 million of prestigious Platinum Funding.

Yet after an eyeball-to-eyeball encounter between TV3 and NZOA to debate other options, Martin was refusing to blink.

“We can’t do a lot more to change

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it without creating a whole lot more drama,” she told the NZ Herald while arguing the clash of the primetime titans was a “coming of age for New Zealand drama”.

But five days later, and only a week out from Underbelly NZ going to air, TV3 announced it would postpone the premiere until August 17, so it could screen 9.30pm Wednesdays.

That would seem a commonsense compromise if it didn’t: • Undermine TV3’s programming autonomy and cost it ad revenue that could go towards funding more local production.

• Jeopardise Underbelly NZ’s ratings potential and takes the gloss off its launch.

• Diminish the ratings prospects of Underbelly NZ’s Kiwi lead-in, Rocked the Nation 3: 100 Great Sporting Moments.

• Confuse readers of TV guides that were printed before the 11th hour turnaround.

• Reflect poorly on an indie industry that 22 years after breaking TVNZ’s monopoly on drama production still feels entitled to protectionism.

• Open the door to more interference

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from bureaucrats and programme makers in an area – programming – where they have neither expertise nor understanding.

Screentime, NZOA and the industry generally couldn’t have wished for a better local drama launch than Martin’s original strategy: on the back of Rocked the Nation 3’s premiere, before the season finale of high-rating crime drama, Sons of Anarchy, and in the same midweek slot where the three previous series of the Australian Underbelly proved exceptionally popular.

But she underestimated the opposition from NZOA and producers whose interests in not seeing NZ dramas compete against one another were as vested as hers in wanting to use Underbelly NZ to help launch an international drama, The Borgias, which was to follow it at 9.30pm.

Ironies about this debacle abound.

TV3 traditionally had better relations with NZOA and producers than TVNZ because of how its executives interact with the industry; TV3 was the network that reinvigorated NZ TV drama with Outrageous Fortune; it’s the network that’s taken creative risks with Kiwi comedy in primetime.

Yet it’s also the network that’s more vulnerable to NZOA funding decisions as it has less to bring to the negotiating table than TVNZ – which means it can’t afford to lose the goodwill that scheduling Underbelly NZ opposite Nothing Trivial would have cost it.

But all parties should put aside politics and consider the big picture: broadcasting has moved on from 1989, when NZOA was set up, and in a world of PVR, plus-one and ondemand viewing it’s consumers who can choose when they want to watch local content.

It’s also these forces, and the rise of pay TV, internet downloading and other digital entertainment options, that threaten free-to-air TV’s viability.

So why would those who have most to lose from its demise destabilise it by second-guessing experienced programmers to engineer outcomes that serve their purpose in the short term but not the long term?

After all, what’s the point of one NZ drama being spared competition from another if it means one ends up in a less desirable slot – to say nothing

of the implications for the economics of a network’s schedule, which rest not on one slot or night but on building an audience across weeks and months.

NZOA and programme makers need to get past the notion of networks being there to serve their ends. Networks have much wider constituencies than just people who want to watch NZ drama.

Moreover, wouldn’t it be fantastic if those who do could choose between two local dramas as complementary as Nothing Trivial and Underbelly NZ without either necessarily being overlooked or ignored?

Wouldn’t that signal an industry that was confident about itself and looking towards the day when, instead of every NZ drama debut being a big deal, the big deal lay in NZ drama being every day?

Back to the future The Australian network that commissioned the original Underbelly, Channel Nine, has yet to view the NZ spin-off that launches this month on TV3.

“We haven’t taken it to Channel Nine yet,” executive producer Philly de Lacey of Screentime says of Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud.

“We will when we have completed all the episodes. We’ve only delivered two so far [at press time]. Channel Nine is aware of this series and we will be showing it to them soon. But there have been no discussions.”

Screentime turned around the sixpart drama exceptionally fast, clocking up two episodes every 11 days. “We were shooting about 8-10 minutes a day,” de Lacey says.

NZ On Air contributed nearly $3.9 million from its Platinum Fund to the making of the series, the per-episode cost of which de Lacey estimates was two-thirds that of the original Underbelly.

Producer/director Ric Pellizzeri (Blue Heelers, the upcoming Ice) reckons it may have been even less.

“The shoot was tough,” he says. “We had to be expedient and smart and economic but focus on a good story with believable characters that transported you to another world.”

Part of evoking that ’70s period flavour was DP Thomas Burstyn (The Insatiable Moon) using a couple of

Zeiss lenses from the era on Sony F3 cameras.

“They gave us a bit of flare, a slightly different look,” Pellizzeri says. “They’re not as sharp as modern lenses but I liked the look of filming it through glass ground in the 1970s.”

He also tried to turn budgetary limitations and a tight schedule that prevented the luxury of super-sharp and classically framed shots into creative strengths.

“We chased focus, we pulled focus … Every shot was above or below eyeline … That gave us a fresh and different look while maintaining the legacy of the 39 episodes of Underbelly that had gone before us.”

De Lacey and Pellizzeri also extensively viewed NZ footage and photos from the 1970s, as well as archive material of the drama’s international “locations” (even though the series was principally shot at Auckland’s Avondale raceway and in an industrial complex on Carbine Rd, Mt Wellington).

Some of this footage features in the series. “We didn’t have the means to recreate big vistas with CGI, so we used it to give a taste of what New Zealand, Bangkok, Singapore and London were like in the 1970s,” Pellizzeri says.

The 1970s’ colour palette has hints of greens, blues and oranges – the grading was done at Toybox, while the fashions were sourced from warehouses in the US. “We used a lot of original clothing,” Pellizzeri says. “We just altered it. We didn’t have to make anything. We picked the clothing up very cheaply – and it was in mint condition.”

He believes wearing these garments enhanced the authenticity of the performances, as did art director Chris Elliott’s (Spartacus) exacting attention to detail. Nothing that wasn’t true to the period, be it props, costumes or dialogue, was allowed.

While Land of the Long Green Cloud was set earlier than the previous Underbellys, the latest in the franchise, Underbelly: Razor, takes place in 1920s’ Sydney.

It’s soon to bow on Channel Nine and boasts Kiwis in key roles,

including Danielle McCormack, Chelsie Preston-Crayford, Craig Hall and Lucy Wigmore.

But it’s the new faces in Underbelly NZ that thrill TV3 programming chief Kelly Martin. On the eve of the series’ debut, she was confident the local angle would give it even more appeal than the top-rating sister dramas.

“It’s a wholly New Zealand story, New Zealand characters and actors, and a New Zealand production company – with a little help from their Aussie counterparts – but only a little,” she says.

“They’ve done a great job. I’m really happy with the cast. We make a point of trying to get new New Zealand faces into our drama offerings, and I think we’ve succeeded.”

Festival cheer At press time, NZ International Film Festival ticket sales were ahead of 2010’s, both in Auckland and Wellington.

“We are well ahead of last year and hopeful of reaching target,” director Bill Gosden said of the Auckland bookings. “With Wellington, we’re about 10% ahead at this stage.”

Tree of Life, Arrietty, Norwegian Wood and The Trip were among the popular choices in both cities. “But there are considerable differences between the two programmes this year,” Gosden says, “with Nosferatu already sold out in Auckland and Drive heading to a sell-out in Wellington.

“We have much more capacity in Wellington for the 3D films than in Auckland, where they have been crowded out from Digital Cinema Package (DCP) screens by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

“So they are likely to be further up the hit parade in Wellington than Auckland.”

Gosden says there were a few disappointing attendances for “the great US indie titles” in Auckland, which started two weeks ahead of Wellington, while A Separation was “definitely the surprise hit”.

Photo: supplied.

Caravan of Courage A

travelling cinema is heading to the South Island in September to screen a programme of memorable Kiwi clips and short films. The retro Kiwi caravan will visit 19 towns as part of the Real New Zealand Festival, held from 9 September to 23 October.

While the North Island will have two giant container installations on the Wellington and Auckland waterfronts for the duration of the Rugby World Cup, the caravan is heading on a winter road trip to share Kiwi screen gems with the South.

The content is a selection from the www.nzonscreen.com website. “Everyone’s coming along for the ride,” says NZ On Screen project director Brenda Leeuwenberg. “We’re delighted to be able to take Kiwi icons like Billy T, Sir Ed, Peter Jackson and Cheryl West on a massive road trip around the South Island, and bring southern screen heroes like John Britten and Burt Munro back to home turf.”

The caravan will drop in on small towns and centres including: Picton, Blenheim, Kaikoura, Rangiora, Ashburton, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, Wanaka, Queenstown, Gore, Invercargill, Hokitika, Greymouth, Westport, Arthurs Pass, Murchison, Nelson and Christchurch. Entry to the cinema on wheels is free.

“As a Mainlander,” says project co-ordinator Anna Dean, “it’s great to be able to bring this content to the heartland. I’m looking forward to meeting lots of people along the way and inviting them into our mobile lounge.”

• For dates check out http://real.nzonscreen.com/south-island/

New to

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Continued on page 28

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The Road Less Travelled:

The Making of Te Movie Toby Parkinson, co-producer and post-production supervisor of the Ian Mune-directed Billy T James documentary feature Billy T: Te Movie, backgrounds the production, which opens August 18.

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Billy T James.

Photo: Jenny Scown/NZ Herald.

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ike all good ideas, the idea to produce a documentary about Billy T James came at a moment when least expected.

I was working in Australia in 2007 when my friend Ruth Kaupua called me to tell me that her business partner and our good friend Don Selwyn had passed away. Don was an important person in my life and an icon in the New Zealand film industry.

I needed to return for his tangi, but it was difficult. I was working on a production and I had only a limited window to travel back. I caught the last flight out of Melbourne and my friend picked me up at Auckland airport at midnight. Then, with only a few hours’ sleep, we hit the road at 4am to get to Don’s marae in Te Awamutu.

We made it by about 9.30am and went onto the marae to show our respects. It was the last day that Don would lie on the marae before being taken to his final resting place. The service began around 1pm and we stayed at the back of the congregation as the prayers and eulogies were given. There was a who’s who of the Maori entertainers: Temuera Morrison, Waihoroi Shortland and Sir Howard Morrison among others. As the service seemed to be coming to an end, a woman stood and took the microphone, inviting Sir Howard to come up and lead the karakia.

Sir Howard stood slowly. He wore a long, well-cut overcoat, and being over 70, he moved a little more slowly than when I had last seen him. But he had an audience and that seemed to give him energy with every step he took towards the wharenui. He waved and smiled to the crowd, he couldn’t help having a dig at the rest of the performers, telling them he was still the best-looking Maori there. It was so nice to have the showman on stage. I am sure that wherever Don was, he was smiling too.

Just before he started to speak, he turned to Don, who was lying on the porch, and just for the briefest of seconds I sensed the old entertainer

could see his own end coming. He sighed and I realised he was the last of a generation of Maori entertainers that had done so much to change this country’s perception of itself for the better.

In this quiet moment full of emotion I could see that there was something bigger here. It took me a while to work out what it was. These men, Sir Howard, Don Selwyn and Billy T James, are as important to our history as any politician, military leader or academic. Perhaps more important, because they touched our hearts.

As a documentary maker, it’s logical that my next thought was to make a film to explore this. For me, the easiest and most fascinating to tell was the Billy T James story. He lived through times of massive change for Maori and his trajectory from small town country boy to the country’s biggest star was not a traditional route.

Billy emerged on our television screens after doing a unique apprenticeship with the Maori Volcanics in Europe and Australia. The New Zealand he came back to was going through a seismic shift culturally. The Maori Land March and the Springbok Tour protests began to expose an ingrained intolerance in our society.

Billy’s arrival on our screens came at the right time. First as Englishman Dexter Fitzgibbons on Radio Times, and then as a cheeky Maori who told jokes about cheeky Maori in his own show. We Pakeha laughed, but we felt a little guilty. We said ‘oh no, you can’t say that!’ And then he did jokes about stupid Pakeha and you couldn’t help but laugh again.

But it was ourselves that we were laughing at – a single country celebrated as many parts. And, as Jim Moriarty says in the film: “It was just the right medicine because we were just winding ourselves up a bit tight.”

More importantly, Billy knew exactly what he was doing and why it was valuable.

Over the years, I produced a series of Billy T James DVDs for Sony, all of which had respectable sales, so it

We chose to focus directly on his career and his comedy as a reflection of the cultural shifts happening in the country. wasn’t a large step for Sony Pictures NZ ceo Andrew Cornwell to see the potential of a feature film and he was with us all the way.

Producing the film became a long and drawn-out task, firstly to find the right team to bring this story together.

Bringing Ian Mune in as the director was a bit controversial, since he’s not known as a documentary maker, but this is a feature film and his long experience as one of our most

accomplished feature film directors meant that we were in safe hands.

Sony wanted us to deliver the film for the opening of the new Hoyts cinema at Te Rapa, Hamilton. The cinema is in The Base, a new retail centre owned and operated by Tainui.

Billy T being one of Tainui’s favourite sons, it seemed only right.

The bulk of the shooting was done in three weeks – interviews and dramatic sequences were shot quickly

Toby Parkinson (right) in Baselight with Paul Lear. Photo: Brent Hargreaves.

and efficiently. DP Waka Attewell shot it on Arri’s new Alexa, the first in the country – a great camera that gave us everything we hoped for.

Any film brings up its own set of unique challenges and we faced a few: firstly in deciding on our story.

The story of Billy’s life is still fresh in many of our minds and most of the people involved with him are still alive except for the crucial one: Billy himself. There are a lot of stories

around this unique and unusual man, so there were many avenues we could have gone down. We chose to focus directly on his career and his comedy as a reflection of the cultural shifts happening in the country.

The first task was to find as much existing footage of Billy as we could.

Here we hit our biggest hurdle. In the 1980s tape and storage was expensive, so TV stations simply taped over everything after transmission. The

Production Sound System Nomad is a complete location sound recording solution for film and television productions. Specifically designed for over the shoulder use, it provides all the functionality necessary to mix, record and monitor audio in a power efficient spacesaving package. Nomad seamlessly integrates with Zaxcom Digital Wireless, IFB and ERX systems to provide unique functionality in the sound bag.

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Ian Mune on the set of Billy T: Te Movie. Photo: supplied.

