September 2016 Archives

Why Craig Cooper Invests in Adventure Sports

Why Craig Cooper Invests in Adventure Sports

When New Zealand-born venture capitalist Craig Cooper isn’t rock climbing, meditating or writing for his men’s health blog The New Prime, he’s looking for the next great product to invest in. As…

Dunedin from Above

Dunedin from Above

Watch this clip by Dunedin NZ that features drone footage exploring the city from above. Landmarks in the video include Signal Hill, Mt Cargill, Forsyth Barr Stadium, Botanic Gardens, University…

Actor Terence Bayler Was Brian and so Was His Wife

Actor Terence Bayler Was Brian and so Was His Wife

Whanganui-born film, stage and television actor Terence Bayler, known notably for his collaborations with the Monty Python team, has died aged 86. Bayler played Gregory (and other roles) in the controversial Life of Brian –…

Emilia Wickstead Shares Her Favourite Things

Emilia Wickstead Shares Her Favourite Things

London-based, New Zealand-born fashion designer Emilia Wickstead shares a few of her favourite things for the Telegraph’s “My Luxuries” column. Wickstead, who according to the Financial Times showed a “whimsical and poetic”…

Virgin’s Josh Bayliss Plugging Luxury Gyms

Virgin’s Josh Bayliss Plugging Luxury Gyms

Switzerland-based Virgin Group chief executive New Zealander Josh Bayliss was in Sydney recently to promote the company’s luxury gym arm The Collection, which will open its first gym in Australia next year. The gym business…

Fis Creating Eco-Conscious Electronics

Fis Creating Eco-Conscious Electronics

“Before I was producing music electronically I was a drummer, and I really loved just trying to stop thinking and just play rhythm,” New Zealand-born producer Oliver Peryman aka Fis tells The…

Paul Shanta Dealing to Sydney’s Graffiti

Paul Shanta Dealing to Sydney’s Graffiti

New Zealand-born artist Paul Shanta has come up with a colourful solution to the bad graffiti problem littering the streetscapes of Sydney suburb Campsie. Shanta is offering to stencil over the ugly graffiti with…

Steven Adams Sings

Steven Adams Sings

Watch this clip posted by NBA Off the Court and see how Kiwi basketball star and his teammates sing a Backstreet Boy song in their car. Steven Funaki Adams is…

#234: Rocket Lab, Kate Catalinac, Cliff Curtis, Wearable Arts, Zane Lowe,  Flying Nun + Peter Jackson and more ++

#234: Rocket Lab, Kate Catalinac, Cliff Curtis, Wearable Arts, Zane Lowe, Flying Nun + Peter Jackson and more ++

Epic Middle Earth Locations That Really Exist

Epic Middle Earth Locations That Really Exist

“As World Hobbit Day makes us wistful for Middle Earth’s colossal mountain ranges, mythical forests and untamed rivers, we look to the epic landscapes that stole the show in the Hobbit and Lord of…

Kate Catalinac Keeping Her Eye on US Elections

Kate Catalinac Keeping Her Eye on US Elections

Creative director at San Francisco advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, New Zealand-born Kate Catalinac is the co-creator of an “eye-opening” anti-Donald Trump video that juxtaposes the United States’ legacy of great accomplishments against…

Gillian Saunders Takes Top Honours at World of Wearable Art Awards Show

Gillian Saunders Takes Top Honours at World of Wearable Art Awards Show

New Zealand designer Gillian Saunders has taken out the Brancott Estate Supreme Award at the World of Wearable Art (WOW) Awards’ Show in Wellington with Supernova, as reported in Lucire. “I had been…

Flying Nun History Recounted by Roger Shepherd

Flying Nun History Recounted by Roger Shepherd

“We forget, or don’t know, or don’t think about it – how difficult it used to be to release records if you weren’t signed to a major label, pre-digital download, pre-social media, pre-internet, never…

Grant Rawlinson to Row from Singapore to NZ

Grant Rawlinson to Row from Singapore to NZ

Adventurer New Zealander Grant Rawlinson, 42, continues to push the limits embarking on a 12,000km rowing and cycling journey from Singapore to New Zealand. The Singapore permanent resident, who is known as Axe to his…

