NZ Film Awards, been & gone

Yes, sometimes the life of a actor/performer, can take you to strange places!!! As you can see in the photo above ( thats me on the right and my mate/director, Amarbir Singh, on the left. We shot a music video with me running around dowtown Auckland like that!, I also played a parking warden. It was for a great kiwi band called Kitsch. Anyway lets get on with the blog...
Well there ya bloody go eh! The NZ Screen Directors Guild Screen Awards, this year known as the "Air New Zealand Screen Awards", have been handed out for another year. In fact it's only the second year they have been handed out, in their current form. As I have stated previously, for many years the New Zealand film industry has not been able to create an awards event that would last more than a few years, before it would slide or implode into oblivion. Highlighting the sad arse nature of it all was that no one ( other than a few industry folk ) cared.
However, since we as a nation got used to watching on tele as fellow new zealanders walked up to collect arms full of Oscars for their genius in creating Peter Jacksons vision that was Lord OF The Rings, the concept of our own film awards is a little more tangible.
So last thursday 24th August, 700 of us gathered at the appointed venue and time, we threw back a good fill of beverages on offer and then settled in for the three and a half hour parade.
Local lad Oliver Driver was once again the host (he is our Billy Crystal, and now hosts pretty much anything with an award involved, and he's bloody good at it),
It is a bit of a shame that these gigs tend to start with the best bit,... the comedy routine by the host,...and then the rest of the night rapidly settles into a monotone pace, begging for someone to haul out a bagfull of energy to the stage. Understand,..there are 47 awards to be given out!!! Despite Oliver presenting a very funny and reasoned demo in the art of speaking in to mic, at the start, almost none of the award presenters or recipients raised their voices above a half heard mist of self imposed humility. Bloody hell it is fascinating to observe. These are people who make their livings in the entertainment industry! I guess it bears out the fact that whenever surveys are conducted about peoples fears, ...public speaking emerges as the regular numero uno, even more feared than death itself. Without wanting to pour cold vomit on the winners flame,..it seemed like some of them were dead..ish! Mind you I must admit a big part of the problem could have been solved by having a decent podium set up. Maybe it was the designers first job since Lord Of The Rings, as the podium was exactly the right height for a hobbit. The fact that Olly Driver, the host, is 7' tall meant the microphones came to his knees,... and yet he could be heard. Now thats good projection for you!
All of that aside it was a bloody good night, great finger food,.. food for eating using your fingers ( and that bloody handy opposable thumb , not food made of fingers, lots of free flowing beverages, many "hiii, haven't seen you for ages, what are you up to?" type conversations, you know the ones, not too taxing, as despite the questions being asked, the answers are not really being listened to!!!
It all ended in another bar with a some dancing, so a great night was had. Now here are some results just in case you were wondering...who...what...etc.
Best Actor... Anthony Hopkins for Worlds Fastest Indian. Of course Anthony was not there, but did anyone think to create the best gag of the night and have me accept his award on his behalf??? ....after all I'm Bruce Hopkins, I could have said siomething really funny like,.."uncle Tony asked me to tell you...." all in a thick New York Italian accent (which I happen to do very well, even better than my south african accent,... which is shit!)...ah well opportunity lost!
Best actress... Ruby Dee, for her role in No. 2, a wonderful local tale adpated from a stage play that was hugely successful and introduced the phenomenally talented local actor Madeleine Sami, to the world. In the stage play No. 2 Madeleine played the entire cast, something like 12 or so totally individual characters.

Anyway, for a look at photos from the evening check out the link below. I will just fill you in though, you will go to a photo of me first...why not!!!... bloody hell it's my blog!, An explanation might be in order, in the photo I have a polystyrene cup in my hand, not exactly A list, but they would not let us take glass into the theatre, so we had to transfer to the poly cups, and I was not leaving my grog behind! There are shots of Karl Urban for all you Urbanites out there as well as some of the other LOTR folk who were present ( Grant Major, Michael Hedge etc . Anyway for a look click here.
Clicking on the photos will bring up the names of the people you are looking at.

Before I head out of here, a couple of things, i saw a live show on the weekend called "The Nature Of Wishing" in the cast was my kids Mum, Felicity. We were in professional dance companies together many years back, thats how we met, 3 kids, a divorce and years later we continue to operate as a family, just one where mum and dad are not married or living together. So I went to see the show because she was in it. What a wonderful surprise. It was basically physical theatre, fused with dance theatre. A really delightful show, that was such a relief from the standard talking head theatre we get served up so often. I think Shakespeare was a genius and his words are still stunning when read, or when you watch someone like the brilliant Steven Berkoff do his thing in a solo show, playing the villians of Shakespeare... have a look at his website, he is truely one of the most inspiring performers of our time!!! ( I got to work on a project recently that Steven played a significant role in, altough I never got to meet him...damn.. can't say anymore, top secret-I'd have to kill you if i did say anything!.
Anyway, I am now tiring of going to theatre and having to sit there while actors regurgitate words written by sometimes gifted writers. I would say about 90% of the shows I see are directed by totally bland directors who just happen to have got into the "directing" scene and who often seem to completely lack their own vision. Sooo....back to "The Nature Of Wishing", the show my kids Mum was in. It was such a fresh breathe of air, fantastic.
While I'm talking live theatre, why not show off, here are a couple of photos from a show I did with my mates Mike Mizrahi and mari Adams at the International Festival in Wellington in March this year





late beaking news....just got a call from a journalist at National Radio (sort of like our BBC or PBS), I was aksed to give my reaction to an announcement that the national TV broadcaster TVNZ and the govt funding agency, New Zealand On Air, have committed to funding and broadcasting a new 1/2 hr early evening soap! New opportunities for work have got to be good, now lets see what the contracts are like!!!
All right I'm gone, you be cool, always make room for love in your heart (and I don't mean the between the bedsheets sort,..well maybe some of that as well!). see ya soon.

