Boy to Play US Cinemas
The American distribution rights to Taika Waititi’s Boy, which had its world premiere at the 21 Sundance Film Festival, have been acquired by indie outfit Paladin. Since playing at the Sundance, Berlin…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Almódovar’s Survivors
The autobiographies of New Zealand’s “greatest” author Janet Frame were part of an “esoteric selection of references” given to Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s new leading lady Elena Anaya in preparation for her role as…
Comic Capers in LA
Director of acclaimed film Boy Wellingtonian Taika Waititi was part of a large New Zealand contingent who worked on comic-book blockbuster Green Lantern in Los Angeles, starring as aircraft engineer Thomas Kalmaku, best friend…
Doing Business Like Conchords
“As the duo behind the comedy and musical group Flight of the Conchords, you might be wondering what a folk band from New Zealand can offer by way of business advice,” Forbes contributor Deborah…
Illusion of the Truth
“I never intended to become an apologist for Tony Blair’s war,” director Lee Tamahori wails down the phone from his home in Wellington. “I just wanted to show that Uday was a psycho.” He…
Silent Hitchcock Discovered
A thirty-minute portion of The White Shadow, a 1923 silent film that is considered to be Alfred Hitchcock’s first credit, has been found amongst a collection of unidentified American nitrate prints in the New…
Jango Fett Has a Ball
Actor Temuera Morrison surprised Rotorua high school students recently when he made an appearance at their Star Wars-themed ball. According to the New Zealand Herald Morrison — who played bounty hunter Jango Fett in…
Huhu Animates the Edible
Auckland animation company Huhu Studios has signed a multi-million dollar deal to produce six all-new direct-to-video episodes of popular children’s show VeggieTales for America’s Big Idea Entertainment studio. Founder and CEO of Huhu Trevor…
Live Action at Comic-Con
Animation/motion-capture combination enabled Steven Spielberg to ‘step in and film like a live-action film’, said Peter Jackson at Comic-Con, who was a surprise guest at…
From Heights in Heels
One of the most sought-after stuntwomen in Hollywood, New Zealander Zoe Bell crashes through glass, slams into book cases and leaps from tall buildings. She has done stunts on more than 2 films and…
Violent Realism
Wellington-born director Lee Tamahori insists that his scripts are already dripping with violence when he gets them. His latest movie, The Devil’s Double tells the story of Latif Yahia, an Iraqi military officer who…
Raiding the Global Pantry
Martha Jeffries, producer/director of New Zealand-made food and travel series World Kitchen is a self-confessed foodie with wanderlust, who had a “very Hutt upbringing”, growing up in Pinehaven and attending Sacred Heart…
Jackson on Location
“Leave it to Peter Jackson to make a Facebook video as thrilling and breathtaking as any of his films,” Entertainment Weekly reporter Aly Semigran writes. “As the Oscar-winning director promised, and New…
D-Day Demons
New Zealand director Paul Campion’s debut feature film The Devil’s Rock is reviewed in the Guardian by Michael Hann. “ attempts to settle the type of question posed by bumptious schoolboys: which would be…
On V in LA Shoot
“Television’s hottest vampire bait” Anna Paquin features in the July issue of V Magazine. In the exclusive interview, Paquin explains her character, the mind-reading waitress Sookie Stackhouse, and the fiends out to get her:…
Austenland Role for Conchord
Wellington actor Bret McKenzie will star alongside Keri Russell in indie romantic comedy Austenland. In the film, Russell plays a woman with a secret obsession with Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy in the BBC adaptation…
Empire Covers Middle Earth
“In honour of Jackson’s long-awaited return to Middle-earth for two dragon-and-dwarf-laden prequels — as a “good luck charm” according to the director — Empire takes its symbolic and rightful place as the first…
Ahead of Season Four
As anticipation builds for the June 26 season premiere of True Blood, New Zealander Anna Paquin, spoke with The New York Times about her maturation on the show as Sookie Stackhouse, an…
Authentic Fresh Energy