What Fine Dining Means to Ben Shewry

What Fine Dining Means to Ben Shewry

American quarterly journal of food and writing Lucky Peach magazine features an article in the latest issue on the state of fine dining and talks to 18 of the world’s best chef’s, including New…

Simon Denny’s guide to Secret Power at Te Papa

Simon Denny’s guide to Secret Power at Te Papa

Didn’t catch Simon Denny’s Venice Biennale exhibition Secret Power yet? The acclaimed exhibition is on display at Te Papa from 16 Sep 2016 – Feb 2017. Listen to Simon Denny’s guide to…

World-Class Creative Peter Jackson Says Dream

World-Class Creative Peter Jackson Says Dream

Seventeen-time Oscar winning director Peter Jackson spent some time recently with Forbes correspondent Brian Rashid to share his ideas about creativity, his processes, and mindset around being a world-class creative. “Jackson admittedly, does not consider…

Stunning NZ Films You Should Know About

Stunning NZ Films You Should Know About

“New Zealand certainly brings a fair few ‘bests’ to the table. Aside from being one of the most beautiful countries in the world, responsible for some of the greatest exploratory and scientific minds,…

Peter Jackson Eyes NZ Island For Tourism Project

Peter Jackson Eyes NZ Island For Tourism Project

“Peter Jackson, the man you know as the spirited angel who bestowed cinematic genius upon the world in the form of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, is set to inspire more tourism interest…

The World’s Only Alpine Parrot Faces Extinction

The World’s Only Alpine Parrot Faces Extinction

The New Zealand kea, the world’s only alpine parrot “is at threat of extinction in New Zealand as numbers plummet in the face of threats from non-native predators and human development,” writes Eleanor Ainge…

NZ Selects ‘A Flickering Truth’ for Foreign-Language Category

NZ Selects ‘A Flickering Truth’ for Foreign-Language Category

New Zealand has selected Afghanistan-set documentary A Flickering Truth, which was produced and directed by Pietra Bretkelly, for the best foreign-language film category for the 2017 Academy Awards, as reported in The…

Cliff Curtis Joins Warner Bros’ Shark Pic ‘Meg’

Cliff Curtis Joins Warner Bros’ Shark Pic ‘Meg’

New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis has joined the cast for Warner Bros’ Shark Pic ‘Meg’, as reported in Deadline. The film is based on Steve Alten’s 1997 novel, Meg: A Novel of…

On Top Of A New Zealand Volcano

On Top Of A New Zealand Volcano

“When NBA giant Steven Adams returned home to New Zealand this summer/winter (depending on your hemisphere) with an Oklahoma City Thunder contingent, he made a fast break for” Rangitoto Island – “a magnificent volcanic…

Stan Walker – You Never Know

Stan Walker – You Never Know

Watch Stan Walker’s new music video for his new song You Never Know. Stan Walker is an Australian-born New Zealand recording artist, actor, and television personality.

New Zealand Beloved by Expats in HSBC Ranking

New Zealand Beloved by Expats in HSBC Ranking

New Zealand has been ranked as the runner-up in global financial services company HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey, in which researchers asked a range of questions to 27,000 expats from 190 different countries and territories,…

The Rise Of Film-Friendly New Zealand

The Rise Of Film-Friendly New Zealand

The screen industry in New Zealand is “big business: four of the all-time 20 most profitable films were made here, and revenue in 2015 was $3.22 billion compared to just $2.6 billion in 2005,”…

The Naked and Famous Lay Low

The Naked and Famous Lay Low

“All The Naked And Famous do is deliver hits,” according to Boston-based online music magazine, Vanyaland. “The New Zealand-, Los Angeles-based electronic pop group first crashed our playlists with 2010’s incredible Passive Me, Aggressive…

Photographer Roger Shepherd Dreams of United Korea

Photographer Roger Shepherd Dreams of United Korea

New Zealander Roger Shepherd, who holds the record of being the first foreigner to walk in many of the remotest mountains of North Korea since at least the 1950-53 Korean War, dreams of the…