The pictures and sound have been digitally re-mastered, meaning that this old, and in many cases, rough, footage has been re-created as a cinematic experience. most surprising thing was how little is left of Billy’s original shows. Of the first three series only a few episodes remain and, sadly, the lost shows contained some of his best work. We had a great footage researcher, Angela Boyd. Her knowledge of the archive libraries was brilliant. The quality of footage we found varied greatly, from old one-inch tapes to VHS. Creating a modern film from all these varied sources was a big challenge.

We chose Images & Sound to help us bring all the elements together.

We were producing a major feature film on a limited budget, so the idea of going to a one-stop shop where you could walk between sound, edit, grade and VFX appealed greatly. It meant we could solve problems shotby-shot across all disciplines quickly and efficiently, which minimised costly mistakes. The project was coordinated by Grant Baker and Jane Anderson, who I can only describe as two of the easiest and best-humoured 12

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professionals to work with.

We knew we had a great story, but we were worried that we didn’t have all the necessary elements to tell it with. Editor Margot Francis took this as a challenge and chose sound and music to drive the story forward, using the footage of Billy in front of a live audience as the central character.

We began to stitch together a story but the quest for footage kept us on our toes for another four months.

Sony wanted us to show it to a test audience six weeks before we had a final edit. We arranged a test screening at Rialto in Newmarket, Auckland. We were nervous that day – the film was in a very unfinished state. It had holes filled with stand-in cards and lots of really rough footage with time-codes splashed all across it. What surprised us all was how well the test audience received it. It gave us a lot of confidence – we knew then we were on the right track.

Getting the film to lock-off took

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a further six weeks and we were still researching and delivering footage right up to the last few days. Once we locked our edit, we had a close look at the footage we were going to use and assessed how far we had to go to get the quality we wanted. We decided to clean the sound as much as possible and treat the vision where appropriate. It is a well-known fact that good sound forgives a bad picture but it doesn’t work the other way around.

We felt the best way to approach the sound was to clean and pre-mix at Images & Sound and then fully mix it at Soundfirm in Melbourne. Tom Miskin and the Images & Sound sound team worked on the audio restoration and pre-mix over the next 10 weeks. Tom’s attention to detail and passion for the work ensured he made a huge contribution to the final film. The work was long and complex and required a large team effort. The end result is a stunning update of Billy’s work – he’s been brought into the 21st century.

Some of New Zealand’s favourite sketches and songs have been completely re-mixed. And in some cases the music was re-recorded under the direction of Bernie Allen, who was Billy’s original music director, and engineered by Bruce Lynch. They worked to keep it authentic and resisted the temptation to give it a modern sound.

Treating the archive pictures meant looking at each piece of footage individually. We had the tools at our disposal to clean and reshape each image so that it would look

almost new. But the different types of footage and their unique qualities immediately give a sense of the time they were shot in, so we decided to treat each shot individually – cleaning where appropriate, but not to a point where it would lose its distinctive character.

At Images & Sound we set up a system where we could seamlessly move between Smoke, Baselight and Flame, operated by Andrew Mortimer and Paul Lear. This allowed us to take a very hands-on approach. We could make changes in Smoke and quickly look at them on a full cinema screen in Baselight, which allowed us to make and see immediate colour corrections. Smoke, in conjunction with Baselight’s grain reduction and colour grading, brought fresh life to the archive footage.

I believe we have an incredible result. The pictures and sound have been digitally re-mastered, meaning that this old, and in many cases, rough, footage has been re-created as a cinematic experience. We are presenting Billy T James as he has never been seen or heard.

Creating this film followed no easy path, but the difficulties we ran into created a stronger film. Billy himself generated a lot of confusion around his own story, but there’s one thing for sure: he is one of the most important figures in contemporary New Zealand culture and I like to think we have done him justice in bringing him to the audience in this exciting new format.

Tainui Tukiwaho as Billy T James in Billy. Photos: supplied.

Billy biopic hits the small screen A drama about the life and death of NZ entertainer Billy T James will air this month on TV One. Philip Wakefield talks to Billy producer Tony Holden.

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id you hear the one about the Pakeha who goes into a bar and says to Billy T James, “Trouble is Billy, this bloody Labour Government’s selling out to the Maoris. Don’t get me wrong, I love Maoris. But if a few more of them were like you, Billy …”

That’s a scene from TV One’s Sunday Theatre biopic of the entertainer, Billy, which screens on August 21 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his death.

The Comedia Pictures production, based on Matt Elliott’s biography, Billy T: Life & Times of Billy T James, celebrates the iconic comedian’s genius and congeniality.

But the screenplay, by Briar GraceSmith and Dave Armstrong, also doesn’t shrink from showing the race relations divide he straddled between patronising Pakeha praise and abusive Maori radicals who derided him for being a “potato”: brown on the outside and white on the inside.

“It’s difficult for people to remember how racial the landscape was in the ’80s,” says Billy producer Tony Holden.

“By setting things in the ’70s and ’80s, we get a strong sense of how race relations were.

“We deal with Billy coping with people accusing him of being racist. There were guns fired and bricks thrown through windows of his house. He was under threat. The cops never found out who was responsible but at end of day he certainly did get attacked by Maori who felt his humour demeaned Maori.”

Holden knows this personally because he produced and directed James

in his heyday, on his top-rating Billy T James Show.

“His attitude was, ‘The Jews manage to laugh at themselves and they went through the Holocaust. Why can’t Maori?’ A lot of Maori can, but in those sensitive times, when race relations were changing so dramatically and quickly, there were Maori who found his style of humour offensive to Maori.

He never quite coped with his own race calling him racist.”

Yet, as Holden argues, he probably did as much as anyone to improve race relations by using humour to release Pakeha tensions about Maori radicalism.

He says James was part of a generation who were denied connection to their culture. “The smart way to get ahead was to be more Pakeha than Pakeha, which was Billy’s story in a way. His first TV job was as Dexter Fitzgibbon on Radio Times: a Maori playing a pukka Englishman. It’s one of the ironies we traverse.”

However, Holden is quick to stress Billy is not a political or revelatory drama. “This is not a controversial film at all. Our real determination was to give a little bit more insight into the thinking of one of our great heroes.

“It was not our intention to hold him up as being anything other than a staggeringly important figure on our entertainment scene. The man was a real genius.”

He describes Billy, which Peter Burger (What Really Happened at Waitangi?) directed, as a “love story” told in flashback through the eyes of his wife, Lynn Matthews. “We get to know more

It was not our intention to hold him up as being anything other than a staggeringly important figure on our entertainment scene.

The man was a real genius. about Billy as a character than we would if Billy was telling us his story.”

The focus is on their relationship and his TV success. “He was at the peak of his powers for only about four or five years, which comes as a shock to everyone given he was such a huge star,” Holden says.

While people were familiar with Billy’s alter-egos on screen, few would have realised how shy or introverted he was off-screen. This writer remembers interviewing him for a newspaper feature in the late ’80s, when James opted to miss his flight rather than cut the interview short.

“He would never have been impolite or given offense,” says Holden, who believes James would have hated the bad language and foul humour that characterise modern stand-up comedy.

“His was a generous, gentle kind of humour. It didn’t rely on crudity or vulgarity.”

He says while Billy isn’t an exposé, “I doubt if many people know he died owing a lot of money to IRD and was in financial straits. There also were ten-

sions around what happened after he died, when his body was taken without permission, which we cover in the film because it impacted on Lynn.”

Morgana O’Reilly stars as Lynn while Tainui Tukiwaho plays her husband.

Holden says it wasn’t crucial that Tukiwaho be a Billy T lookalike. “He was cast because he had the qualities and skills to do the role. The film opens with him doing parts of Billy’s performance. Once you buy into the fact there he is doing the yellow-towel character, he looks pretty like him.”

But in a sign of how times have changed, there was one aspect of playing Billy T that truly challenged Tukiwaho: deliberately mispronouncing the comedian’s Maori name, Te Wehi Taitoko (which James himself couldn’t enunciate properly because he was never taught to speak Maori).

Quips Holden: “We now have a generation of young actors who don’t know how to pronounce Maori incorrectly.

We come a long way, eh?”

• Billy screens August 21 on TV One

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Balancing on new platforms Even if the television advertising business recovers to previous levels it won’t be the same, writes Peter Parnham, so is it time to drop the T from TVC?

I

n 2010 New Zealand television commercial media spend grew six percent over the previous year. Yay! If it carries on like this, within a year or two the television commercial production industry could be back to where it was in 2005.

Yet even if its television spend eventually recovers to 2005 levels, it will be in an industry that looks very different to 2005 – the year YouTube opened for business.

The label “television commercial production” has already largely given way to the more generic “commercial production” as the sector disassociates itself from that particular delivery platform.

The Advertising Standards Authority uses the word “interactive” as its catch-all category for new delivery platforms, and its statistics show growth from zip to $257 million in 10 years, a number that now represents about 40% of what is spent on television advertising.

A lot of interactive advertising may be search engine sponsored links and website banners, but the idea that a

good chunk of the audience is no longer captive on the living room couch has profound implications for commercial production companies.

The Sweetshop is just one commercial production company moving into the interactive space, setting up sister company The Rumpus Room to specialise in content for emerging platforms. The companies work in New Zealand, Australia, the US and UK. “Advertising is becoming less media-centric and more idea-centric across multiple platforms,” says ceo and managing partner Paul Prince.

Prince says some corporate marketing managers are now confiding they would never do big brand ads again, instead looking for internet ads that will go viral.

“People are aware of the shift of where eyeballs are,” says Prince, “so they will look to cover off more bases with each presenting its own challenges.

“The Rumpus Room has its own social media department, it’s got creative technologists, there is an

expertise within that is different from our core product, which is storytelling and making stories.

“It is very much a different approach. The important part, from a narrative point of view, is that it is non-linear technology.

You still need to shoot a narrative but the tool set has dramatically changed and become a lot more accessible. It’s given the opportunity to tell bigger stories more easily.”

The changing technolPaul Prince, ceo The Sweetshop ogy and tools are also afand The Rumpus Room. fecting post production as the high priced cameras, “The on-site infrastructure and reediting suites, and post software of a few years ago are now within the price dundancy are important,” says Bach, “because small or do-it-yourself post range of aspiring film makers.

But easy availability is not about to facilities don’t have the extra equipside-line post production houses, says ment to cope with computer glitches Michael Bach, manager of Auckland or equipment malfunctions.”

But more important are the skilled post house Toybox, who says post production houses are partly about specialists that put the technology to work. technology. www.onfilm.co.nz

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You don’t usually have the luxury of saying this is only going to be on YouTube.

Envy

creates

promotion

Fair Trade “Fair Story”, an interactive online film created by The Rumpus Room.

Nike “Write Your Headline”, created by the Rumpus Room as part of Nike’s “Write the Future” campaign, exhibited on the edge of Soccer City, Johannesburg, for World Cup 2010.

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“If film companies try to do as much as they can inhouse, they can keep the budget within their own environment. But you end up with people who might be compositors doing the colour grade or editors suddenly doing the compositing and the result is that your post is handled by people who are jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none. Those sorts of issues mean the client is not going to get as good a job as they would using post house specialists.”

For Toybox, the new, lower quality delivery platforms only come into play at the final output stage.

“In the commercial world it doesn’t seem to matter. We finish on HD, and then we apply whatever transcode is required,” he says. “You don’t usually have the luxury of saying this is only going to be on YouTube.”

Bach believes the trends in the New Zealand industry mirror those from overseas, and says New Zealand companies can no longer rely on the NZ market alone. And like many in the industry, Toybox is not going simply to wait and hope that commercials will regain the market share they once had.

“We have to look at opportunities in different places,” he says. “For example, we attended Adfest (14th Asia Pacific Advertising Festival) and we have got reps in LA and in London now – we have got to diversify and look for business elsewhere.”

A

n Auckland company is supplying proof you don’t need to be mannish to carve out a niche in the maledominated territory of machine rooms and dubbing suites, those mysterious back rooms that allow post-production houses to pull up your synced footage from anywhere in the building.

Susan Bridges has been promoted to dubbing engineer after starting some 10 months ago at Envy Studios in a front-of-house role.

Envy Studios grew out of Auckland Audio last year when it added video post-production to its offering.

Bridges’ promotion came as a result of her showing enthusiasm for the technical stuff. “I have been fascinated by video since I was at high school, and since I’ve been here I’ve really started to get interested in audio,” she says.

“I did a BA a few years back in film and media studies at Auckland University but we didn’t do much practical stuff. I was overseas for three years, and when I came back I really wanted to get some real experience in the industry. I liked being front of house, but the people at Envy have been really encouraging so I went back to AUT to do a post graduate diploma in digital media – fortunately the classes are at night.”

Bridges says she doesn’t live on midnight pizzas but does admit to being a geek of sorts. “I am a film geek, definitely,” she laughs. “But I have done a lot of other things as well, especially when I was overseas.”

NHNZ Moving Images team. Photo: supplied.

Finding your niche Onfilm takes a look at several dedicated areas within the commercial production sector where local companies have capitalised on unique skills and experience to grow their business.

T

he world of commercial production abounds with niches and recesses but that’s not to say they are populated by slow-moving Quasimodo types; quite the opposite in fact.

Take NHNZ Moving Images, a division of Dunedin-based Natural History New Zealand – a production company that produces over 60 hours of factual programming each year for the international television market.

It manages a footage archive that if your full time job was to watch it, it would take 100 years before you finished.

NHNZ Moving Images manager Caroline Cook says that in the past it has supplied stock footage to other international production houses, primarily because most of the pro-

duction filming is offshore – but also helped by a farsighted decision made almost a decade ago to switch to HD production. “The focus has changed dramatically in the last year since we launched our new website, which is based on advanced search abilities and having much of our best content online,� says Cook. “We know this is the way the advertising agency market prefers to shop for stock footage.�

As a result the business is growing, with two new staff added, taking the team to eight.

Cook says that despite the Natural History origins of the company, the stock footage covers everything from engineering to medical history. She says setting up their own online site

instead of using one of the large stock footage agencies is about competing on the world stage. “We own most of the footage outright and we believed that if we had the right channel online, we would find a niche market,� she says.

Park Road Post in Wellington may get a lot of well-deserved media attention for the quality of its architecture and the depth of its feature film work, but it too has found some unique niches in commercials.

General manager Cameron Harland says that if you open certain doors within the Park Road complex you can still find that distinctive smell of film processing chemicals, but these days there is a parallel digital laboratory as well.

