Buddha Wild On
The distinctive and original film “Buddha Wild Monk in the Hut” by LA/Christchurch director and actress Anna Wilding (Carpe Diem Films) premiered at the Laemmle Cinema Los Angeles on March 24. Shot in…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
No.1 fan turned majority shareholder
Russell Crowe has teamed up with businessman Peter Holmes à Court to buy a 75% share of the South Sydney “Rabbitohs” rugby league club. A lifelong supporter of the Rabbitohs, Crowe has contributed large…
Keoghan Living Large
LA Times interviews Phil Keoghan, the Kiwi host of Emmy Award-winning reality series The Amazing Race. The “savvy NZ native” discusses everything from his lucky break into TV (“there was no degree that you…
Another lovable monster for Letteri
Weta Digital head Joe Letteri is to be visual effects supervisor on the upcoming children’s feature, The Water Horse. Letteri was part of the Oscar-winning visual effects team for Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Based…
A master of confrontational cinema
The March issue of Inside Film includes a lengthy feature on the latest project by edge writer/director Andrew Niccol – Lord of War. Starring Nicolas Cage and Ethan Hawke, Lords of War is…
Hansen Homeward Bound?
MTV Europe’s head, New Zealander Brent Hansen has retired after nearly two decades with the company. Hansen joined MTV in 1987 as a news producer and soared through the ranks to become the President…
No.2 No.1
Toa Fraser’s debut feature No.2 won the World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic at the 25th Sundance Film Festival in February. ” a humble backyard in Mt. Roskill in the Pacific, on behalf of…
All Features Great and Small
Debate over the effects of big budget US films such as King Kong and the Narnia series being filmed in NZ continues, with most in favour of the Hollywood blockbusters. “The blockbusters have been…
Spotlight on Niki Caro
North Country director Niki Caro was interviewed before a live studio audience by the Guardian’s Sandra Hebron, alongside the star of her film (and new best mate) Charlize Theron. ” was a script…
Whale Rider to North Country
Whale Rider director Niki Caro has officially earned her Hollywood stripes with the release of Warner Brothers’ North Country. Starring Charlize Theron, Sissy Spacek, Frances McDormand and Sean Bean, North Country is a…
Crowe to fly the coop
With Australia Day been and gone the Aussies wonder when NZ born Russell Crowe will officially become one of their own. According to Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, “the country’s most celebrated Kiwi” was confirmed for…
Model of multi-tasking
RH is the host of new US reality TV show Style Me. In an interview with Media Village, she describes the show as “offering real honest and interesting insight into the world of…
Juggling juggernauts with local stories
NY Times piece entitled ‘Spunky NZ film Industry Takes on the Hollywood Juggernaut’ ponders the pros and cons of NZ’s bold new presence in the international film community. Interviewees such as director Vincent Ward…
The many facets of King Kong
Peter Jackson’s King Kong graced the cover of the January issue of Cinefex, America’s premiere cinema effects magazine. Inside is a 45-page in depth look at the incredibly detailed digital, physical and emotional…
Keeping it Local
One of NZ’s most successful producers Tim White returned to work on Toa Fraser’s debut feature No.2. An Ilam graduate, White’s producing credits include Ned Kelly, Map of the Human Heart, Two Hands, Oscar…
A thing of wonder
Released in December, Peter Jackson’s King Kong has received near unanimous praise from critics and movie-goers around the world. “This new King Kong is a folie de grandeur with real grandeur; in its power,…
Kiwi contributes to Anger canon
Auckland University graduate Alice Hutchison has written an internationally acclaimed book on cult 1960s filmmaker Kenneth Anger, the artist who many believed defined the Age of Aquarius with such iconic works as Invocation of…
Kiwi Story Rings True in US
Roger Donaldson’s World’s Fastest Indian, with Sir Anthony Hopkins playing NZ motorcycle legend Burt Munro, has been largely praised in the US. Hollywood Reporter: “A pleasingly whimsical and slyly mischievous road movie that features…
Mt Roskill meets Utah… and the world