Auckland director Christine Jeffs, known for acclaimed Indie films Sunshine Cleaning and Rain, has signed with the New York-based commercial production company Xenon for exclusive US spot representation. Xenon executive producer/founder Doug Robbins said…
Xena’s Mt Albert Eco-Home
Lucy Lawless, star of television series Xena and Spartacus, is returning to her roots in Mt Albert, Auckland where she is converting a large part of her estate into what has been described as…
Pioneer Territory Emerges
The sumptuous depiction of New Zealand in the 195s and ‘6s trumps the weepy story at the heart of one of the most expensive Dutch films ever made writes New York Times…
Tough Cookie’s Fit Tips
True Blood actress New Zealander Anna Paquin reveals her exercise regime secrets — and about the pressures to stay thin in Hollywood — in the June issue of American magazine Health. “I’ve always been…
Top Chef to Open Kiwiana
In August, New Zealander and Top Chef season 4 survivor Mark Simmons, is planning to open Kiwiana in New York on Union Street. The restaurant will feature lamb and seafood, both of which New…
Blue takes best short in Cannes
New Zealand short film Blue, made by Aucklander Stephen Kang, has won the Canal Plus’ Grand Prix and Du Meilleur Court Metrage Best Short Film award at the Cannes Film…
Coup for Moving Images
The Natural History New Zealand (NHNZ)’s archive sales arm has been chosen by National Geographic Channels Worldwide to represent its footage from the past 2 years. The National Geographic archive adds thousands…
Morrison Heads for the Hills
Temuera Morrison stars as Maori seafarer Kereama in the colonial, “pretty much your classic Western,” Tracker, which is reviewed by The Independent. “It is ostensibly the story of a manhunt: Kereama is…
Intrinsically Us
New Zealand-based documentary maker Leanne Pooley describes how she came to tell the award-winning story of the Topp Twins in an article featured in the Winnipeg Free Press. “ was well established as a…
Equally Sarcastic and Charming
“A sizable flock of admirers was left adrift after HBO grounded Flight of the Conchords in 29 after only two seasons,” Susan Wloszczyna writes for USA Today. “Turns out these Kiwi lads were a…
Facebook Hobbit Updates
Peter Jackson has posted his first video blog from the set of The Hobbit showing production starting on his 3D epic which is being filmed in New Zealand. The video on his
It Will Probably Be a Smash
New Zealander Nico Evers-Swindell, who plays the role of Prince William in the forthcoming film William and Kate: The Movie, is “saddled” with some rather dubious lines according to Guardian reviewer Stephen Bates. “Evers-Swindell,…
Mister Pip Makes Big Screen
New Zealander Andrew Adamson will direct the film adaptation of Wellington author Lloyd Jones’ award-winning book Mister Pip, with Hugh Laurie, of television drama House to star. Adamson, who’ll direct the project from a…
Unique Creative Sensibility
New Zealand’s “famously scenic locations are a big draw for Hollywood filmmakers — but they’re not the only one,” Sangeeta Anand writes for Time. “New Zealand’s Large Budget Screen Production Grant offers a 15…
Helping His Hometown
New Zealander Phil Keoghan, host of The Amazing Race and chief marketing officer of drinks company Gatorade, along with New Zealander Sarah Robb-O’Hagan have organised a video titled ‘Christchurch Stay Strong’, using the power…
Formerly Good-Looking In Rio
Actor Jemaine Clement is the voice of a villainous cockatoo called Nigel in animated film Rio — The Movie, created by the makers of the Ice Age series. “Talk about ad-lib heaven,” director Carlos…
Elfin Airs For McKenzie
Former Conchord, Wellingtonian Bret McKenzie, is joining the cast of Peter Jackson’s epic The Hobbit as the elf Lindir from Rivendell. McKenzie previously played an elf nicknamed Figwit in The Fellowship of the Ring…
Bold, Courageous and Anarchic
Te Aroha-born actor and co-founder of London’s Common Stock theatre group Frank Whitten, who died in February at the age of 68, was “a giant beanpole of a man who only seemed to open…
One and only Topp Twins
Lynda Topp, one half of the “one-of-a-kind” Topp Twins, talks to Susan Cole of Now Toronto about the pair’s career and how they rode the wave while keeping their values intact. “It doesn’t matter…
Hobbit Production Rolls