“In the commercial space most of our business comes from a very good relationship with Val Morgan in Australia and in New Zealand. We work with them converting TV commercials to 35mm film for cinema,� he says. “We are finding we are doing less film processing as more television commercials are being shot digitally, but cinemas out there are still playing just as many 35mm print films as they are digital so there is quite a bit of business.�

But more recently another niche has developed, converting commercials from 2D to 3D for cinemas. “We’ve done a number of commercials for Australia. Before a 3D film there will be a couple of ads that

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We are finding we are doing less film processing as more television commercials are being shot digitally, but cinemas out there are still playing just as many 35mm print films as they are digital so there is quite a bit of business. – Cameron Harland, Park Road Post.

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the health of the New Zealand commercial production industry.

He says they have been busy since the merger and recently took on an extra audio engineer. “I think it is still a very competitive market,� says Hughes, “even though we provide a one stop shop. It has been quiet for the last couple of months, but we’ve got lots of business with film and television clients as well so we have been very much focused on that.�

He says the new distribution platforms don’t change the basic proposition. “Good music is good music. The briefs do change; we’ve had some fantastic briefs that weren’t traditional television commercials. We are seeing more of those projects come through the door but fundamentally you are still trying to find a piece of music that works to the pictures and works to the concept.�

Park Road Post to preserve ‘lost’ Hitchcock film T

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are in 3D. It is a relatively small part of our business at the moment but it is quite exciting. “We have built a pretty simple pipeline to be able to deliver it, and it is not hugely expensive or time consuming. We have a couple of really smart guys that can turn around a 30-second commercial in two or three days,� he says.

In Auckland, Jonathan Hughes heads a company operating in a niche that you won’t notice unless you take the time to consciously listen to it: music.

Hughes is joint managing director of Franklin Rd – a company named after the iconic tree-lined street where it is located. It was formed early last year by the merger of Soundtrax and Mana Music into a fully-fledged music services company. It is a position that offers unique insight into

hree reels from The White Shadow (1923), thought to be the earliest surviving feature by master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock, have been found in New Zealand – and Park Road Post in Wellington has the important task of preserving the film.

The lost reels turned up among a collection of unidentified American nitrate prints safeguarded for the last 23 years by the New Zealand Film Archive.

So far, only the first three reels of the six-reel feature have been found; no other copy is known to exist.

The White Shadow was among the cache of silent-era movies salvaged by New Zealand projectionist and collector Jack Murtagh. After his death in 1989, his grandson Tony Osborne sent the highly flammable nitrate prints to the Film Archive for safekeeping

The Hitchcock film is just one of many treasures uncovered, including John Ford’s 1927 film Upstream, which owe their survival to Murtagh’s passion for early cinema.

Like Upstream, the surviving reels of Hitchcock’s The White Shadow will be preserved at Park Road Post Production.

Black and white duplicate negatives will be struck from the original nitrate material and colour prints will replicate the tints used in the original print. “It’s exciting to work on the preservation of yet another historically significant film here at Park Road and we feel privileged to be involved in such an important project,� says head of laboratory Brian Scadden.

In addition to the preservation work on The White Shadow and Upstream carried out in New Zealand, many

other titles for preservation have been identified amongst the latest find. They include the early Technicolor film The Love Charm (1928), early narratives from pioneering woman directors Muriel Ostriche and Alice Guy, a 1920 dance demonstration by ballerina-choreographer Albertina Rasch, a fragment from the Keystone Kops’ lost slapstick comedy In the Clutches of the Gang (1914), and a number of other shorts and newsreel stories long unavailable in the United States.

The films will be preserved over the next three years in partnership with the US National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, George Eastman House, the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art and UCLA Film & Television Archive.

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Holding the line Ande Schurr asks local line producers what the NZ screen industry can do to get more international TVCs shot in New Zealand.

O

ur film industry incites great loyalty. There is something special about working with directors and producers who pour their heart and soul into their film, art departments who push the boundaries of design and logistics, technical crews that respond masterfully to each challenge in front of them, and our actors, who make a project fun and rewarding.

There’s another industry that exists under the same umbrella term ‘film industry’, led by line producers whose production companies service the large number of television commer-

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cials brought to New Zealand.

In the pursuit of learning what the reality of our film industry really is, I interviewed three line producers – Anzak Tindall from Joyride Films, Iris Weber from Batch Film and William Grieve from Big Pictures.

What’s your background?

Anzak Tindall: I was a musician, an aircraft engineer for 11 years, then I joined Silverscreen as a director’s assistant because I wanted to further my career in the creative arts. At Silverscreen I went on to become a production manager

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and then a producer for eight years.

Then in 2003 I started Joyride, a small production service company, about three years before the collapse of Silverscreen. I got out in time and followed a dream to set up my own company.

Iris Weber: I’m Austrian and started off as a stills photographer, camera assistant, then DOP. I’d seen a bit of the world and realised NZ was special. After being here for three to four weeks on a job, I had an incredible urge to come back. I came in 1996 to see if the reality matched my impression and it did. Brad Avery and I opened our first company in NZ in 2000, which is now Batch Film.

William Grieve: After studying law and political science at uni, naturally I went straight into the film business. This was in the early 1980s. Initially I worked on feature films as a production manager, then one day, about 20 years ago, I responded to a call from a Hong Kong production company who needed someone to assist them in NZ with a shoot for United Airlines. As it turned out the director, Louis Ng, was one of the most successful in Asia and it was the start of a very long relationship. His company still shoots here with us once

or twice a year. From that initial job our contacts have spread around Asia, Europe and the US so that line production work is mainly what I do now.

Do crews understand how important the international sector is to NZ? AT: The average crew member is looking to many different places to earn their living. However, this particular sector is becoming more important to NZ and for crew and suppliers to survive and prosper they are increasingly looking to the sector.

IW: They do, although overall they have no appreciation of what we do, how much work there is before and after the bringing in a job or issues around immigration, DOC, Actor’s Equity or Film NZ. That is a never-ending battle and has quite an impact on what kind and what quantity of jobs we are going to attract to NZ in the next five to 10 years.

WG: Yes, the crews do. I am not sure if some actors’ representatives do. It is not just the volume of work, it’s the type of jobs. Recently, we shot a job for the Audi A8L for China in 3D – at the same time another service company was shooting a car job using a Russian arm

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(stabilised remote arm) and someone else brought in a Stab C Super Gyro heli mount. Local commercial makers just don’t get to play with those sorts of toys that often. It is important that our crews get the chance to work with them, and that they also get the chance to work with some really great overseas directors, DOPs and so on.

Who are our competitors and where do your clients come from?

AT: Our work comes from all over the world. Our real competitors are the likes of South Africa, South America and Australia. Australia has somewhat dropped out of the game because it’s already gone down a ruinous path; my biggest concern is that we don’t become like them. Thailand, Malaysia, Eastern Europe, and even India now are also strong players in our sector and we’re losing work to all these regions.

I’ve just done a big UK project – those guys come here every second year. But it’s not just the regulars that we need to keep happy, it’s the new business we need. There are certain factors that are influencing people to look elsewhere.

IW: Our work mainly comes from Europe and the States. We’re not overly keen on a Chinese or Korean market, other companies have figured out how to deal with them much better. It is good to know your strength.

Places like Argentina do have beautiful landscapes, but at the end of the day

Iris Weber from Batch Film.

ours are more outstanding. It comes down to how far the particular location needed is away from the crew.

In Argentina, in order to travel your crew down to Bariloche, it ends up being more expensive than being able to shoot it here in NZ. Because the location is just an hour outside of Queenstown, NZ can compete.

WG: Most of my work seems to come from the UK, Europe or Asia, particularly China. For European and UK jobs we have a hard job getting them to travel past South Africa, which is closer, apparently cheaper and in the same time zone as the UK. South America is also a big competitor for jobs from Europe and the US – not just Argentina but Brazil and Chile as well. Companies from Europe or the US have to have a pretty good

Joyride Films shooting a Canon TVC at Pakiri Beach. Photo: supplied.

reason to fly twice the distance and pay more. South America has most of the same locations we have, as well as older, more European looking cities and some truly stunning modern architecture. Eastern Europe has also been a favourite location for commercial makers from all around the world for a long time, but I hear that it isn’t as popular now as it once was because costs have increased so much.

We should learn from that.

How many jobs do you quote per year?

Are crew and supplier rates in New Zealand reasonable?

AT: About one in seven. When the success rate starts going down to one in 20, or something crazy like that, then it’s time to get real. I know of one crew member who hadn’t been

getting much work so he raised his rate. He needed to make more money to survive. I feel for that person but the problem is, if everyone does this, the entire cost of doing a production goes up. When I look at the figures I was quoting in 2004 not long after I started Joyride Films they were 20% lower than now. When you factor in the exchange rate … we are over 40% higher, dollar for dollar, than we were back in 2004. That’s a big jump.

IW: Batch Film alone quotes up to 300 jobs per year – we get 10 to 15. Five years ago there would have been 50 job enquiries and I still had 10 to15 jobs out of that. The rate has increased so dramatically. Obviously the growth of a company is a factor and the awareness overseas but the other is that the amount of random ‘gun fire’ quoting

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august 2011

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Joyride Films shooting for Polish Harnas Beer brand, Diamond Lake, Paradise, Queenstown region. Photo: supplied.

has increased. Before a project would look at two different countries; now they go, “Let’s ask six countries”.

It is a concern when crew keep raising their rates. They don’t seem to understand that we’re quoting on a daily basis and they just keep shifting their rates randomly. If someone raises their rate they should send out an email informing production companies. It’s also a good way to remind people of their qualities and why they should be on the job.

WG: A couple of summers ago when the NZ dollar was around US 50 cents, every second or third bid was successful. Now it seems to have reverted to the longer term average of around one in 10. It can be a lot of work endlessly bidding on jobs that don’t happen, not just for me. I will frequently ask

an art director to help me bid the art department costs, casting people for talent and casting estimates and location scouts to help by sending file photos of possible locations.

Generally yes, I think crew rates are fair. The exchange rate has the most influence on our affordability and there isn’t much we can do about that unfortunately. The ratio of successful quotes to unsuccessful ones seems to reflect the exchange rate.

Is a different attitude needed from crew in New Zealand?

AT: Crew don’t necessarily understand their own impact on their situation. They say “this is me, I’m worth this, if you want me then pay the money”. We all have a role to play bringing in work. You can’t just leave it

to the line producers. The average $50 rise in day rates on a $500 a day person is actually a 10% pay-rise. Think about that against what other local industries have had to put up with.

IW: We in NZ believe that we have the most incredible country and landscape and I also believe we also have the most incredible crews. The thing is one gets complacent and emerging countries have quietly overtaken us. The fact that we need to upkeep things/improve is not something that is high on our list. We do live in a little bit of a dream world where the locations will be forever and jobs or films will just keep coming in. Overall our heads are in the sand. The industry needs to step up one in order to still be strong in the next few years. The real challenges for us are: bringing more and more jobs here and sorting out smaller issues with Immigration and bigger issues with Actor’s Equity and DOC. Crew members need to be more proactive in the industry, actually going to a Tech Guild meeting for a change or going to a meeting of Film Auckland / Wellington / Queenstown / Southland etc and becoming a member. A handful of producers and location scouts are putting a lot of their own time and effort in actually securing the lifeblood of the industry. Crew and suppliers need to go to these meetings and help support the industry as a whole. This is not just a

producer’s job. It is part of their business, their success.

What does, and will, turn people off NZ as a filming destination?

AT: Strong currency, increasing cost of production, new cheaper location alternatives increasingly coming on stream around the world, a hard time zone, immigration – particularly the way the officers treat our guests when they first arrive. And my clients do ask me about the weather. On the bright side, we do have all four seasons to take advantage of.

IW: Immigration and talent work permit issues, not being able to secure the location they are after. Immigration is in the process of being fixed, but it will take more time to get to a real film friendly set-up. I know of two big shoots that didn’t go to Canada because the director had an issue with getting his DOP in on a previous shoot. Two multimillion-dollar jobs did not go to Canada because of that, the director chose a different destination for his shoot. The word in the worldwide industry spreads like wildfire. If someone doesn’t get a work permit or the feeling that coming to NZ and getting a work permit is hard then we as an industry are going to lose out.

What can have a competitive effect is having NZ talent on these jobs. The amount of jobs that don’t come to NZ for a location, but actually come to shoot in a studio using local talent is increasing. However if the job is an

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Big Pictures’ Audi A8L shoot. Photos: supplied.

ongoing campaign or involves dialogue, well of course we have to bring the key cast in. Every producer would want to use local talent because it’s a big money saver. A bit of trust from their side that we as line producers are acting with the best NZ interest in mind would go a long way.

WG: Naturally production companies and their clients are sensitive to any suggestion that they are getting ripped off. This can be from people outside the industry, for example we were shooting in downtown Auckland recently and asked a local business if they could please move a For Sale sign from a shop window for a few hours early on a Sunday morning. They said yes, for a $1000 fee! It was only a small thing but that sort of experience leaves a really bad taste.

Because of the short time frames with most commercial productions it is also really important to be able to get decisions on locations quickly.

Wellington has shown what can happen when the city embraces the film industry – they can see the benefits for the whole community and they really make film crews feel welcome there.

Getting visas and work permits for offshore crew and cast has occasionally been an issue when timeframes are short. But the New Zealand Immigration Service is great at turning around applications really quickly when there is time pressure. The various guilds –

techos, directors and producers – can all understand the benefits of bringing in offshore jobs and are supportive.

What recommendations do you have to increase international work in NZ? AT: If everyone in the entire industry collectively decided to drop 10% on their rates for a year it would be interesting to see what the industry stats would be like at the end of that.

This is not just about the financial side though, but a change of attitude in that we’re all doing something for the industry. Without some sort of change of tactics people are going to fall off and say “I can’t sustain working in this industry, I have mouths to feed.”

I heard someone in Wellington hadn’t done a job the whole of last year. Why? Our heads are in the sand, let’s pull them out and look at what our competitors are doing – and I mean in other countries – and let’s make sure we’re actually offering value and keeping NZ in a prominent position within the international service sector.

Repeat business is where the real money is at.