No.2, the debut feature film by playwright Toa Fraser, has been selected for competition at Sundance 26. Based on his award winning play of the same name, No.2 stars a mixture of international and local actors…
Meet Me in Miami
Christchurch-produced independent film Meet Me in Miami premiered in one of the prime spots at the prestigious Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival on October 29 at The Egyptian Theatre in…
Doomed for Success
“Doom may be by the numbers … But those numbers add up to the most cleverly engineered video-game movie made to date.” Starring NZ actor Karl Urban and NZ affiliated Dwayne Johnson…
Narnia comes to life
Excitement is growing for the December release of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Filmed in New Zealand and directed by New Zealander Andrew Adamson (noted for his Shrek successes), this…
North Country
North Country is Niki Caro’s directorial follow-up to the hugely successful Whale Rider. Set in the iron mining region of north Minnesota, North Country tackles sexual harassment in the workplace…
The people’s Campion
Jane Campion has been lured out of self-imposed retirement for a very worthy cause. She joins fellow directing luminaries Robert Altman, Jodie Foster and Gaspar Noe in contributing to an 8-part feature film outlining…
The lion, the witch and the evangelicals
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will not only be doing battle at the box-office but also for the souls of mankind, according to an article published in the Guardian. US groups such…
Kubrick’s Successor?
The latest Hollywood release by Kapiti-grown, LA-resident writer-director Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show, Gattaca) is Lord of War. Described by the Guardian as “a moral fable treated with a surface realism,” Lord of War…
Local epic lures Donaldson home
An interview with The World’s Fastest Indian director Roger Donaldson is the cover story for the October issue of Inside Film. Starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, the feature is described as the culmination of a…
Kong is coming
Wired magazine’s October issue features a lavish 16-page look at Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong, due to hit cinemas this December. Wired examines the greatly anticipated film through an…
The Amazing Phil
New Zealand presenter and producer Phil Keoghan has continued his winning streak with The Amazing Race. Produced by Hollywood heavyweight Jerry Bruckheimer, the show was named outstanding reality programme for the third time at…
Cinematic Landmark
Rowan Woods’ Little Fish has been dubbed “the most important film in a year that’s looking like a dramatic turnaround for Australian movies.” Kiwi actors Martin Henderson, Sam Neill and Joel Tobeck…
Alan Dale heart-attacked from The O.C.
Dunedin-born actor Alan Dale’s role as wealthy Orange County real estate mogul, Caleb Nichol (“deep down, he is a conniving man that won’t stop until he gets what he wants”) in the hit show
Kiwi bunny and the Princess has E! Hit
Former Playboy Bunny, New Zealander Sandra Costa continues to turn vision into reality. Today, an international business woman and entrepreneur, Costa’s clients are amongst the “Rich and Famous”. President of Sandra Costa Development, interior…
On the right path
Another talented Urban, Karl is to star in the upcoming US$30 million Viking epic, Pathfinder. Directed by Marcus Nipsel (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and written by Laeta Kalogridis (Alexander), Pathfinder tells the story of a…
Fox buys slice of Kiwi reality
US cable network giant, Fox Reality, has purchased the rights to a three NZ reality TV shows; Treasure Island, Treasure Island Extreme, and The Bounty Hunters. “These shows are really strong examples of…
The Sweet Sound of Success
Dilworth School alum Mark Petrie (above right) is carving an impressive career in film and television scoring in LA. Petrie completed a degree in film composing at Boston’s Berklee School of Music in 1999. He is now…
World’s fastest kiwi
Screenwriter and director Roger Donaldson’s film The World’s Fastest Indian was a roaring success at the Cannes Film Festival. It has quickly become the most sought after feature in the Cannes Market…
Richard Curtis: Love is the Edge
The BBC screened the latest work by screenwriter and director Richard Curtis, The Girl in the Café, on the eve of the 2005 G8 meeting at Gleneagles. Curtis’s script faces the…
Hot property
