NZ creatives pumping

New Zealand, August 2006,... winter..., outside the winter sun is taking a well earned rest, napping behind blankets of cloud which sit low overhead, not threateningly, but in a manner that means you cannot ignore them and their potent presence. This is all ok, at least it's not pouring down with rain.
Reports are that fresh snow has descended upon the mountains of New Zealand, which means I can state uncategorically,... my eldest son, Tom, is smiling wildly,... you see he works in a ski shop at Ohakune on the base of Mt Ruapehu in the North Island. Fresh snow equates to....snowboarding!!! In fact I got a txt not long ago saying that he had had a couple of days of fast fresh powder on the slopes, and life was good.
Ahhhhhh... such is life, as my kids grow and begin to live their own lives, I end up living a section of my life vicariously through them,... does this mean I'm a sad old bastard, who should get on with my own life. I like to think it is an indication of the bond that I have with my progeny and that I will always be inextricably connected to their journeys.
Whateeevvaaa!
It is nearly 3 weeks since my last post here, and when I started this blog I fully intended making very regular updates,...my apologies! a lot has happened since that last post.
I have said I will try to provide a glimpse at whats happening in the New Zealand film scene, from my view point, in this here blog, so here we go.
In the near future, I will endeavour to post a link for you to view an item that recently played on TV about yet another possessed start up NZ film maker, in the vein of Peter Jackson. This guy took 10 yrs to make a time travel story for $60,000. It cost him his marriage and his wife moved back to Japan, taking their child with her. An amazing story and well worth a look. I have emailed TVNZ to check out getting me the link so that I can post it on this blog in future.
A few weeks back I auditioned ( unsuccessfully I can now add!!! ) for a role in a new Sam Raimi / Robert Tapert blood fest! 30 Days Of Night. The reason I know I did not get the role I auditioned for, even though I know I would have been brilliant!, is that it has now started shooting and I just spoke to 2 of the more senior stunt performers today. These two guys form part of the core component of why offshore production companies come here to shoot. They are superb at their job, doing stunts, but they are also bloody nice people. They also happen to have done it all, Lord Of The Rings, King Kong, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, The Last Samurai etc etc,... they said from their point of view 30 Days of Night is a huge job. Anyone familiar with the Raimi/Tapert history of film making will know that they are a couple of the masters at the genre, and don't pull any punches when they make their horror flicks. They were also almost single handedly responsible for hauling NZ film makers into the lime light of the global audience, when they chose to come to NZ to make the TV productions, Hercules and Xena. Of course Rob Tapert went on to marry Lucy Lawless who snared the role of Xena. Lucy and Rob have a couple of kids so Rob is pretty much an honourary kiwi! Back in the day, it was always a buzz to get a call informing me I had scored a role in an episode of either Herc or Xena, they were truely fun shows to work on, and it was always bloody great to spend a few days with mates who were crewing the shows. So these guys, Sam and Rob, created what was a golden era for the local film/TV production scene. I have many friends in the crews and production side of things, who purchased houses because for the first time in their careers they had a regular and decent income.
Cheers Rob and Sam for coming back. The fact that David Slade (Hard Candy)is directing immediately raises the interest level. To have a look at the details of 30 Days of Night click here.
Next week (thursday 24th) sees the hosting for the second year, of the NZ Screen Directors Guild Film and TV Awards. The fact that we host film and television at the same awards night gives you an idea of how small the industry is here. We are, after all, a country of only 4 million people. However this year it is bloody brilliant that demand for tickets has seen the event sold out well ahead of the night. For many years, when an awards evening was held for film in NZ, it was just a good excuse for various people to get together, get pissed, yell abuse at winners that were not agreed with and basically have a lot of in house jokes. This meant that television broadcasters were never fully into providing coverage and so the awards were not really taken seriously. I think that an off spin was also that the public never gave the local film industry a hell of a lot of regard. Mind you this raises the issue, ... should industry awards ever be taken seriously, there is always a crap load of politics going on behind the scenes, some incredible work is inevitably overlooked, while polically correct decisions can lead to some stunningly average work being lauded!!! My semi bitter cynicism aside,... the Screen Directors Guild look to have done something no one really thought possible, create an awards event that allows for both, a damn good reason to get together and get pissed, catching up with old mates, work colleagues etc, as well honouring some bloody good work and having those practitioners who are awarded, acknowledged outside the industry. What makes it even more astounding in my opinion is that the NZSDG have managed to do this straight off the bat. They held their first awards event last yeat so this is only their second attempt. This year we have Anthony Hopkins, Ruby Dee and Samantha Morton among the line up of finalists. Not bad for a country that is well reputed for knocking those who dare to celebrate their own achievement!!! ( otherwise known as the tall poppy syndrome ). It is a bloody nuisance that the television broadcasting industry in NZ decided last year to essentially compete with the NZSDG awards by creating their own awards event.... anyone else like to have an awards night???, a classic case of dividing the resources,... this is fairly indicative of the attitudes and personal politics that have impeded NZs television industry from maturing for a long time.
I recently took part in the loop group, for an animated feature called " The 10 Commandments", featuring voices from the likes of Ben Kingsly and Christian Slater, not bad company to be keeping I guess! These small ancillary film jobs are part of what keeps a number of NZ performers alive!
Having not been to Sydney for some time I jumped at the chance a couple of weeks ago to head over there with my buddy and creative guru, Mike Mizrahi to create the David Jones 2006 Summer Fashion Event( check out Mikes web site. I first worked with Mike and his partner Mari when they moved here 20 yrs ago. They have gone on to become some of the most inspiring live event creatives in the world, hosting many major international events for companies such as Louis Vuitton etc). Basically I was Mikes side kick ( just like my film roles!!! )and got to hang round oggling models all day! Mischa Barton (OC)was the major guest David Jones flew out for the event. Not being a fan of much US television product, I had no idea who Mischa was but she turned out to be a real nice ambassador, and Sydneytown was all over her. Here are some photos of the event, including Megan Gale the face of David Jones, and a shot of Mike and I;



A local film that is about to go into production is "Tatooist". No real info at this stage as it is still in hush hush mode, you know the one, my lips are sealed, like a road. I did an audition for that as well. Really, if you are thinking of me for a film, just give me the job, I'll come up with more than you had hoped for, but if I have to audition chances are I won't get the job in the first place, auditions and I make for stilted performances. You think rhinoceros' have thick skin,...pinch an actor whose been around for a while next time your standing next to one, we have the thickest skin of all, .. delicate egos but thick skin! Nothing like rejection to harden the exterior. Enough of my self pity..
Most recently, I got to host an event called Creative Careers, in which school kids from west Auckland get to come and meet practitioners from the film, writing, art, music, greative worlds. Part of the line up was a graffiti artist, John from the TMP crew associated with a local hip hop gallery and collective called Distruptiv. These guys just returned from Germany where they won the overall title at the 2006 International Write4Gold finals at Germany's Splash Festival.
Here are some photos of a work he whipped up in about 2 hrs for the students at the Creative Careers day.


This is now evolving into raving so, I'll get outta here. Be cool, till after school.

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