IW: Film NZ, as an example, is an entity that for years has worked hard on the feature film side of things and sometimes it would be nice to get recognition again that line production jobs are the bread and butter. A plan from their side as to how they think we can double the number of jobs that come to NZ would be a really good

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thing to see and I will keep asking for that. It’s important that we figure out where we’re tripping up. We need to keep reminding people of the creative potential, post production value and the great crews – not just the locations.

For the film side of the industry, a studio would sure go a long way in getting the big movies to NZ. WG: We just have to keep doing a great job. Overseas clients will pay a bit more and fly further if they are more confident that they will get what they want here than somewhere else.

We have great crews here – including great art departments – this is our best competitive advantage. It is also important that clients enjoy themselves.

This starts with treating them with

respect, no matter what country they are from or how big their budget is.

Over the years there have been many times when we have done quite a small job with someone, and next year they come back with a bigger one.

It is also important to look after them off set. The production crew including runners and drivers in Queenstown lead the way here – all our clients enjoy shooting there because they just have a great time. They want to come back and do it again. There are a lot more offshore commercials shot in New Zealand now than even 10 years ago, and there is the potential to do a lot more.

•www.joyridefilms.com, www.batch.co.nz www.bigpictures.co.nz

A legal vie w Legal tips for using music in your production Following his “Music 101” article in the June issue of Onfilm, David McLaughlin discusses more key legal issues to be aware of when using music in screen productions.

M

usic is an incredibly important part of any screen production, but it’s also one of the most legally complex areas. Due to the peculiarities of the music industry it is often the case that the rights in a single piece of music or sound recording will be controlled by a diverse range of individuals, companies and industry organisations.

Here’s one of the best pieces of advice you could ever get when it comes to clearing music for use in a screen production. Before approaching anyone, be very clear on what type of production you are creating and precisely how you intend to use the music in question.

By being clear from the outset on the nature of your production you can clarify who it is you need to be speaking with to obtain the rights you need.

For example, the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) can effectively provide a one-stop solution for licensing music in productions intended for domestic or private use, or where you’re looking to license specialty production music. In most other cases, there is going to be some negotiation required more directly with the composer or music publisher controlling the rights in the music in question.

Even in the case of productions intended for domestic or private use (and pretty much every other type of music use) you may still need to ne-

gotiate with the owner of the sound recording of the song you wish to use.

In such cases another music industry organisation, Phonographic Performances New Zealand (PPNZ), is the best place to start. Organisations like AMCOS and PPNZ are likely to have quite an efficient and standardised licensing system but with other parties this may not be the case, meaning the sooner you can start negotiations, the better. Also, “production music” licensed via someone like AMCOS can be specified and paid for following its initial use, whereas most other types of music will require executed agreements before any use occurs.

The second major reason that you need to be very clear on the type of production you are creating, and the manner in which the music you are seeking to clear will be used within that production is that, irrespective of the song you are wanting to use, both these factors can have a huge impact on the price you will pay, and also potentially whether you will be granted the rights to use it in the first place.

For example, a snippet of music playing in the background of a bar room scene in your production is obviously going to cost you a lot less than using that same piece of music on numerous occasions in a very prominent way (eg, like a theme song) and also using that music in associated trailers and advertising for your production. The type of production you are creating, eg feature film

or regional TV-only production, will also have a further bearing on the price you pay.

From a strict legal perspective you also need to consider that in most situations there is no guarantee that you will actually be granted the rights to use any particular piece of music.

The nature or subject matter of your production may be such that the composer of the music, or owner of the sound recording in question, doesn’t want their music associated with it.

Consequently, until you have the rights secured, it pays not to get too attached to a particular piece of music.

When acquiring rights to use music you should also think about a few other legal issues. For example, do you want to use a particular piece of music as well as the popular known sound recording of this piece of music? (eg, use the song “Walk this Way”

by Aerosmith as well as the band’s recording of this, as opposed to just licensing the use of the underlying musical composition and getting your own recorded version made).

Although using the well-known version of a song can have great impact on your production, it can also at least double the licensing costs for that song. When acquiring rights to use music you should also think about the extent of the rights you require as it’s often cheaper to license all rights up front (eg, worldwide, all media rights) rather than come back to the music or sound recording owner and

attempt to add further territories or rights later.

In a similar vein, if there is anything you want to do with the music other than just include it in your production, perhaps release a soundtrack album, then including this in initial negotiations may save you licensing fees overall or at least cut down your legal costs if you can wrap everything up in one go.

Depending on your budget, when it comes to acquiring music for your production, specifically commissioning someone to create and record music for your production, allowing you to also acquire a greater number of the rights we’ve mentioned above at the same time, can also have significant cost and legal advantages – if you have the money to go down this path.

• David McLaughlin (david@mclaughlinlaw. co.nz) is the principal of McLaughlin Law (www.mclaughlinlaw.co.nz).

• Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide a general outline of the law on the subject matter. Further professional advice should be sought before any action is taken in relation to the matters described in the article.

Got a legal issue you’d like examined in an upcoming column? Then email David McLaughlin (david@mclaughlinlaw.co.nz).

www.onfilm.co.nz

august 2011

25

TVNZ’s pain relief Without a dual mandate, will TVNZ still support the independent NZ film and TV industry?

Peter Parnham examines the implications for the screen production industry now that the TVNZ charter is gone.

T

he Television New Zealand (TVNZ) charter has been finally extracted like a bad tooth. And this cure will have little, if any impact on what is actually shown on screen. At least that is what the Minister of Broadcasting, Jonathan Coleman, would have you believe.

If he is correct and the content remains the same, the independent production industry can relax knowing the flow of commissioned work from the government-owned broadcaster will continue undiminished.

Parliament passed the Television New Zealand Amendment bill a couple of weeks ago, repealing the charter and turning the company into a purely commercial entity that would, incidentally, be a much easier sale proposition. The only remaining operational parameter in the act is that it must produce high quality content.

You might be scratching your head to make sense of the Minister’s statements, because the point of the Television New Zealand Act 2003 charter was to make a difference to what was shown on screen after a few years of operation as a commercial, state owned enterprise. The charter had provisions similar to what you might expect a public service broadcaster to have and sat alongside the commercial objectives of the business. It should have made a difference on screen when it was introduced, and dropping it should make a difference.

If it caused as much commercial pain as Dr Coleman makes out – bad enough to go to the trouble of passing an Act of Parliament to get rid of it, you could reasonably assume that TVNZ, against its commercial better judgement, was forced to schedule programmes that were too expensive to produce and/or that didn’t pull in commercially viable ratings.

But TVNZ wasn’t forced to show

anything, and NZ On Air offers subsidies, largely to turn locally made programmes into a reasonable bet for the broadcaster.

This leaves another possible reason why taking away the charter won’t make any difference: did TVNZ choose to ignore the charter part of its founding statute?

If this is the case then ironically, there will indeed be little impact on what is shown on screen and it follows that there should be little impact on the production community and the amount of work that TVNZ commissions – unless it switches to producing programmes in-house.

It could legally do this now because the requirement in the charter to ‘support and promote … the independent New Zealand film and television industry’ has gone.

However TV One programmer John Wright, responding for TVNZ, says there are no planned changes to the amount of commissioning from the independent community, nor are there plans to expand in-house production capacity.

“Local production is critical to TVNZ’s success, it is our desire to commission as much local production as we can afford. New Zealanders love seeing themselves on TV. Look at the reception viewers gave Nothing Trivial; it made the strongest debut for a local drama in more than a decade,” he says.

According to Wright, changes to programme scheduling and content will be minimal. “The difference is that there will now be even greater focus on broad appeal content that is commercially viable,” he says. “However, there are no plans to change existing local production programming in off peak timeslots such as Sunday mornings.”

Perhaps there is another agenda

driving the charter repeal. Coleman says the reason for the bill is that it leaves the state broadcaster free to concentrate on being a successful television company without the constraints of an unrealistic dual mandate of charter and commercial objectives.

According to Coleman, TVNZ has struggled to return a consistent dividend to the Government although over 90% of its funding is already commercial.

He didn’t say this out loud, but removing the charter also kicks away a handy excuse that the board of directors and management could trot out to blame poor financial performance of the company.

There is yet another interpretation: Coleman’s forecast is fudging and given time, TVNZ’s content will indeed change under the new regime.

To get a handy, albeit rough, benchmark of what to expect from television channels with nothing but commercial imperatives we need look no further than MediaWorks, operator of TV3 and Four.

NZ On Air has a kitty of over $80 million to fund programmes and relieve the channels of much of the commercial pain and risk of showing locally made programmes.

As it happens, the pot includes $15 million that used to be given to TVNZ to subsidise its charter obligations. It was given to NZ On Air when TVNZ were caught using the funds on blatantly commercial programmes.

Last year TVNZ’s two channels received $35 million more than the three MediaWorks channels.

Apart from drama and comedy, notable differences in charter types of categories were Arts/Culture, Documentary, Children, and Special Interest, where TVNZ’s two channels received in total about $18.5 million

more than TV3, C4 and Four added together.

This means if TVNZ cuts back Arts/ Culture, Children and Special Interest programming to MediaWorks levels, about $18.5 million less NZ On Air funding will be required.

Since about $7.5 million of that was made in-house by TVNZ anyway, that’s about $11 million gone from those genres for the independent programme makers and about 40% less local content in those genres on screen.

If you are an independent working in those charter genres you might prepare yourself for say a 30% reduction in work.

Of course, this is rough and ready reckoning and if TVNZ does not want to schedule those genres it is pretty well inconceivable that this NZ On Air money would sit around unused.

One way to spend it is to apply bigger subsidies to more expensive types of genres and programmes.

Or as John Wright at TVNZ puts it: “The mix of commissioning will only alter in that there will be a greater focus on ideas that have broad audience appeal.”

For all that, the real effect will only become clear as TVNZ produces its Statement of Intent, the plan that is signed-off by the Government and by which it is then judged.

Right now TVNZ can’t say when the revised Statement of Intent will be produced. A spokesperson says the date for this process is determined by government officials, and they are awaiting word from them on when this will be.

In the meantime watch this space – or rather, watch your screen.

• This article is also published online at crews.tv

Grim future for public broadcasting A

forum on the future of public broadcasting was held in Wellington in June, attracting a broad range of industry representatives from all over NZ. The forum was organised by academics from Victoria University, Wellington, including senior lecturer in media studies Trisha Dunleavy.

Dunleavy says forum participants were in agreement that NZ needs a free to air (FTA) public service TV broadcaster, although there was concern that if Government agreed, it might cut into NZ On Air’s

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$81 million pot of funding.

“If it came at the expense of NZ’s contestable funding, then forget it,” says Dunleavy. “It’s not worth losing that money; it’s not very much money for all your local content.”

Dunleavy says the removal of the TVNZ charter and the discontinuation of funding for TVNZ 6 and TVNZ 7 are only part of the problem.

“Prices are going up for international premium content,” says Dunleavy. “If our FTAs want to continue playing that content

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in prime time, it’s going to be difficult for them to bid against Sky. Prices will continue to rise. Between that and the declining advertising revenue problem there’s going to be a lot less money around for them to invest in local content, putting them in a position of greater dependence on NZ On Air support.

“Except what we know about NZ On Air is that there are certain genres that just aren’t included in its remit. For that reason, something like Dancing with the Stars falls through the cracks. It’s outside

the NZ On Air remit, it’s expensive with lavish production values and TVNZ can’t amortise its investment without advertising revenue around it. It’s one of the most popular programmes in the nation, so what does that tell us about the state of free to air television’s finances? Not great.”

Dunleavy notes that even though the death of television has been widely predicted it hasn’t happened. “[Gibson Group’s] Dave Gibson said it for everybody. You don’t work in this industry unless you’re a really optimistic person.”

Acrossthe Ditch Our expat spy provides his idiosyncratic take on the Aussie film and television industry.

S

hock news: unbalanced reporting in News Limited press! Oh, sorry. Not a shock anymore?

by JAMES BONDI The tabloid press continues to attack anything vaguely related to Oz actors or local content rules. Sydney’s Daily Telegraph ran a vituperative piece on Australian actors and their union MEAA/Equity, accusing them of racism.

Australian actors were running a campaign called “Save Spaces for Aussie Faces”, wanting federal government reconsideration of a proposed change to the Foreign Performer Importation Guidelines Scheme. The new proposal would give producers virtually open slather to bring in foreign actors, mainly from the US and UK. Previously for projects using government funding, the number of imported actors depended on the percentage of overseas finance. The union was consulted if you wanted an exception for any special circumstances.

The Daily Telegraph’s David Penberthy ranted that this was “taking the nation back to the dark days of the White Australia Policy” and “the artistic equivalent of legislating to keep the Kanaks off the canefields in the early 20th century”. Strewth!

His outrage was no doubt completely unrelated to his employer’s ownership of Fox Studios or the Tele’s customary loathing of any Australianmade movie or TV drama! But just to drag in a few facts: The guidelines have been in place for two decades and apply only to government-funded productions. Studios like Fox and Warner’s can bring in as many actors as they like if they are spending their own money, not the taxpayers’. Many exceptions have been permitted. No one has been found in chains on a set.

The government officials are now talking to the actors’ reps and “will seek a round table discussion with all interested industry parties”. They could have saved a lot of angst and wasted newsprint if they’d done that first off.

And while we’re all being amazed, even some radio shock jocks were in favour of the actors’ campaign.

That’d be the first time in many a year they’ve supported a trade union!

With the usual suspects predicting the Australian film industry will go to hell in a handcart if the Foreign Performers Importation Guidelines aren’t changed, it seems timely to note that Lucifer and other fallen angels will soon be based in NSW. Alex Proyas’ epic Paradise Lost, based on the famous John Milton poem,

has been secured by NSW, with the state government promising financial incentives to offset the impact of the US greenback. ***

I

ndeed, film folk in NSW are looking at the start of a much healthier new financial year. Baz Luhrmann’s 3D version of The Great Gatsby starts shooting this month. The Fox lot will turn into Long Island circa 1922, and will soon be awash with stars, local and other: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan alongside Aussies Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke and Joel Edgerton. And a supporting cast of Oz actors with American accents.

The Great Gatsby also has state government input, as well as the local 40% tax offset, due to a high Australian contribution from writers, director, cast, crew and post-production facilities.