Apple’s Zane Lowe Securing the Big Interviews

Apple’s Zane Lowe Securing the Big Interviews

Apple’s super-DJ is the most powerful player in music – and the man who can bring Britney to London. New Zealander Zane Lowe tells the Evening Standard about working with Calvin Harris, Drake and…

Countdown to New Zealand’s First Space Launch

Countdown to New Zealand’s First Space Launch

The New Zealand government has signed a contract with Rocket Lab, “a commercial space launch operator using technology developed in New Zealand, for launch operations on the Mahia Peninsula, on the east of the…

The Light Between Oceans

The Light Between Oceans

Watch the trailer for The Light Between Oceans starring Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz. The film features scenes that have been shot in New Zealand.

Actor Michelle Langstone Getting on with It

Actor Michelle Langstone Getting on with It

From McLeod’s Daughters to Power Rangers and Legend of the Seeker, Sydney-based New Zealander Michelle Langstone, 37, is a quiet achiever of television, according to the Daily Telegraph. Most recently, she’s one of the stars…

#233: New Generation of Maori Women, Helen Clark, Biofuel LanzaTech, Child Sport Development, Xero, Speaking Irish in NZ + Ernest Rutherford and more ++

#233: New Generation of Maori Women, Helen Clark, Biofuel LanzaTech, Child Sport Development, Xero, Speaking Irish in NZ + Ernest Rutherford and more ++

How Andrew Dominik Relayed Nick Cave’s Trauma

How Andrew Dominik Relayed Nick Cave’s Trauma

New Zealand-born director Andrew Dominik said he made the Nick Cave documentary One More Time With Feeling, expecting viewers to see it only once, and not many viewers at that. The new album by Nick…

Marlon Williams Celebrates Where He’s From

Marlon Williams Celebrates Where He’s From

Marlon Williams’ renown started spreading outside of New Zealand in 2015 when the highly renowned Bloomington, Ind./Austin-based label Dead Oceans released his excellent, self-titled solo debut, Justin Joffe reports for the Observer. Williams, 25,…

Biofuel LanzaTech Partner with Virgin Atlantic

Biofuel LanzaTech Partner with Virgin Atlantic

LanzaTech, which was formed in New Zealand 11 years ago, has made an aviation biofuel breakthrough with partner airline Virgin Atlantic, producing nearly 5700 litres of low-carbon ethanol produced from waste gases for the…

New Generation of Maori Women Wearing Moko

New Generation of Maori Women Wearing Moko

For Maori women, the moko kauae, or traditional female chin tattoo, is considered a physical manifestation of their true identity. It is believed every Maori woman wears a moko on the inside, close to…

Lyall Bay’s Unique Time Cinema For Sale

Lyall Bay’s Unique Time Cinema For Sale

Movie buff John Bell has decided to sell up one of Wellington’s best kept secrets: the Time Cinema in the suburb of Lyall Bay, a fully fledged 38-seat picture theatre where he lovingly screens…

Mine Bay Māori Rock Carvings

Mine Bay Māori Rock Carvings

Watch this clip by 100% New Zealand and hear master carver Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell’s story behind the Mine Bay Māori Rock Carvings in New Zealand.

Helen Clark Rallies Caribbean in UN Bid

Helen Clark Rallies Caribbean in UN Bid

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, the administrator for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently lobbied Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries as she seeks to replace Ban Ki-moon as the next…

Rotorua: North Island Adventure Capital

Rotorua: North Island Adventure Capital

Rotorua on New Zealand’s North Island has “re-invented itself as the adventure capital of the North Island,” writes Sandra Smedhall for CNN. Its “unique combination of forests, lakes, geothermal activity and Maori culture…

Taika Waititi’s Creative Journey

Taika Waititi’s Creative Journey

”The vast majority of us lack the happy-go-lucky charm of New Zealand’s favourite writer/director,” writes Clarisse Loughrey for The Independent. She is talking about Taika Waititi, who currently is working on one of…