Actor Martin Csokas is hailed as “the new Russell Crowe” in the July issue of Australian Vogue. Csokas’ recent projects include The Bourne Supremacy with Matt Damon, Asylum with Natasha Richardson and Sir Ian…
Shattering cinema
Another fantastic review for award-winning NZ film, In My Father’s Den. “They say that NZ wears its people lightly: the land is so strong, so exciting, so varied and so remote that its people…
Buggin’ out
NZ entomologist, writer, broadcaster and educator, Ruud Kleinpaste, is a hit in the US as the host of Animal Planet’s Buggin’ With Ruud. “In Buggin’ With Ruud, the energetic, fearless Kleinpaste subjects himself…
Cinderella Man
Russell Crowe won widespread acclaim for his role in Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man. Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “At the centre of all richness is another irresistible star turn by Crowe. As his Oscar-winning performance in…
Wilding at heart (2)
A stylish black and white music video by LA-based nzer Anna Wilding (and relative of Wimbledon chamption Anthony Wilding) reached final competition of the first ever Los Angeles Femme Festival held in…
Crowe’s Cinderella
Russell Crowe stirs the first Oscar-talk of the season: “An exquisite ode to a working-class hero, “Cinderella Man” takes the almost impossibly perfect elements of the saga of underdog boxer James J. Braddock…
Olympus comes to Aotearoa
Hercules, a Hallmark Productions (US) telemovie starring Leelee Sobieski, Sean Astin, and Timothy Dalton, used the NZ countryside as a stand-in for ancient Greece. “The story requires a bigger-than-life place,” says Dalton. “It needs…
Standring Gets Teeth into International Market
According to Empire magazine, Glenn Standring’s Perfect Creature is NZ’s largest ever international film sale. Set in an alternate 1960s/70s NZ, the highly original vampire tale stars British actors Dougray Scott and…
Peter Jackson most powerful
Reports of the list of Hollywood’s power people compiled by Premiere magazine for their June issue have revealed that Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson is the most powerful. According to the reports,…
Teaser goes down a treat
The global screening of the inaugural trailer for the Chronicles of Narnia caused hysteria amongst fans eager for a glimpse of Kiwi Andrew Adamson’s creation. “The snow-globe fantasyland of the most popular book in…
Miramar the Seat of Power
The June issue of Premiere magazine (US) named Peter Jackson the most powerful person in Hollywood, ahead of Steven Spielberg, Pixar animations duo Steve Jobs and John Lasseter, Tom Cruise, and Tom Hanks. According…
One for the mantelpiece
Sam Neill won the Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama for his role in Jessica at Australia’s 47th annual TV Week Logie Awards. Neill also presented the Gold Logie, which was…
The real super heroes
Kiwi stuntwoman Zoe Bell (Xena, Kill Bill, Catwoman) is the joint subject of an American documentary on women in her profession, entitled Double Dare. The film charts the very different careers of Bell…
Boy oh boy
Welby Ing’s Boy won the Best Short Narrative Film award at the 2005 Cinequest Festival in San Jose, which qualifies it for consideration for next year’s Oscars. The film tells the story of a…
Dinosaurs down under
The fourth installation of Jurassic Park is rumoured to be filming in NZ later this year, with Sam Neill reprising his role as Dr Grant. Visual Effects maestro Stan Winston aims to “raise the…
2 Films, Much Praise
Taika Waititi’s acclaimed short film Two Cars, One Night was nominated for an Oscar at this year’s awards. It is now touring the US alongside fellow nominees as part of an Oscar 2005 shorts…
Russell Crowe – The Hard-Ass
GQ’s feature on the ten greatest actors of our generation leads with Wellington-born Russell Crowe and his passion for connecting emotionally with an audience. Does this peg him as a dinosaur? “In those respects-credibility,…
My Favourite Ape
Compared with his work as an Oscar-winning director and the filmmaker behind the most popular trilogy in movie history, Peter Jackson’s first attempt to remake King Kong was by any measure amateurish. Jackson painted…
Kiwis on Both Sides of the Camera
Fresh on the heels of her international success with Whale Rider, Niki Caro is to direct an as yet untitled feature for Warner Bros. Starring Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Sissy Spacek and Sean Bean,…