Production has now begun on Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Hobbit, set in Middle-earth 6 years before The Lord of the Rings. Not an earthquake, a health scare, a labour conflict, financial concerns…
Children Rule On Big Screen
Children’s television series, The Tribe, which was first produced in New Zealand, is being developed into a film in the United States. According to Variety, “Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshop has already agreed to tackle…
Great Voice of Stories
New Zealand scriptwriter Graeme Tetley, whose body of work included films Vigil, Ruby & Rata, Bread and Roses and the Aramoana depiction Out of the Blue, has died in Wellington, aged 69. A script…
Travel to New Zealand
“I’ve always liked Phil Keoghan as host of The Amazing Race,” Orlando Sentinel television reviewer Hal Boedeker professes. “I didn’t realize he was from New Zealand, but there he was on The Late Late…
Roman Wallflower
Lucy Lawless, New Zealand’s one and only Xena, Warrior Princess, doesn’t mind being typecast, saying, “What am I going to complain about? How many actresses work as much as me?” “Being the star of…
Timelord Travels South
“We had only been in New Zealand for a weekend but already I had begun to understand how the country’s dramatic landscape — volcanoes, mud pools and geysers, pristine beaches, lush vegetation, lakes and…
Island Spirit
Actor Martin Henderson — who stars in the latest series from Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes, Off the Map — talks to Metro Canada about working in Hawaii, keeping his accent and arguing for…
Whitten’s Legacy
Veteran New Zealand actor, Frank Whitten, has died at age 68. Best known for his role as Ted “Grandpa” West on Outrageous Fortune, Whitten passed away in his sleep on Saturday after a battle…
Hobbit Cast Front-up
The cast of Peter Jackson’s two-film adaptation of The Hobbit were this month introduced to the news media at a press conference in Wellington at the Park Road Post production facility. The event featured…
Hobbit Tourism
With filming on The Hobbit confirmed to begin in March, New Zealand is preparing for another tourism boom. It is expected that Peter Jackson’s latest film creation will drive a renewed bout of Tolkien…
Stress-free Cooking
New Zealand cook Annabel Langbein’s television series Annabel Langbein: The Free Range Cook is now screening on UKTV’s Good Food Channel. The series of 13 episodes has already been sold into 73 markets. “I…
Reel treasure found
Unbeknownst to The New Zealand Film Archives, 75 early American films have been in its possession, including the sole copy known to exist of a silent film directed by cinema icon John Ford, who…
Star Dancer Touring
Christchurch-born Dancing with the Stars judge Brendan Cole was recently in Scotland touring with his own theatre show Live and Unjudged. The professional dancer, known for his snake hips and equally venomous…
Spaghetti Sensibilities
Writer-director Mike Wallis’ western Good for Nothing was given its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) in February. Santa Barbara Independent reviewer writes that Good for Nothing “is a strange…
Berlin Screenings
Outrageous Fortune actor Tammy Davis’ directorial debut Ebony Society screens at this year’s 61st Berlin International Film Festival in the Generation 14plus section, which is aimed at a young audience. Go the Dogs by…
Liberating Spray-Tan
Star of cult HBO show True Blood, Anna Paquin tells Elle that “once you’ve been spray-tanned, bleached, and given the correct push-up bra, it’s like playing dress-up — it’s liberating.” Paquin features in a…
Anticipation Sky High
Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of JR Tolkien’s classic The Hobbit “is already one of the most talked about before shooting,” according to Christopher Wright writing for the site Film Industry Network. “Controversy surrounded the…
Princely Role
Wellington actor Nico Evers-Swindell will play the part of Prince William in a television movie about the royal couple, William & Kate, which is due to start production in Los Angeles in February. Evers-Swindell’s…
Shirtless in Character
“As Dr Ben Keeton, the head of a South American jungle clinic, actor Martin Henderson has finally found a role that not only maximizes his ruggedly handsome good looks, but also jives with the…