Sleep Under The Stars At Pure Pods

Sleep Under The Stars At Pure Pods

New Zealand’s Pure Pods has been included in a list of 10 luxury accommodations in which you can sleep under the stars. “There is an intriguing option for anyone looking to unwind beneath a…

Homesick Kiwis Can Now Call a Hotline

Homesick Kiwis Can Now Call a Hotline

With Travel Insurance Direct homesick New Zealanders can now call a hotline (+64-9930-3377), where they are greeted with a joyful New Zealand accent and can hear the familiar sounds of their homeland, writes Jordi…

How Xero Made It By Doing Everything Backwards

How Xero Made It By Doing Everything Backwards

“It’s rare for a startup to go public almost within one year of being founded. But then again, how many startups do you know from Wellington, New Zealand,” writes Ariel Bogle for

5 Lazy Ways to See New Zealand’s Natural Beauty

5 Lazy Ways to See New Zealand’s Natural Beauty

“In addition to the heart-pounding adventure sports that make New Zealand world-famous, the island nation is chock full of less strenuous activities that are just as worthwhile as their adrenaline-pumping alternatives,” writes A. Van…

Orca Hunting Stingray

Orca Hunting Stingray

Watch this clip by New Zealand wildlife photographer Jack Preston and watch Orcas hunting stingray in the shallows of the Mercury Islands in New Zealand.

NZ to Fund Child Sport Development in Pacific

NZ to Fund Child Sport Development in Pacific

New Zealand will fund a five-year initiative aimed at getting more children in Pacific island countries to play sport according to Prime Minister John Key, reports the Daily Mail. The multi-million dollar programme…

Mikey McCleary Subtly Redefining Bollywood Music

Mikey McCleary Subtly Redefining Bollywood Music

Mumbai-based New Zealand composer and producer Mikey McCleary, 47, has been steadily changing the face of Bollywood soundtracks since he moved to India in 2007. His latest movie project is Aditya Chopra’s upcoming film, Befikre…

Crowded House to Be Inducted into ARIA Hall of Fame

Crowded House to Be Inducted into ARIA Hall of Fame

Cherished rock-folk group Crowded House will be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame during the ARIA Awards in Sydney on 23 November. Crowded House’s induction has a touch of serendipity about it. This year,…

NZ & Canada Sign Co-Production Treaty

NZ & Canada Sign Co-Production Treaty

New Zealand and Canada have “signed a co-production treaty that will allow enhanced film and TV industry cooperation between the two English-speaking territories,” writes Patrick Frater for Variety. “The treaty was signed…

Speaking Irish in New Zealand to My Maori-Irish Son

Speaking Irish in New Zealand to My Maori-Irish Son

“There’s a special connection between Irish people, Irish speakers and Maori. It’s another reason why Aotearoa feels like home,” educator Gillian Cotter writes in an Irish Times lifestyle piece about raising her Maori-Irish son,…

Claudia Li’s Groundbreaking Florals for Spring

Claudia Li’s Groundbreaking Florals for Spring

“Looking around her Flatiron District studio, Claudia Li acknowledges the obvious. “It’s like an explosion of floral prints and lots of colors in here,” she says of the space,” writes Véronique Hyland for

The Rutherford Documentary Trailer

The Rutherford Documentary Trailer

Watch the 7-minute trailer for The Rutherford documentary, which is based on John Campbell’s book “Rutherford Scientist Supreme” and was directed and co-produced by Gillian Ashurst. Purchase your DVD copy…

Simon Denny Bitcoin Shows Open in NY and Berlin

Simon Denny Bitcoin Shows Open in NY and Berlin

Two shows by New Zealand artist Simon Denny, in New York and Berlin, look at competing views on how the little-understood technology underpinning the digital currency bitcoin should develop – and helps translate them…

#232: Ben Shewry; Scott Dixon, Warren Gatland, Jamie Joseph, Dave Verheul, Raewyn Hill + Hera Lindsay Bird and more ++

#232: Ben Shewry; Scott Dixon, Warren Gatland, Jamie Joseph, Dave Verheul, Raewyn Hill + Hera Lindsay Bird and more ++