Also filming soon in NSW are Around the Block, a film about the 2004 Redfern riots, directed by Sarah Spillane and starring Christina Ricci – if Equity will let her in; director Peter Templeman’s Not Suitable for Children, starring Aussie Ryan Kwanten; and The Sapphires, about an Aboriginal Supremes-type singing group that entertained our troops during the

Vietnam War. Some scenes will be shot in Ho Chi Minh City, which the locals still call Saigon. Interestingly, they also call that war the American War. The highly talented indigenous actor/writer/director Wayne Blair will direct his first feature, adapted from a hugely successful stage play.

DOP is Warwick Thornton, whose feature Samson and Delilah was a critical and box office success. It’s great to see the indigenous film sector taking off. The recent film musical Bran Nue Day was one of last year’s most popular local films.

Up in Queensland, PJ Hogan is directing Toni Collette again in the comedy Mental. Collette plays Shaz, a “charismatic, crazy, hot-headed hitchhiker who transforms the Moochmore family when she becomes the nanny to its five girls”. American Liev Schreiber will play an Australian shark hunter. As the partner of actress Naomi Watts, he’s sort of an honorary Australian.

Mental also stars Kiwis Rebecca Gibney and Kerry Fox alongside Anthony LaPaglia and Deborah Mailman, who is also slated for The Sapphires. Everyone will be hoping for the roaring success achieved by P J’s much loved Muriel’s Wedding, one of the most successful Oz flicks of all time.

International award for NZ Star Wars homage A

Star Wars homage film by a University of Waikato graduate has taken out the Best Acting award in the annual Lucasfilm Star Wars fan film competition.

It’s the biggest fan film competition in the world, and 22 finalists had the opportunity to put their work in front of Star Wars creator George Lucas.

Shot partly in the University’s new

Student Centre and partly by the Waikato River, Star Wars: Hunter was written and directed by Sash Nixon, a screen and media graduate who currently works in the University Library.

The film follows the adventures of wanted man Rek Daggard, played by Nixon, who lays a trap to capture a Jedi in order to win a full pardon from the Empire. Unfortunately, the plan backfires.

Eight awards were made at a ceremony at the San Diego Comic-Con International last month, and Nixon was there in person – and in costume – to pick up his double droid statuette.

He says he never expected to hear his name read out. “My legs were like jelly,” he confesses. “And it wasn’t until I got to the podium that I remembered I was dressed as Rek Daggard.”

Nixon says seeing his movie playing on two gigantic screens in front of an enormous audience of the biggest Star Wars fans and Star Wars film makers in the world was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“It was an amazing experience to win the award and then see Hunter screened for the audience it was made for. Nothing will ever equal that presentation.”

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Short cuts Continued from page 9

Rating a mention More people watched Nothing Trivial’s July 20 premiere than any other NZ drama debut since 2000: the episode averaged 516,300 viewers, nearly half of whom were in TV One’s key demographic of 2554 year-olds, and won the slot with a 25-54 rating of 13.3% and a 28% channel share – although it slipped to a 11.7 rating/25.9 share the following week, with similar declines in other key demos, too … It wasn’t widely reviewed but drew mixed critiques in the NZ Herald, where columnist Deborah Hill Cone thought the writing “good enough to be have been penned by the guru of romantic comedy, Richard Curtis” and another (Greg Dixon) wondered how writers Rachel Lang and Gavin Strawhan “will manage to keep this rather artificial storytelling contrivance from going stale. It might work once, even twice, but across a whole series?” …

Prime TV’s unconventional take on the Symphony Orchestra’s tour of Europe, The Grand Tour With Jeremy Wells, struck a bum ratings note, drawing only 1.3% of the channel’s chief audience, 25-54 year-olds, whereas the previous week’s doco, Madness in the Fast Lane, pulled 5.3%; reviews ranged from “brilliant” (The Dominion Post) to “there was perhaps a Chauncey Gardineresque genius about Wells’ dribbly interviewing style” (NZ Herald) … Lighthouse Cinema co-owner Simon Werry plans to open a fully digital, purpose-built arthouse cinema complex in central Wellington by this time next year ... Despite Tinseltown titans Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg last month criticising the “exorbitant” cost of 3D movie tickets, NZ Motion Pictures Distributors Association president Robert Crockett reckons cinemas have never offered better value: “There has certainly been a variety of ticket offers in the market for the consumer to take up. I think it’s also fantastic the consumer now has multiple options across the cinema experience, be it a standard seat, premium seat, catered seating, 35 millimetre, digital, 2D, 3D and even shortly 4D.” 4D? That’s right, this month Hoyts will open a cinema in Hamilton with seats that move in sync with the on-screen action.

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august 2011

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DVD and Blu-ray The DVD and Blu-ray of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena will be released here on September 8, complete with a 3D Ring of Fire battle sequence that’s exclusive to Blu-ray and an “on set” short with Lucy Lawless (who also contributes to the Blu-ray commentaries with her producer husband Rob Tapert) … The same distributor, Madman Entertainment, reports “a lot of interest” in the DVD of Kaitangata Twitch, which goes on sale this month … Two TVNZ compilations to watch for are The 2010 Best of Country Calendar and Rediscovering Intrepid Journeys: Volume 5 … If you think the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings trilogy on Blu-ray are precious, prepare for not one but three Blu-ray box-sets of Star Wars. The George Lucas phenomenon is coming out on September 14 as a nine-disc Complete Saga volume, and as three-disc editions of the Original Trilogy and the Prequel Trilogy … Lucas’ first big hit, Campbell Farquhar.

American Graffiti, is among the raft of budget-priced back-catalogue titles bowing this month on Blu-ray, along with Apocalypse Now (in two and three-disc editions, with the latter boasting the Emmy-winning Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse documentary in HD), Animal House, Dazed and Confused, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Cinema Paradiso and Once Upon a Time in the West … While it’s encouraging to see so many back-catalogue titles being reissued in HD – also out this month on Blu-ray are the 1970s’ westerns A Man Called Horse and the John Wayne stablemates Rio Lobo and Big Jake – the UK TV milestone that was specifically restored for re-mastering in HD, The World at War, is only being offered here on DVD because its appeal was deemed too niche to justify a higher-priced Blu-ray edition … Also missing out on Blu-ray showcasing this month, despite being released elsewhere on the format, are Rabbit Hole, Certified Copy, Oceans and the latest seasons of House and The Office, although for the first time Dexter’s getting Blu-ray exposure, with season five’s release on September 7 … and heading August’s direct-to-disc highlights is the European mini-series, Carlos the Jackal, which had its world premiere at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.

NZ film artists in brief – a series Campbell Farquhar

A

uckland-based film maker Campbell Farquhar studied philosophy at the University of Canterbury and film at the Waikato Institute of Technology.

While studying film, Farquhar performed as a video artist at dance parties and festivals around New Zealand. These events allowed him to explore his interest in direct film making and abstract movement, leading to a collaboration with dancer Geoff Gibson, with whom he made several films including The Moth (2009). Here Farquhar utilised long-exposure photography to create multiple images and trails of light within each frame. He manipulates time, space and imaging technology to create narratives based on abstract textures and rhythms.

Farquhar’s experimental and dance films have screened at festivals and galleries around the world. His short film Salt (2006) was awarded Best Experimental Film at the Cinekink Festival in New York and Most Innovative Short Film at the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Salt is the story of three people who share a passion for food (and each other). It has screened in over a dozen festivals internationally. He also makes the occasional music video and his film for The Wilberforces’ Tidal Waves was a finalist in the 2010 Handle the Jandal competition.

Farquhar currently works as programme developer for the Auckland office of the New Zealand Film Archive and has several new film projects underway.

– Martin Rumsby

Productio n Listings How to get your production listed Because all listing information is voluntarily supplied by the production companies concerned, these pages are indicative of production activity rather than being an exhaustive record.

Film

In PRODUCTION TELL TALE TIT 16mm Short prod co The Film School prod John Reid line prod Alison Langdon exec prod Tommy Honey dir Emma Painter 1AD/prod des Charlee Collins prod mgr Ness Simons prod runner Sarah West on set art dir/props Tala Suailua w/robe Johnny Peteru DP Kaylen Hadley cam op Michael Lindsay 1st cam asst Isla Borrell 2nd cam asst Malcolm Weekes vid splt Phoenix Jung cont Sebastian Hurrell gaffer Tom McCarthy b/boy Gulliver Greig key grip Tristan Maxwell snd mix Matthew Christophers boom op Joe Whitby m/up arts Tiffany Te Moananui making of Alastair Mckenzie loc mgr Katie Frost unit mgr Amber Cadaver caterers Blue Carrot Catering cast John Smyth, Anthony Young, Connor Moloney-Slattery, Vanessa Cullen, Acushla Tara-Sutton, Ella Frederica Hope-Higginson, Vivien Bell

THE OTHER SIDE OF LOVE 16mm Short prod co The Film School prod John Reid line prod Alison Langdon exec prod Tommy Honey dir Sebastian Hurrell 1AD Ness Simons prod mgr Katie Frost prod runner Pikihuia Little prod des/ on set art dir/props Charlee Collins w/robe Amber Cadaver DP Tristan Maxwell cam op Tala Suailua 1st cam asst Alastair Mckenzie 2nd cam asst Emma Painter vid splt Kaylen Hadley cont Phoenix Jung gaffer Isla Borrell b/boy Matthew Christophers key grip Gulliver Greig snd mix Malcolm Weekes boom op Tom McCarthy m/up arts Tiffany Te Moananui making of Sarah West loc mgr Michael Lindsay unit mgr Johnny Peteru caterers Blue Carrot Catering cast Emma Fenton, Alison Walls, Jamie McCaskill, Paul Mclaughlin, Craig Geenty, Ron Kerkmeester, Mickey Denham

POST PRODUCTION 50% OFF MAIL ORDER BRIDE 13min short (RED) prod co idiotvision writer/dir/ prod Alan D. Parr DP Daniel Wagner art dept hd Brent Hargreaves 1AD Gabrielle Luxton prod mgr Jesse Hilford scrnply ed Alan Brash m/up/hair Celeste Strewe cam op Ben Montgomery f/puller John Whiteside Leyland 3AD Rosemary Abel 2nd asst cam Tegan Good snd recs Nikora Edwards, Brendan Zwaan, Josiah Toclo boom op Arthur Gay gaffer James Dudley b/boy Matt Wilshere lx assts Leigh Elford, Tom Neunzerling, Kelly Chen, Britta Lauritzen, Cody Armstrong-Paul, Debbie Du Preez, Maria Pogodina art dept assts Chris Stratton, Ruby Reihana-Wilson, Ryan Mansfield assts James Watson, Maiken Bryant, Lucy Campagnolo, Jonathan Paul, Alex Cairns snd post eng Jason Fox snd post prod Samantha Jukes asst ed Carsten Kudra art Andrew Long prps/mkr Big Al Parr pre vfx Jared Baigent sfx prps/byr Jacqui Baigent p/ grphr Kelly Newland Photography dir asst Francesca Dodd-Parr ed Yaser Naser cmpsrs Katie Scott, John Paul Carroll cast Simon Ward, Mia Pistorius, Katie Scott, Toby Sharpe

A BEND IN THE ROAD NZFC funded short prod co Alpha Bristol Films prod Gemma Freeman dir/writer Rollo Wenlock DP Simon Baumfield hd art Kasia Pol ed Charlie Bleakley cast dir Tina Cleary asso prod mgr Georgiana Taylor 1AD Del Chatterton stunts Rodney Cook cam asst Graham Smout lx Byron Sparrow grip Wayne Subritsky lx/ grip asst Simon Oliver snd rec Aaron Davis, Kevin Hill w/robe Caroline Stephen m/up Lucy Gargiulo m/up asst Tiffany Te Moananui continuity Marian Angeles, Nina Katungi ed asst Greg Jennings loc res Lily Hacking prod assts Rachael Glassman, Robert Ormsby p/grphr Michael Hobbs catering Peartree Lane Catering cast Aaron McGregor, Tom Hern, Leon Wadham, Cohen Holloway

BABY STEPS Super16mm short NZFC prod co Tinopai Film writer/ dir Mark Ruka prods Fred Renata, Sheri O’Neill DP Fred Renata prod mgr/1AD Rina Patel cam ops Ben Rowsell, Dominic Fryer snd rec Dick Reade stills/ digi op Amarbir Singh art dir Adam Lynch m/up/ hair Amy Collins prod asst Anna Henare cont Aimee Renata catering John & Marleina Ruka ed Stuart Page cam BeastEquip, Panavision lx Dennis Cullen lab fac FilmLab digi trans Toybox colourist Andrew Brown snd des Reade Audio cmpsr/score Pauly Fuemana cast Tiki Taane, Amber Curreen, Santos Fuemana, Ethanuel Renata, Mark Ruka, Rina Patel, Sheri O’Neill, Angelo Fuemana, Caesar Fuemana, Eva Fuemana, Salvador Fuemana, Imogene Fuemana, Akoya Chant, Samari McCall

COMPOUND Feature prod co D S Productions prod/dir/writer Dale Stewart exec prods Dale Stewart, Graeme Gilby prod Jacqui Gilbert DP Mathew Harte 1st cam asst Roko Babich 2nd cam asst Dale Stewart 1st ad Candice Crow boom op Chanel Simpson prod mgr Jacqui Gilbert prod assts Jono Bevin, John Gilbert, Joseph Gilbert gaffer Mathew Harte gaffer asst Roko Babich adv John Gilbert m/up Sarah Taylor, Zoe Boyle, Anna Brock, Simone Faets ed Dale Stewart ed assts Ben Fowler, Chris Tarpey colourist Allan George cmpsr/mus Gabrielle Gilbert snd/foley/snd post prods Nadav Tabak, Alex Ward loc Spookers cast Te Kaea Beri, Richard Lambeth, Nikki Christensen, Russell Wills, Debbie Foster, Omar Al-Sobky, Tim Hammersley, Tonci Pivac, Campbell Cooley, Mike O’Sullivan, Jacqui Gilbert, Tim Schijf, Jennifer Lopsi, Dale Stewart, Andires Mentz, Chad Mills, Gareth Paget, Andy Sophocleous, Breigh Fouhy, Andrea Bates, Alex Way, David Coggington, Amy Malloy, Eppie Bowler, Mike Tilton, Chantal Renee Samuela, David McCartney, Dan Coddington, David Austin, Jimmy James, Sean O’Connor, Jonathan Gilbert, Rachel King, Gabriel Henry

