DreamWorks nets Jackson
DreamWorks SKG has won a week-long Hollywood bidding war for Peter Jackson’s latest film. Jackson made his screen adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones available on the open market last week,…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
NZ Preacher Battles US Atheists
Christchurch-born evangelist Ray Comfort fronted a controversial debate over the existence of God on US TV this month. Comfort (pictured left) and his preaching partner, child actor Kirk Cameron, squared off against two members…
Creepy sheep
NZ horror film Black Sheep has impressed international critics with its blend of low-budget gore and on-the-nose humour. Since its premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival, Black Sheep has won the…
Canada, your time is NOW
NZ adventurer Phil Keoghan is about to launch his hit TV series No Opportunity Wasted (NOW) in Canada. In each half-hour episode of NOW – based on his best-selling book of the same name…
Surfing the Menu in NZ
NZ chef Mark Gardner will co-present the fourth season of popular cooking show Surfing the Menu, with London-based Australian Ben O’Donoghue. Gardner, 29, replaces O’Donoghue’s previous co-presenter, Australian Curtis Stone. The fourth season comprises…
Webby Celeb
Mt Maunganui raised Jessica Rose has been named best actress in the 11th annual Webby Film and Video Awards in a special achievement category, for her performance in the fictional YouTube video blog…
Travelling in the reel
Adam Hartzell, a writer for US film blog Daily Greencine, “travels, reads, watches and sips his way through NZ”. On his five-day tour he (ironically) attends the Latin American Film Festival in Wellington, the…
Fight night
Two New Zealanders have been nominated for the 2007 Taurus World Stunt Awards. Ben Cooke (pictured) and Kirk Maxwell are both up for Best Fight, for their work in Casino Royale and…
Keats Inspires New Campion Film
The doomed love affair between English poet John Keats and his neighbour, Fanny Brawne, is to be the subject of a literary biopic written and directed by Oscar-winning NZ filmmaker, Jane Campion. Keats and…
Cliff’s time in the sun
NZ actor Cliff Curtis has a starring role in Sunshine, the latest critically acclaimed film by English director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later). The film is a futuristic sci-fi thriller about…
International appeal
Valerie Reid’s Sand Dancer has won Best Documentary in its first US screening, at the Foursite Film Festival in Utah. The award is the latest in a string of wins for the…
Comic success stories
Taika Waititi’s debut feature Eagle vs Shark has won the award for best screenplay at the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. The film, which also screened at South by Southwest in…
Teen Actors on Global Stage
Disney fantasy film Bridge to Terabithia has thrust four teenage New Zealand actors into the limelight. The film, which features Carly Owen (pictured), Isabelle-Rose Kircher and Cameron Wakefield of Wellington and Aucklander…
Web celeb Rose turns to cinema
NZ actress Jessica Rose – who found fame on YouTube as lonelygirl15 – has made her first foray into Hollywood, starring alongside tabloid queen Lindsay Lohan in the psychological thriller I Know…
Not Your Average Winery
Americans can finally appreciate the work of artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser on home soil, with the opening of the Quixote Winery in California’s Napa Valley. Owner Carl Doumani commissioned the eccentric Viennese-born artist to design…
Ex-Neighbour a Star in US
Dunedin-born Alan Dale has scored a lead role in yet another hit US TV series. Fresh from his success in The West Wing, CSI: Miami and The O.C, Dale is now playing publisher Bradford…
This is NZ: Take two
A NZ film made over 30 years ago has won an award at the prestigious New York Festivals Film and Video Competition. This is NZ was originally screened at the Expo 70…
Bro’ Town goes global
With a slew of national awards under its belt, NZ animation series Bro’ Town is now taking its unique brand of humour to a world audience. The cartoon is already showing in Australia, Canada…
A New Sheriff in Town
Russell Crowe has signed for US$20 million to play the Sheriff of Nottingham in a “revisionist” version of the Robin Hood story. Titled Nottingham, the Hollywood film will follow “the premise that Robin Hood…
Muse to Tarantino
Waiheke Island-born stuntwoman Zoe Bell makes a cameo appearance as herself in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming slasher film Grindhouse. Bell impressed Tarantino as Uma Thurman’s double in Kill Bill, and has since joined a list…
Online Superstar
The inaugural Forbes Web Celeb 25 – “a list of the biggest, brightest and most influential people on the Internet” – is topped by Mt Maunganui-raised actress Jessica Rose. Last year the 19-year-old…
Star on the rise
Variety magazine (US) named Taika Waititi one of ten directors to watch in the lead up to the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where he made his feature debut. His first full-length project, Eagle vs….
