We made it!

We have made it! The holidays are here, and when you sit down and read this article, hopefully, the sun will be shining, the rain will be behind us, and we will be getting ready for a busy year ahead.

There has been a lot happening over the past couple of months. We have a new Government, the strikes are over, and there is a lot on the boil across the country with the studios starting to get booked up. We have a host of productions underway in the New Year and more to come; it looks like the tide is turning, and just a reminder when we swing the other way to keep a look at for our fellow crew members aren't pushing to burn out.

In October, we hosted Branch meetings across the country; thank you to everyone who attended those meetings. It really helps us see where the priority ques are for the Guild and where to focus our attention in the future. We also had our AGM online; we had a great turnout. Another big thank you to everyone who attended. I want to welcome back to the Executive Committee – our President and Vice President Brendon Durey and Sioux Ferguson. Our Branch Chairs are Christian Gower (Auckland), Sally Cunningham (Wellington), Zac Beckett-Knight (Christchurch), and Wayne Allen (Queenstown). For the rest of our Executive Committee, we have Nick Treacy and Tyrone Payne (Treasurer) back in Auckland and welcome Sam Fraser. We have Adrian (Wookie) Hebron in Wellington, and we welcome Rohan Satyanand. Jessica Todd is back in Christchurch, and Jane McCurdy is in Queenstown. I want to thank everyone on the Executive for putting their hand up to support me in the day-to-day running of the Guild. Plus, a big thank you to the branch committee members who have also offered their support to their branch. Also, at the AGM, we trialled our new online voting system. This worked out a treat, and we signed off our new Constitution, voting in the Production Partners and Screen Companies subscriptions and the membership fee schedule for 2024. This online voting system now helps us future-proof any changes/improvements we make and ensure you can have your say at the click of a button!

The Guild has been seriously busy over the past year working to put money back into our members' pockets and our newly established Production Partners and Screen Company subscription.

Our discounts program has been going off with a roar; over 100 Businesses signed up for the Bunnings Power Pass discounts. Six Productions have trialled the Production Partners program, saving money in their construction and art departments on their Bunnings spending. $1000s of dollars has been saved with our general discounts; I have even received emails from members saying that they have saved more than their annual membership in one shop! If you still need to check out the discounts, please do; you can set up to set up an account with Bunnings and RS online. It is easy and quick, directly from the website! You can even link your old Bunnings Powerpass card to the new discounted program. Thanks, Bunnings!!

If you want to save time and money in your department, contact us, and we can talk you through the process and start saving on your production budget. This is an excellent program for our members and productions that everyone wins!!

With Christmas around the corner, check out the other discounts available. All information is available under Crew Zone – Discounts on the website.

I also want to thank the NZCS for hosting us in Wellington in November to talk about the Blue Book. It was great to see many students attending, finding out what it is all about, and meeting with some of our Wellington members. Thank you to Christian Gower, Adrian (Wookie) Hebron and Sally Cunningham, who shared their wealth of knowledge on the night.

Planning is underway for 2024, so if you see our branch meeting evenings advertised, please come along; we want to hear from you! The office will be closed from Friday 15th December to Monday 15th January. Emails will be checked intermittently, but I will take a break and step away.

So, it's time to sign off, take care, have a wonderful holiday season, and safe travels. I look forward to returning to the seat in the New Year!

Aroha nui, Kelly

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