DEVIL’S DOOR TO HEAVEN 16mm short prod co The Film School dir Lillian Beets writer Joseph Ryan prod John Reid exec prod Tommy Honey asso prod Alison Langdon DP Paul Jackson prod mgr Kathleen Collins prod asst Annalisa Ridley prod runner Nathaniel Hinde loc mgr Mark Jackson cam op Josh O’Brien f/puller Bonnie Low c/loader Pavel Kvatch vid asst Ben White grip Neil Hunter grip asst Gene Warriner gaffer Helmut Marko gaffer asst Joshua Kamau snd rec Dylan Jauslin boom op Sandy Burton-Davis 1AD Steven Charles 2AD Ahmed Osman cont Betty Savage art dir Sinclair Dyer prps/ art asst Lisa Fraser-Clark w/robe Tom Frame unit Sagar Janvekar cast Nick Dunbar, Don Langridge, Todd Rippon, Sarah Lineham, Elliot Travers

ETERNITY Feature prod co Eternity Productions prod/dir/ writer Alex Galvin exec prod Michael Stephens DP Matthew Sharp prod mgrs Catherine Juniot, Sophie Gregory prod asst Amanda Berryman 1st ADs Kendall Finlayson, Lisa Fraser-Clark 2nd AD Anne Jaeger cont Marian Angeles f/puller Bryson Rooney cam assts Kim Thomas, Graham Smout gaffer Lee Scott b/ boy Daniela Conforte lx assts Jan Kleinheins, Sally Cunningham, Royce Goddard, Sam Wynn key grip Will Matthews dolly grip Brett Saunders grip asst William Flanagan snd rec Aaron Davis boom Lance O’Riley w/robe Larissa McMillan w/robe asst Daria Malesic art dept Anna Brown art assts Fern Karun, Ryan Roche m/up Julia O’Neil, Lucy Gargiulo sfx Bill Hunt prod des Robert Flynn loc mgr John Patrick data wrangler Symon Choveaux unit Cameron McCulloch stills Robert Johnson runners Mike Potton, Ryall Burden eds Patrick Canam, Danny Mulholland asst ed Kevin Dubertrand ADR Darren Maynard cast Elliot Travers, Geraldine Brophy, Dean Knowsley, Alan Brunton, Liz Kirkman, Simon Vincent, Kirsty Peters, Rachel Clentworth, Renee Sheridan, Amy Usherwood, Ralph Johnson, Jessica Manins, April Phillips, Ben Fransham, Nigel Harbrow, Tom Rainbird,

Please see www.onfilm.co.nz or contact crewlists@onfilm.co.nz for everything you need to know about getting your production listing/s in Onfilm, including deadlines, submitting new entries and updates, and abbreviations.

Raquel Sims, Lucy Smith, Alana Henderson, Laurence Walls, Amy Tsang

EXISTENCE NZFC Escalator Salvagepunk Western prod co Existence dir Juliet Bergh prods Mhairead Connor, Melissa Dodds writers Juliet Bergh, Jessica Charlton based on a concept by Juliet Bergh, Jessica Charlton, Philip Thomas script adv Graeme Tetley 1AD/asso prod David Norris prod asst/trainee Jess McNamara prod acct Lyndsay Wilcox casting dir Tina Cleary, The Casting Company DP Jessica Charlton cam op Aline Tran 1ac cams Matt Tuffin, Kirk Pflaum 2ac cam Marty Lang vid split/wranglers Josh Obrien, Laetitia Belen, Shane Catherall 3AD Dan Lynch chaperones Miranda Harcourt Stuart McKenzie, Julie Roberts prod des Philip Thomas constr Geoff Goss stby prps/props byr Ryan Roche set drssr Ryall Burden prpmakers Izzat Design prpmaking asst Yohann Viseur r/player prp maker Nick McGowan art assts Ivan Rooda, Shane Catherall, Ian Middleton, Tom Mchattie, Amohia Dudding graphic des Nick Keller armourer Hamish Bruce livestock wrangler Hero Animals, Caroline Girdlestone asst horse wrangler Monique Drake rider dble Mark Kinaston-Smith cos des Kate Trafford asst des Kristiina Ago m/up art Tess Clarke m/up asst Chrystal script sup Karen Alexander snd rec Nic McGowan boom op Dylan Jauslin onset PA/trainee Nick Tapp gaffer/grip Andy Rennie grip Graeme Tuckett grip/lx asst Ray Eagle, Buddy Rennie Ben stunt coord Augie Davis, Shane Rangi safety Scene Safe Rob Fullerton vfx Frank Reuter unit mgr Hamish McDonald-Bates unit asst Zoe Studd catering Blue Carrott EPK/ stills Nick Swinglehurst assembly ed Paul Wadel, Gretchen Peterson ed Simon Price snd des Nick McGowan comp Grayson Gilmour post fac Park Road Post cam Rocket Rentals grip/lx Brightlights insure Crombie Lockwood mentors prods Leanne Saunders, Vicky Pope dir Mike Smith DP/cam ops Phil Burchell, Rob Marsh, John Chrisstoffels prod des Joe Bleakley thanks to Museum Hotel, Gail Cowen Management, Johnson & Laird, MAC Cosmetics, Celsius Coffee, Meridian, Wgtn Regional Council, Toi Poneke Wellington Art Centre, Loose Unit/Gabe Page Chris Streeter, Russell Murray & Film Wellington Nicci Lock cast Loren Taylor, Gareth Reeves, Peter McCauley, Matt Sunderland, Thomasin McKenzie, Peter McKenzie, Aaron Jackson, Rachel Roberts, Gentiane Lupi and Richard Freeman

FRIENDS BY THE WATER 16mm short prod co The Film School dir Sandy Burton-Davis writer Joseph Ryan prod John Reid exec prod Tommy Honey asso prod Alison Langdon DP Gene Warriner prod mgr Steven Charles prod asst Betty Savage prod runner Sagar Janvekar loc mgr Bonnie low cam op Dylan Jauslin f/puller Helmut Marko c/loader Ahmed Osman vid asst Nathaniel Hinde grip Sinclair Dyer grip asst Tom Frame gaffer Mark Jackson gaffer asst Kathleen Collins snd rec Pavel Kvatch boom op Neil Hunter 1AD Lisa Fraser-Clark 2AD Joseph Ryan cont Lillian Beets art dir Ben White prps/art asst Joshua Kamau w/robe Annalisa Ridley unit Paul Jackson cast Zoe Lovell-Smith, Nick Blake, Bailey McCormack, Vivien Bell, Aidan Grealist

GHOST SHARK 2: URBAN JAWS Feature prod co Mad Fox Films writers/prods/ dirs Andrew Todd, Johnny Hall line prod Alastair Tye Samson DP Andrew Todd art dir Jasmine Rogers-Scott m/up Kirsten Taiapa sfx Bailey Palmer snd recs Alastair Tye Samson, Joh Bloomberg, Kirk Pflaum stills Adam Baines PA Ellie Callahan 2 unit dir Doug Dillaman eds Andrew Todd, Johnny Hall cmpsr Luke Di Somma cast Campbell Cooley, Johnny Hall, Steve Austin, Kathleen Burns, Roberto Nascimento, Isabella Burt, George Hardy, Juliette Danielle, Alan Bagh, David Farrier, Lizzie Tollemache, Stig Eldred, Timothy Bartlett, Helen Moran, Jeff Clark, Anoushka Klaus, Leighton Cardno

JAKE Feature (RED) prod co Hybrid Motion Pictures prods Alastair Tye Samson, Anoushka Klaus, Doug Dillaman writer/dir Doug Dillaman 1AD Ellie Callahan prod mgr Amanda Cairns-Cowen DP Ross Turley f/pullers Garth Merrylees, David Steel, Meg Perrott, Ayrton Winitana key grip Heath King 2nd asst cam Fiona Janet Young lx assts John Young, Ewan Hall snd rec Alex Bird art dir Jasmine RogersScott cost Jasmin Gibson, Barbara Pinn m/up art Anna Hewlett stby w/robe Shannon Winn conty Oliver Rose catering Concierge NZ stills Adam Baines ed Peter Evans 1st asst ed Katie Ross 2nd asst ed Gideon Smit colourist Alana Cotton snd des Jason Fox music Paul Velat cast Jason Fitch, Leighton Cardno, Greg Johnson, Martyn Wood, Tainui Tukiwaho, Campbell Cooley, Anoushka Klaus, Narelle Ahrens, Toby Sharpe, Deborah Rea, Julie Collis, Mick Innes, Jodie Hillock, Renee Lyons, Sam Berkley, Julian Wilson, Anna Davies

OLD SALT 10min Short (RED) prod co Korshis Possum Films dir Matt Johnston writers Tom Furniss, Matt Johnston prods Katie Gray, Matt Johnston DP Ross Turley 1ADs Andrew Burfield, David Boden art dir JulieAnne Mueller gaffer Mathew Harte f/pullers Dominic Fryer, Ayrton Winitana cam/lx assist Rachel Choy, Jeremy Garland, Puneet Bakshi snd Jude Hassett, Jack Graves m/up Emily Holland, Sharnelle Eden vfx Jill Round art assists Hana Spierer, Justine Keating cost des Katie Gray cast Pete Coates, Stephanie Liebert, Sean O’Connor

SIONE’S 2: Unfinished Business Feature prod co SPP (09 839 0999) prods John Barnett, Paul Davis dir Simon Bennett writers James Griffin, Oscar Kightley line prod Janet McIver acct Susie Butler prod des Tracey Collins construct mgr Nik Novis DP Marty Smith casting dir Christina Asher cmpsr Don McGlashan ed Bryan Shaw asst ed Gwen Norcliffe loc mgr Harry Harrison head m/up sup Kevin Dufty script sup Melissa Lawrence snd rec Myk Farmer pub Tamar Munch stills Jae Frew cast Oscar Kightley, Robbie Magasiva, Shimpal Lelisi, Iaheto Ah Hi, Teuila Blakely, Madeleine Sami, Dave Fane, Mario Gaoa , Pua Magasiva, Nathaniel Lees

THE RIVER CASTLE Short drama prod co SilverGate Pictures dir Pavel Kvatch writer Joseph Ryan prods Helmut Marko, Pavel Kvatch DP Waka Attewell prod mgr Steven Charles prod coord Louise Charles art dir Kathleen Collins cast dir Katie Frost 1AD Del Chatterton 2AD Charlotte Hayes 3AD Elliot Travers loc mgr Lila Reibel locs Sarah West, Matthew Christophers loc asst Jacob Cordtz f/puller Michael Knudsen 1st cam asst Kim Thomas 2nd cam asst Josh O’Brien gaffer Adrian Hebron lx asst Lee Scott grip Jan Kleinheins grip asst Neil Hunter snd rec Benoit Hardonniere boom op Dylan Jauslin cont Lillian Beets set dec Tom Frame art assts Alia Miller, Olga Durban w/robe Roc Travers m/up Natalie Morgan stills Gina Donaldson making of Symon Choveaux unit Rachael Glassman unit assts Gabriel Abreu, Kane Walker cast Te Aho Eketone-Whitu, Annemieke Van Gent, Tearuru Patia, Nathaniel Lees, Richard Whiteside, Holly Hornell, Andrew Bennett, Challot Elliot, Noosan Paku

IN RELEASE HOLY ROLLER – Sept 15th 2011 Feature prod co Life Films prods Angus Benfield, Mark Freiburger, Ken Robinson, Patrick Gillies asso prods Anne Williams, Nick Prince line prod Nadia Maxwell writer Angus Benfield dir Patrick Gillies prod mgr Nadia Maxwell 1AD Anna Canton 2AD Josh Bridgman prod asst Penny Clark-Hall prod runner Callum Butcher cont Nan Sirisamphan, Aria Broughton DP

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n Productio Listings

John Christoffels 1st cam asst Kirk Pflaum 2nd cam assts David Jensen, Jeremy Garland c/loaders David Jensen, Jeremy Garland, Makoto Takaoka snd rec Tim Brott, Hadlee Wright boom ops Hadlee Wright, Makoto Takaoka gaffer Andy Rennie b/boy Chris Fawcett key grip James Creevey grip asst Dan Watson loc mgr Ken Robinson unit mgr Callum Butcher prod design/art dir Bryce Holtshousen art asst Don Bate art runner Kate Geary w/robe Kaye McCurdy w/robe asst Eliza Glyn m/up & hair Liz O’Sullivan, Julie Anne Whitson m/up & hair assts Kendra Cox, Becky Smith, Erin Broadfoot extras wranglers Belinda Davie, Brendon Kircher, Aria Broughton eds Patrick Gillies, Raymond Kennard data wrangler Raymond Kennard app Campbell Platt app asst Steve Smith p/grphrs Steve Brodie, Don Bate, Wayne Williams, Andrew Hewson PR Tactic Communications cast Angus Benfield, Victoria Abbott, Jeremy Brennan, Mike Maxwell, Ron Rodger, Martin Howells, Al Kincaid, Nick White, Patrick Duffy

HOOK, LINE AND SINKER Feature prod cos Torchlight Films, Community Media Trust dirs/writers Andrea Bosshard, Shane Loader prods Andrea Bosshard, Shane Loader, Jeremy Macey asso prod Rangimoana Taylor DP Deane Cronin prod mgr Rebecca (Bex) Moore prod/cost des Trixie Woodill s/prps Bex Moore 1AD Jeremy Macey 3ADs Rosalind Croad, Erin Woolhouse cam assts Rachel Manley, Isaac Heron, Michael Johns lx asst Kyo Won (Alex) Lee snd Nic McGowan, Joel Anscombe-Smith boom ops Joel Anscombe-Smith, Bernard Blackburn w/robe asst Roch Travers cont Mark Dunick caterer Steph Prowse ed Annie Collins asst ed Leonardo Guerchmann prod assts Mary Hebberd, Jack Nicol, Keryn Johns, Kerem Blumberg, Nicole Case gfx Geoff Aickin, Sebastian Sloan snd post prods Nic McGowan, Joel Anscombe-Smith, Laurie Wright pic post prod Allan Honey cmpsrs David Donaldson, Steve Roche, Janet Roddick (Plan 9), Mark Austin cast Carmel McGlone, Rangimoana Taylor, Geraldine Brophy, KC Kelly, Matthew Chamberlain, Elizabeth McMenamin, Alan Palmer, Eli Kent, Kate Harcourt