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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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a damn fine life

Kia Ora nga hoa ( kind of ...gidday my friends )
sometimes I have to push the pause button and grab a little reflective time, to allow myself to appreciate the life I am living. Ultimately of course, that sense of awareness is ever present as you go about the living of your life...."what the hell is he talking about".. I hear you wondering. Basically what I am saying is I feel blessed. To give you an idea of what I am on about, here is a brief run down on what I have had the pleasure of being involved in since I created this here blog on Sat 22nd July, the diary of me!.... not quite as saucy as bridget joneses but hers was pretend!!!
22nd july...
after attending a seminar where I created this blog, I literally went straight to a theatre in downtown Auckland, to host a screening of New Zealand short films, showing as part of the HomeGrown Series, a programme within the 2006 Telecom New Zealand International Film Festival. This series of short film programmes is hosted each year by the wonderful Moving Image Centre here in Auckland. Later that night I had a couple of hours sleep before heading out at 1am on sunday morning to my one regular job each week, hosting a talk back radio show, called "The Dawn Patrol,with Des & Les"......I'm the Les component of Des & Les.(check it out streaming,1am-6am every sunday NZ time).

Sunday 23rd...
After work, at 6am sunday, a couple of hours sleep was all there was time for before I put the foot to the pedal and drove 5 hrs to Ohakune, nestled at the lower southern slopes of Mt Ruapehu ( Mt Doom for you Tolkienites!!!) . The purpose of this journey was to spend a couple of nights with the senior citizen of my progeny (otherwise known as my eldest child), who is currently working in a snow board shop for the winter season.
Monday 24th....
was spent with said son, on the upper slopes of said mountain looking down upon a blanket of cloud that engulfed planet earth below. Totally stunning!!!


No major wipeouts to report either, thankfully.......as a parent I find it such a joy to be in the company of my 19 yr old, having to step back and assume the role of a companion/observer. The temptation is to step in and direct proceedings as was the case when the kids were young, but no... he is now a young adult and my role is to be there should he need me.....bugger.... who can I order around!!!
Tuesday 25th....
up early driving back to Auckland, sound system ablaze with the stunning sounds of local NZ band The Phoenix Foundation ( if you ever have a chance gooo see them live, click the link for some real cool sounds, brilliantly talented ), and a revisit of some Smashing Pumpkins, Led Zepplin and others.
Wednesday26th...
the day I had been hanging out for was here!!! after some standard activity, I boarded a silver bird and jetted to Wellington to go party with some of the funnest folks I've spent time with for many moons. It was the wrap party for the NZ component of the production for the hugely anticipated Playstation3 game " Heavenly Sword ". I had the absolute pleasure of working on this stunning project with the phenomenally talented Andy Serkis. So the night was spent partying in damn fine style with Tameem and the The Ninja Theory crew as well the local production company team who are also superbly talented and just damn fine folks.
27th...
no hang over...yayyyy!!! I hate hang overs,.. the absolute best cure is in fact prevention in the form of drinking water alongside the alcohol for the last 2 hrs your session ( in my case this was from about 3am-5am!!!).
Flew back to Auckland and went to host another showing of short films at the festival.
Friday 28th...
cruisey day, leading up to hosting another programme of short films, this programme being called "Love and Other Catastrophies". .........Let me tell you there are some very fine film makers emerging here in NZ, this was a great programme. There has been a long held view that in general New Zealand film makers tend to make fairly dark brooding stories, aka The Piano, Once Were Warriors, Quiet Earth, Sleeping Dogs etc. Well that tradition is in good hands, a number of these short films were definitely in keeping with that vein.
The night was polished off by heading along to a small bar to watch a new band play their first ever gig. A friend of mine has a son who is in the band, and they kicked out a full on wall of raw rock infused with a healthy dose of blues... these guys went to school with my son who is working at the mountain... again it is such a buzz to watch these kids grow into their lives!!!
sat and sunday 29/30th...
I attended a communication course run by Landmark Education, a global education programme. I have done a number of their courses now and despite attending each time with my cynical hat firmly on my head, once again I walked out with a new take on life!!! .... having finished the sat session of the course at 11.30pm I went to work at RadioLive at 1am sunday, then finishing the radio at 6am on sunday I started the course again at 9am, needless to say by the end of the course at 10.30pm sunday, I was totally knackered!
Monday 31st july and Tuesday 1st August ...
these were catch up days, getting to this here blog, making phone calls, doing a voice over for a radio ad, an audition for a canadian television commercial, etc etc.

This all brings me back to the original statement, I feel blessed to be living the life I choose to live.
The film industry here in NZ is in its winter phase, local production has slowed and the off shore projects that come here tend to stay clear in winter as we do not have the shelter provided by genuine film sound stage facilities. Shooting films out on location during winter in NZ is basically a huge gamble played opposite the gods of weather. This only highlights the incredible achievement of Peter Jackson and his massive team who shot Lord Of The Rings continuosly for 18 months here in the land of the long white cloud!
We have the NZ Screen Directors Film Awards coming up soon, I'll keep you posted.
For now, get out there and live the life you choose for yourself, make it a life worth living for!!!
ciao
Bruce
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