CG Cameron
Titanic director James Cameron has enlisted the help of Weta Digital for his upcoming US$200 million sci-fi epic, Avatar. Cameron also plans to shoot sections of the film at Peter Jackson’s Wellington studios with…
Life of a Legend
A film based on the life of NZ motorsport legend Bruce McLaren is rumoured to be in the works. According to Grand Prix website, the production has been linked to “some of those…
Local? Outrageous!
NZ TV series Outrageous Fortune has caused a storm across the Tasman, but not for its adult content. Australian screenwriters are threatening protests and possible strikes over a decision by Channel Nine to include…
Not your average leading man
Not one to be pigeon-holed, Martin Henderson is busy building a reputation in Hollywood for his impressively diverse range of acting roles. For every Britney Spears music video (Toxic) or action flick (Torque)…
Scene Stealer
The Guardian introduces its readers to up-and-coming NZ actress Emily Barclay, star of In My Father’s Den and Suburban Mayhem. Born in Plymouth, Devon, Barclay escaped the period drama/soapie route of her English acting…
Demon talent
NZ’s Emily Barclay was named Best Lead Actress for her role in Suburban Mayhem at the Australian Film Industry (AFI) awards, December 7. The 22-year-old beat heavyweights Laura Linney (Jindabyne), Abbie Cornish Candy) and Teresa…
Keisha treads softly in big role
In a bright spot among reviews, The New York Times applauds director Catherine Hardwicke’s sensitive re-telling of a central Christian narrative with The Nativity Story, released in time for Christmas on December 1. Some…
Maori Mary’s Nativity
Keisha Castle-Hughes’ new film The Nativity Story opened to praise from the Vatican at its world premiere, when the film was greeted with applause by an audience of more than 7,000 at the…
Starlet with an edge
Rising NZ star Emily Barclay has been named Best Actress at Australia’s Inside Film Awards for her role as an amoral teenage single mother in the black comedy Suburban Mayhem. In what are referred…
Kiwi shakes up Bond
Hastings-born director Martin Campbell has created the best James Bond film since the days of Sean Connery, according to ecstatic critics from over the world. Variety: “Casino Royale sees Bond himself recharged with…
No opportunity wasted
Emmy Award winning, adventure TV producer and presenter, Phil Keoghan returns to New Zealand to host new local series N.O.W. – No Opportunity Wasted. Based on the hugely successful Discovery Channel series and…
Bring on the Sheep Jokes…
Following a rousing reception at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, NZ film Black Sheep has sparked a “bidding frenzy” amongst distributors in Asia, Latin America and Europe. The film was recently acquired by IFC…
NZ research centre opens in London
NZ film No.2 received a gala screening at last year’s London Film Festival, which ran from 18 October to 2 November. Festival sponsor Air New Zealand hosted the event, which included a panel discussion…
Jackson gets his game on
Peter Jackson has extended his relationship with Microsoft by signing on for two further film adaptations of the company’s computer games. Wingnut’s Jackson and Fran Walsh are currently executive-producing a film adaptation of the…
Film delves into darkest past
Cinematical reviews Out of the Blue, Robert Sarkies’ controversial new film about the 1990 Aramoana massacre. The film stars Matthew Sunderland as David Gray, the gunman who killed 13 of his neighbours in the…
Lonely no more
A young NZ actress has been outed as global internet sensation LonelyGirl15. Otherwise known as Bree – a naive home-schooled 16-year-old – LonelyGirl15 has captured the hearts of teenage boys the world over…
Conchords take flight in US
America’s HBO network has commissioned a 12-part series based on Kiwi folk music parody duo Flight of the Conchords. Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are to star in the series, which will feature…
Another Classic Set for Edge Treatment