Television pre PRODUCTION SPARTACUS 10x60min graphic action-drama US prod cos Starz Media NZ, Pacific Renaissance exec prods Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi, Josh Donen, Steven S. DeKnight prod Chloe Smith line prod Keith Mackenzie prod dir Michael Hurst asso prods Paul Grinder, Moira Grant prod mgr Mel Turner prod coords Helen Urban, Tim Judson asst prod coord Amber Lynch prod sec Meredith Black prod assts Alan Drum-Garcia, Tom Furniss prod runners Chris Drake, Andy Brown prod acct Sherie Wikaira estimator Ruben Ferguson asst accts Lissa-Mia Smith, Bren Mackenzie p/roll acct Alicia Lee acct assts Annie Baines, Lewis Whaitiri cast coord Honor Byrne asst cast coord Amber McAllister cast dirs Annabel Lomas, Faith Martin cast drivers Andrew Burfield, Julie Gunson extras cast Anita Corcoran extras cast coord Danielle White extras cast asst Desiree RoseCheer dir ep1/6 Michael Hurst dir ep2/7/10 Jesse Warn dir ep3 Brendan Maher dir ep4 Mark Beesley dir ep5 Rick Jacobson dir ep8 Chris Martin Jones dir ep9 TJ Scott DPs Aaron Morton, John Cavill, Dave

Garbett cam ops Peter McCaffrey, Ulric Raymond, Todd Bilton 1ACs Henry West, Blair Ihaka, Jonny Yarrell 2ACs Alex Glucina, Dave Hammond, Gray Turner, Neal Wagstaff digi ops Chris Lucas, Ashley Thomas 1ADs Axel Paton, Hamish Gough, Luke Robinson 2ADs Rachael Boggs, Katie Tate, Patrick O’Connor 2nd 2ADs Aimee Robertson, Sarah Rose 3ADs Ngaire Woods, Stuart Morrice, Lynn Hargreaves, Tref Turner, Elaine Te prod des Iain Aitken sup art dirs Nick Bassett, Mark Grenfell, George Hamilton, Mike Becroft set des Helen Strevens, Neil Kirkland constr mgr Murray Sweetman lead hnd Graham Harris hd scnic art Paul Radford scnic painter Laurie Meleisea hd plasterer Zane Grey art dept coord Anna Graves prps master Rob Bavin set dec Daniel Birt set drssrs Eliza Meldrum, Tane Jarrett lead fab Hamish Wain lead text Sarah Bailey Harper text Patricia Dennis prps/byr Tasha Lang sec dec fab Neil Laffoley stby prps Tom Holden, Simon Hall stby prps asst Taya Polkinghorne art runner Phil Moore art asst Holly McIvor horse master Wayne McCormack prps/pros des Roger Murray cost des Barbara Darragh cost sup Alice Baker asst cost des Olivia Dobson key stbys Barbara Pinn, Joan Wilson stby Naomi Campbell, Aleisha Hall key backgrnd stby Jess Neff, Tors Innes backgrnd stby Amethyst Parker cost byr Sara Beale wkrm sup Marion Olsen jeweller Emma Shakes key art finish Steven Starkey key cost props Natalie McAndrews, Sally Maingay cost runner Crystel Tottenham m/up /hair des Jane O’Kane, Denise Kum m/up /hair sup Vinnie Smith onset m/up /hair sup Susie Glass, Claire Wolburg, Lauren Steward, Natasha Lees m/up /hair art Kath Rayner, Hayley Atherton, Aly Williams, Natalie Vincetich, Jacqui Leung m/up pros art Shay Lawrence m/up /hair dept coord Jasmine Papprill bkgrnd m/up /hair Kyra Dawkins, Carmen Te Moananui m/up /hair asst Tamara Eyre Vee Guliver, Rachel Beedell, Kendall Ferguson strybd Ed Butler script sups Di Moffatt, Monique Knight, Guy Strachan gaffers Tony Blackwood, John Enright lx rig sup Chris McAllister b/boys lx Tane Kingan, Luke Macready gene op Kimberly Porter, Aidan Sanders lx assts Vanessa Cotterill, Marcus Upton, John Paul McDonnell key grip Kayne Asher dolly grips Miles Murphy, Carl Venimore rig grip Jared Edley b/boy grips Peter Cleveland, Andy South crane op Daimon Wright grip assts Te Ra Tehei, Aaron Lewis snd mix Dave Madigan, Fred Enholmer boom op Chris O’Shea snd utility Sandy Wakefield key stunt coord Stuart Thorp stunt coord Clints Elvy, Shane Dawson asst stunt coord Ryan Carey stunt dept coord Erika Takacs sfx sup Brendon Durey sfx snr techs Sven Harens, Steve Yardley sfx tech Brin Compton sfx asst Rowan Tweed safety Willy Heatley, Nick Fryer, Jeff Hales studio mgr Karl Smith unit mgr Jason Sietu trans cap Aaron Gibson craft svce mgr Abby Jones craft svce b/boy Steve Brown bts arcvst Monique Kelly stills Matt Klitscher co prod Charles Knight post prod sup Kylie Harris post prod coords Margaux Peach, Alex Hammond post runner Toby Hutton eds Gary Hunt, Allanah Milne, Tom Eagles, Eric de Beus vfx sup Charlie McClellan vfx prod Romola Lang vfx art dir Peter Baustaedter vfx concept art John Walters, Berrin Moody, Dudley Birch vfx eds Grant Kronfeld, Stephen McHardy vfx onset sups Ben Colenso, Tim Capper

Emza, Kadambari Gladding, Stephen Chu reporter Geraldine Ramirez cam op Dave Flynn ed Jeff Avery audio post Envy Studios

Bristow dir Greg Mayor prod mgr Shirley Allan set des Coylehall net exec Carol Hirschfeld snr prod mgr Sandra Richmond

ATTITUDE - 7

ICE CAPTAIN

40x29min disability focused docos prod co Attitude Pictures prod Robyn Scott-Vincent dirs Emma Calveley, Magdalena Laas, Gemma Murcott Ward, Richard Riddiford, Wendy Colville prod mgr Sue Wales-Earl prod asst Brent Gundesen prod acct Jane Cotter rsrch Tanya Black, Dan Buckingham, Ann-Marie Quinn, Gemma Murcott Ward cam Sean Loftin, Daniel Wrinch snd Damon Arts, Eugene Arts gfx Brandspank ed Attitude Pictures offline eds Simon Hyland, Jai Waite online ed Simon Hyland snd TVNZ, Simon Weir reporters Tanya Black, Dan Buckingham

6x60mins prod co Screentime exec prod Philly de Lacey dirs Ross Peebles, Mary Durham, Bryn Evans, Rupert McKenzie prod Ross Peebles prod mgr Carolyn Harper

90min feature prod cos Making Movies, Gebrueder Beetz prods James Heyward, Andy Salek line prod Liz DiFiore writers James Heyward, Leanne Pooley dir Leanne Pooley dir asst Kelly Krieg prods pa Katie Bolt 1AD Hamish Gough 2AD Katie Tate prod assts Ellie Callahan, Rachel Choy prod intern Lisa Brown prod runners Jasmine Rogers-Scott, Emma Behrns, Nathaniel Sihamu prod des Roger Guise on set art dir Geoff Ellis propmster Paul Dulieu props mker Phil Gregory art assts Clarke Gregory, Jim Anderson constr mgr William Schmidt DP Simon Baumfield 1st cam assts Graham MacFarlane, Roger Feenstra 2nd cam asst Kim Thomas vid splt/data intern Leigh Elford 2nd unit DP John Cavill 2nd unit ac George Hennah 2nd unit 2nd ac Meg Perrot cont Rachel Choy gaffer Thad Lawrence b/boy Tony Slack lx assts Merlin Wilford, Gilly Lawrence, Steven Renwick, Ben Corlette, Sam Jellie key grip Kevin Donovan b/boy grip Chris Rawiri grip assts Winnie Harris, Chris Tait grip trainee Sam Donovan spfx Film Effects Company Ltd spfx sup Jason Durey spfx office co-ord Tanya Bidois spfx snr tech Mike Cahill spfx techs Graham Nixon, Rowan Tweed, John McLaren, Eliot Naime, Michael Lawton spfx runner Gavin Ravlich cost des Suzanne Sturrock w/robe stdby Cathy Pope w/robe asst Charlotte Turner m/up des Davina Lamont m/up arts Michele Barber, Tash Lees, Hayley Oliver safety coords Scene Safe Chris Griggs, Sam Armitage nautical adv Kevin Donovan unit mgr Sam Shelton unit asst David Shope caterers Bonifant & Saxby epk/stills Cristobal Araus Lobos, Andy Salek cams Panavision prod acc Kylie Strain ed Tim Woodhouse cmpsr John Gibson post prod sup Grant Baker vfx prod Cris Casares vfx sup Brenton Cumberpatch vfx arts Brenton Cumberpatch, Richard Borg, Dale Pretorius, Carlos Purcell vfx interns Richard Neal, Brendon Chan, Josh O’Donnell cast Craig Parker, Charles Pierard, Hugh Barnard

GOOD MORNING 2011

INSIDE TATTOOING

prod co TVNZ Prod Unit exec prod Tina McLaren prod Sally-Anne Kerr line up prod Melanie Phipps script eds Mary-Lou Harris, Simon Ragoonanan dirs Jim Curry, Alan Henderson, Mark Owers dir asst Christina Dolman prod mgr Dawn Aronie prod asst Samantha Fisher spcl projs Marcus Hamilton rsrchrs Andrew Wood, Georgia Stephens, Simon Ragoonanan, Erina Ellis, Laura Bootham, Pirimia Burger, Gabrielle ParingataiLemisio rsrchr asst Liana McPherson sponsorship mgr Merril Thompson adv prod Amber Smith adv prod mgr Donah Bowers-Fleming adv dir Rachael Hennessey adv prod asst Julia Lynch

44min doco brdcst TV3 prod co Buto Productions exec prod Glenn Elliott prod/dir Glenn Elliott prod Karen Bunting DP Greg Parker prod mgr Anna von Tunzelmann snd Cameron Lenart ed Niki Hiini TV3 commissioner Sue Woodfield

BRING YOUR BOOTS OZ – SERIES TWO 13x26min factual/entertainment prod co Notable Pictures prod Julia Parnell dirs Dane Giraud, Ihakara Wilson pres Glen Osborne writers Dane Giraud, Ihakara Wilson DP Richard Harling snd op Cameron Lenart eds Tim Grocott, Yan Chengye prod mgr Zanna Gillespie

CLINICAL YEARS 1x60min doco prod co PRN prod/dir Paul Trotman cam Scott Mouat, Stephen Dowwnes, Wayne Vinten snd Brian Shennan

COUNTRY CALENDAR 2011 26x30min rural NZ lifestyles prod co TVNZ exec prod Tina McLaren prods Julian O’Brien, Dan Henry, Frank Torley prod mgr Robyn Best dir/reps Jerome Cvitanovich, Carol Archie, Kerryanne Evans, Katherine Edmond, Dan Henry res Vivienne Jeffs

DESCENT FROM DISASTER

HINDSIGHT SEASON 2

JUST ADD CASH 6x30min reality prod co TVNZ prod unit TVNZ n/ work exec Tony Manson exec prod Tina McLaren prod Gavin Wood prod mgr Terri MacFarlane prod coord Nicola Smith

MANA MAMAU

IN PRODUCTION

prod co Greenstone Pictures ho prod Andrea Lamb prod Kate Peacocke line prod Kylie Henderson rsrchr Alex Reed fund PRIME / NZOA

40x26min brdcst Maori TV prod co Buto Productions exec prod Glenn Elliott n/work exec Melissa Wikaire asso prod Karen Bunting prod mgr Anna von Tunzelamann prod cam ops Greg Parker, Jake Mokomoko, Guy Quartermain, Ollie Logan dir Rangi Rangitukunoa snd Cameron Lenart, Tom Dreaver prod assts Maria Hendrischke, Sean Buckley, Rachel Jury presenters Tumamao Harawira, Patara Berryman IPW crew Nathan Fenwick, Daniel Burnell eds Calkin Rameka, Janice Mulligan asst ed Samuel Rodgers Te Reo cons Scott Morrison

ASIA DOWN UNDER

HOMAI TE PAKIPAKI

MOTORWAY PATROL

40x29min prod co Asia Vision prod Chris Wright asso prod Glenna Casalme prod mgr Elaine Parker prod asst Nathalie Chang reporters Bharat Jamnadas, Milda

20x90min Heats, 2x90min Semi-finals, 1x2hr Grand Final. Live, interactive, karaoke prod Erina Tamepo pres Matai Smith asso prods Piripi Menary, Michele

prod co Greenstone Pictures ho prod Andrea Lamb prod Kate Fraser prod mgr Rebeca Plaistow prod coord Simone Faets fund TVNZ

13x30min current affairs prod co TVNZ prod unit TVNZ n/work exec Philippa Mossman exec prod Tina McLaren prod/pres Damian Christie ed Brian Mead prod mgr Stewart Jones res Nix Jaques

HISTORY UNDER THE HAMMER

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Because of space constraints in this month’s magazine, some listings that have previously run in the same category have been cut. The comprehensive Production Listings pdf can be downloaded from www.onfilm.co.nz/production-listings.

Productio n Listings

40x30min prod co Screentime exec prod/prod Philly de Lacey, Mary Durham dirs Scott Hindman, Les Dawson prod Sarah-Luise Whatford asso prod/ rsrch Katherine Birchall prod coord Olivia Lynd gfx Marcus Brill, Kathy Kennedy pres Graham Bell offline ed Malcolm Clarke online ed Keith Mclean

gfx coords Alex Kriechbaum, Sarah Dunn cost des Nicola Newman asst cost des Rebecca Jennings cost standbys Katie Jones, Joss Henry, Keri Wheeler cost asst Rowena Smith laundry asst Jan Beacham hair/m/up sup Rebecca Elliott m/up Toni Anne Arbon, Katie Fell, Sophie Beddoes ed Anna Benedikter asst ed/digitiser Matthew Allison online ed Dylan Reeve snd mix Neil Newcombe snd eds Margaret Newcombe, Ora Simpson cast dirs Andrea Kelland post prod sup Sara Knight pub Rachael Keereweer pub asst Chris Henry dialogue coach Shirley Duke asst chaperone Kate Lumb comp Graham Bollard p/ grphr Jae Frew caterer Rock Salt cast Michael Galvin, Angela Bloomfield, Amanda Billing, Robbie Magasiva, Benjamin Mitchell, Peter Mochrie, Lee Donoghue, Matt Chamberlain, Beth Allen, Sally Martin, Jacqueline Nairn, Ido Drent, Pearl McGlashan, Natalie Medlock, Geordie Holibar, Frankie Adams, Virginie Le Brun, Tyler Read, Amelia Reid, Teuila Blakely

PRAISE BE 2011

TANGAROA WITH PIO SERIES 7

NEIGHBOURS AT WAR prod co Greenstone Pictures ho prod Andrea Lamb exec prod Sophie Dungate asst prod Kathryn McMillan dir Lee Baker rsrchr Katrina Inkster prod mgr Rebecca Plaistow prod asst Rochelle Leef fund TVNZ

NZ DETECTIVES SERIES 2 3x45min doco prod co Gibson Group prod Alex Clark exec prod Gary Scott dir Dan Henry prod mgr Inga Boyd rsrch Sarah Boddy DP Jacob Bryant n/wrk exec Jude Callen n/wrk TVNZ

POLICE TEN 7

prod co Greenstone Pictures ho prod Andrea Lamb prods Simone Goulding, Anna Lynch prod mgr Laura Peters fund TVNZ

26x26min fishing/lifestyle b/caster Mäori TV prod co AKA Productions prod/dir Aroha Shelford pres Pio Terei cam op Richard Curtis u/w cam Dean Savage snd Colleen Brennan te reo Mäori Tumamao Harawira ed John Fraser aud post Reade Audio mus Reo Dunn, Woodcut gfx Lettica Shelford prod acct Lee Ann Hasson prod mgr Karen Sidney prod asst Lettica Shelford n/wrk execs Reikura Kahi, Melissa Wikaire

RURAL DELIVERY 7

THE ART OF ARCHITECT

prod co TVNZ prod unit TVNZ exec prod Tina McLaren prod/dir Ron Pledger prod mgr Dawn Bowater pres rsrch Chris Nichol mus dir Peter Averi

RENTERS

40x30mins weekly prod co Showdown Productions exec prod Kirsty Cooper prod Tracy Mika line prod Emma Slade dir Jerome Cvitanovich, Kirsty Cooper asso prod Liz Kruse prod mgr Iris Derks prod coord Barbie Nodwell prod asst Andrea de Klerk DP Richard Williams rsrchrs Richard Bentley, Jerome Cvitanovich, Hugh Stringleman, Marie Taylor ed Christine Jordan presenter Roger Bourne

SCU – SERIOUS CRASH UNIT prod co Greenstone Pictures ho prod Andrea Lamb prod Kate Fraser line prod Kylie Henderson prod asst Rochelle Leef fund TVNZ

SHORTLAND STREET 5x30min weekly prod co SPP exec prods John Barnett, Simon Bennett prod Steven Zanoski line prod Liz Adams dirs Geoff Cawthorn, Katherine McRae, Richard Barr, Wayne Tourell, Laurence Wilson trainee dir Oliver Driver script prod Paul Sonne s/liner/story ed Paul Hagan s/liners Kirsty McKenzie, Alistair Boroughs, Caley Martin, Joanna Smith, Damon Andrews, Aimee Beatson med adv Sally Geary, Sarah Nevitt script eds Lynette Crawford-Williams, Karen Curtis script eds asst Nina Vlahovic prod coord Mariya Nakova prod sec Kylie Newman script typ Casey Whelan prod acct Diane Boddy acct asst Stephanie Dahlberg loc mgr Bryce Wood 1ADs Michele PriestEdmondson, Moe Hobbs, Flora Woods, Jimmy Scott 2ADs Francis Koon, Katie Dallimore 3AD Cat Henshall prod runner Aaron Levi dir assts Kathe Calis, Sarah Brinsdon, Laurel Urban tech prod George Platt tech coord Bryn Collins vis mix Fran Hodgson lx asst Chris Watkins loc DP Drew Sturge loc gaffer Drew Wright cam ops Sheree Swale, Nigel Roberts, Rayner Cook, Nick Hayward cam asst Daniel Lacy snd rec Greg Moon boom ops Andrew Revell, Andrew Lusk prod des Ana Miskell art dirs Sophie Guthrie, Ross Goffin, Andy Currie art dept mgr Sophie Elworthy stby prps Natalie Tsuchiya, Scott McDowall art dept assts Brooke Darlison, Logan Childs, Jessica Leijh

44min prod co TVNZ Production Unit exec prod Tina McLaren prod Dana Youngman prod mgr/prod acct Deb Cope dir Dean Cornish sen rsrchr Sue Donald rschr Sue Killian

THE COURT REPORT 15x30min TVNZ7 prod co Gibson Group exec prod Gary Scott prod Sofia Wenborn pres Greg King n/wrk Philippa Mossman

THE ERIN SIMPSON SHOW 30min wkday youth show prod co Whitebait-TV pres Erin Simpson reporters Kimberley Crossman, Katy Thomas, Isaac Ross, Mark Dye, Eve Palmer prod coord Kim Johnston studio rsrchr Nicola Eton dir asst Tom Dyson art dept Lennie Galloway cam op Matt Martini ed/cam op Nathan McKinnon w/robe Lee Hogsden website Kieran Granger eds Stu Waterhouse, Tyler King audio post Vahid Qualls gfx Mike Boulden rsrchr Juliana Murphy post dir Tracey Geddes dir Nigel Carpinter prod mgr Jo Eade asso prod Penny Watson prod Emma Gribble exec prod Janine Morrell-Gunn n/work exec Kathryn Graham

UNSUNG HEROES prod co Greenstone Pictures exec prod Cass Avery prods Bridgid Davis, Saffron Jackson prod mgr Jani Alexander rsrchr Kirsten Warner prod asst Siobhan Kelly fund TVNZ/NZOA

VOLUNTEER POWER Family community prod co TVNZ prod unit TVNZ n/ work exec Philippa Mossman exec prod Tina McLaren prod/dir Julia Leonard prod mgr Jan-Marie Nicolai ed Chris Anderton pres Jim Mora, Julia Bloore

WHAT NOW 120min weekly live kids show pres Charlie Panapa, Gem Knight, Johnson Raela eds Michelle Bradford, Tyler King audio post Whitebait Facilities, Vahid Qualls, Dave Cooper props Warren Best, Scott Chapman w/

robe Wilma Van Hellemond stylist Lee Hogsden prod asst Rebecca Myers prod coord Joshua Pollard field dir Sam Gill gfx des Harold Kho, Yosef Selim, Aaron Dekker rsrch Rebecca Browning writers Andrew Gunn, Jeff Clark dirs asst Jenny Murray post prod dir Bronwyn Williams prod mgr Sharyn Mattison studio dir Kerry Du Pont creative prod Jason Gunn asso prod Josh Wolfe prod Reuben Davidson exec prod Janine Morrell-Gunn n/work exec Kathryn Graham

POST PRODUCTION BILLY Telemovie NZOA/TVNZ Red Camera prod co Comedia Pictures prods Tony Holden, Judith Trye dir Peter Burger writers Briar Grace-Smith, Dave Armstrong prod acct Esther Schmidt ed Eric de Beus asst eds Adam Page, Sean Rooney vfx Peter McCully post prod VTR snd des Neil Newcombe snd mix Suite 16 cast Tainui Tukiwaho, Morgana O’Reilly, William Davis, Vicky Haughton, Kelson Henderson, Celia Nicholson, Luciane Buchanan, Jarod Rawiri, Owen Black

I SHOULDN’T BE ALIVE 2x45min drama docos - Blood on the Mountain & Treacherous Mountain prod cos Making Movies/ Darlo Smithson exec prod Tom Brisley UK line prod Vaughan Watkins UK dir Russell Eatough NZ prods Andy Salek, James Heyward prod mgr Mel Hotop runner Sam Wilson 1AD Hugh Barnard DP Simon Baumfield cam asst Roger Freenstra snd Tim Brott loc/2AD Daz Caulton safety Dave McLeod art dir Glenn Russell m/up/stby Davina Lamont unit Heidi Watson stby art dept Nick Walker prod acct Kylie Strain casting Annabel Lomas cast Blake Henshaw, Jay Saussey, Tahi Mapp-Boren, Erin Johnston

MEET THE LOCALS CONSERVATION WEEK SPECIAL 2011 20x4min family wildlife series prod co TVNZ prod unit TVNZ n/work exec Philippa Mossman exec prod Tina McLaren prod mgr Stewart Jones pres James Reardon, Lesley Judd

NOTHING TRIVIAL 13x60min drama/comedy prod co SPP (09 839 0999) exec prods John Barnett, Rachel Lang, Gavin Strawhan prods Chris Bailey, Britta Johnstone line prod Tina Archibald writers Gavin Strawhan, Rachel Lang, Kate McDermott, Nick Ward h/o dev Tim Balme dirs Mark Beesley, Murray Keane, John Laing, Peter Salmon acct Elisha Calvert asst acct Sheree Silver eds Allanah Milne, Jochen Fitzherbert, Paul Maxwell gfx des Savannah MacIntosh post prod sup Grant Baker pub Tamar Munch pub asst Lucy Ewen stills Jae Frew, Matt Klitscher cast Blair Strang, Tandi Wright, Debbie Newby-Ward, Shane Cortese, Nicole Whippy

OPERATION HERO 10x30min children’s factual entertainment prod co Gibson Group exec prod Dave Gibson prod Bevin Linkhorn dirs Dan Henry, Michael Huddleston edit Ben Powdrell gfx Tim Gibson online ed/colourist Adam Sondej cmpsr Stephen Gallagher snd post prod Phil Burton n/wrk exec Kathryn Graham n/wrk TVNZ

UNDERBELLY NEW ZEALAND 6x60min drama prod co Screentime ep Philly de Lacey prod/dir Ric Pellizzeri dir Mike Smith co prod Bridget Bourke prod coord Jo Finlay prod sec

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Kate Moses cast dir Terri De’Ath 1AD Natasha Romaniuk eps 1-2, 5-6 Edd Bennetto eps 3-4 2AD Katie Hutchinson 3rd AD Richard Silvester ep 1-4 Sarah Rose ep 5-6 on set PA Rachael Bristow prod runner Melinda Jackson prod des Chris Elliot art dir Brant Fraser on set art dir Sam Storey art dept coord Liz Thompson-Nevitt set dec Gareth Edwards prps buyer/set drssrs Karin Reinink, Gareth Mills prp master Seth Kelly prps assts Scott Satherley st/by prps Zach Becroft art assts Anna Roswell art runner Bonnie Kells scenic art Peirce Clarke constr mgr Matthew Thomson gfx Sue Mercer vehicle wrangler Justin Cardon DP Tom Burstyn 1st cam op DJ Stipsen 2nd cam op/gaffer Grant McKinnon 1st AC Peter Cunningham 1st cam 2nd AC Kent Belcher 2nd cam 1st AC Steve Allanson 2nd cam 2nd AC Kim Thomas eps 1-4 Mi Kyung Shannon Ryu eps 5-6 DIT Jay Weston cont Hayley Abbott eps 1-2, 5-6 Laurel Urban eps 3-4 gaffer Grant McKinnon lx assts Brian Laird, James Young, Mike Toki lx trnee Alex Jenkins key grip Anton Leach b/boy Chris Rawiri grip asst Winnie Harris grip trainee Sam Donovan snd rec Adam Martin boom op Sam Good eps 1-2 Kyle Griffiths eps 3-6 stunts Mark Harris cost des Tracey Sharman w/robe sup Kirsty Steele w/robe st/bys Jacinta Driver, Carmel Rata eps 1-2, 5-6 Ciara Dickens eps 3-4 drssr Adele Hing w/robe assts Keri Wheeler, Lissy Patterson m/ up hair des Tracey Reeby m/up arts Jean Hewitt, Kirstie Fullerton, Reia Perkins m/up trainee Merin Williams loc mgr Sean Tracey-Brown loc asst Craig Tikao safety coord Robert Gibson on set safety Steve Jennings unit mgr Charlie Adams unit asst Nod Anderson caterers Luscious prod acc Barbara Coston acc asst Mandalina Stanisich ed Lisa Hough eps 1-2, 5-6 Margot Francis eps 3-4 ed asst Shailiesh Prajapati legals Russell McVeagh, Karen Soich cast Dan Musgrove, Thijs Morris, Holly Shanahan, Jamie Irvine, Stelios Yiakmis, John Leigh, Errol Shand, Joel Tobeck, Gary Young, Edith Poor, Richard Knowles, Damien Avery, Andrew Laing, Will Hall, Aaron Ward, Mark Warren, Scott Wills, Olivia Tennet, Colin Moy, Rachael Blampied, Peter Tait, Katherine Kennard, Melissa Reeve, Sophia Huybens, Esther Stephens, Sophie Henderson, Anna Jullienne, Milan Borich, Jason Hoyte, Johnny Barker, Calvin Tuteao, Tahl Kennedy, Ranald Hendriks

WILD COASTS WITH CRAIG POTTON 5x60min doco series prod co SPP (09 839 0999) exec prods John Barnett, Chris Bailey prods Nicola van der Meijden, Raewyn Mackenzie dirs Dan Salmon, Michelle Bracey, Karen MacKenzie, Chas Toogood line prod Loretta Jacobs pres Craig Potton rsrchrs Rachel Stace, Jane Dowell cams Drew Sturge, Chris Terpstra snd Matt Heine cam/prod assts Arno Gasteiger, Mike Potton

WORLD KITCHEN 4 8x22min food & travel show prod co Zoom Slide pres Nicki Wickes prods Heather Lee, Martha Jeffries exec prod Alan Harris prod mgr Martin Hale dir Martha Jeffries post dir Brendan Withy eds Olly Harris, Prisca Bouchet

Because of space constraints in this month’s magazine, some listings that have previously run in the same category have been cut. The comprehensive Production Listings pdf can be downloaded from www.onfilm.co.nz/production-listings.

The 2011 Data Book is now available. BUY YOUR COPY TODAY for just $25 + GST www.onfilm.co.nz

august 2011

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