Peter Jackson is heading a big budget remake of classic British war film, The Dam Busters. Jackson will produce the movie, with fellow Kiwi and long time collaborator, Christian Rivers, making his directing…
Fourth Emmy for Keoghan, Amazing Race
Christchurch-born Producer/Host Phil Keoghan lined up for his fourth successive Emmy Award in Los Angeles for Outstanding Reality/Competition Program. The Amazing Race is now in its 10th season. Teams race for more than…
World class visionaries
Weta Digital is to provide special effects for upcoming Hollywood blockbuster Avatar. Directed by James Cameron, the US$200 million sci-fi epic will be almost entirely made up of computer generated action. Cameron used…
The Edge in 24
The tense, edgy feel of the Emmy Award-winning series 24 is largely propelled by the work of New Zealander Rodney Charters csc asc, who has been Director of Photography for all five…
Kiwi Thesps Impress
Sam Neill charmed the British film press while promoting his latest UK release, Little Fish. Guardian: “In the Q&A session that followed , his performance as Sam Neill was as compelling as…
Once the Muss, always the Muss
Temuera Morrison talks to Japan’s CrissCross News about the NZ film industry, his plans for the future, and his now legendary portrayal of Jake Heke in Once Were Warriors. “I was in Sweden signing…
Epic in More Ways than One
NZ director Vincent Ward relates the harrowing experience of filming River Queen in a candid interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. Weather, illness and car crashes aside, it was lead actress Samantha Morton who…
When Denzel met Peter
Oscar winning actor Denzel Washington made a fleeting visit to Wellington in June to discuss a possible film project with Peter Jackson. According to Wellington’s Dominion Post, Washington wants Jackson’s Weta Workshop and Weta…
From Screen to Stage, Henderson Impresses
Kiwi actor Martin Henderson is currently walking the boards at London’s Apollo Theatre with a lead role in Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love. Henderson stars alongside American actress Juliet Lewis (Natural Born Killers) in…
Coming of age Keisha
Castle-Hughes is to star alongside Toni Collette in the upcoming Australian black comedy Hey, Hey, It’s Esther Blueburger. Castle-Hughes plays a 13-year-old Jewish girl struggling to fit in both at school and at…
Vampires invade Auckland
Vampire film 30 Days of Night is the latest Hollywood blockbuster to be filmed in NZ. Based on a horror comic book series, 30 Days of Night is set in Alaska where locals…
Flux flexes its global muscle
Auckland-based Flux Animation has signed a $US5.7 million contract to work on the eagerly anticipated Singaporean children’s series, Master Raindrop. Flux joins Singapore’s Big Communications and German television company Yoram Gross-EM on…
Starlet with Edge
Kiwi actress Emily Barclay (In My Father’s Den) has the starring role in Suburban Mayhem, an Australian film currently screening at Cannes. A very black comedy, Suburban Mayhem revolves around an amoral young…
Too much too soon?
The release of United 93 – the first Hollywood film about 9/11 – has sparked controversy in the US, as well as further afield in NZ. Directed by Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday,…
Impeccable balancing act
Anna Paquin is back in the news with a spate of new film projects nearing release. A Times profile, reprinted in The Australian, charts her “impeccably navigated career path,” from The Piano to her…
Pride of the Asia-Pacific
Sam Neill is the inaugural subject of Peschardt’s People, a 13-part BBC series hosted by veteran foreign correspondent Michael Peschardt. The series aims to introduce global viewers to “some of the most famous…
Grey Lynn on the silver screen
South Pacific Pictures’ feature Sione’s Wedding has received rave reviews in NZ and Samoa following its February premiere. Written by Oscar Kightley and James Griffin, the comedy revolves around a group of first…
