Celebrating 30 Years

Happy Birthday to us!

Well what a difference a year makes. 12 months ago, much to my trepidation, the Guild’s projected yearly plan was to completely overhaul and upgrade our infrastructure.

When this was first mooted the task felt overwhelming but oh the satisfaction of hindsight. The original mountain I envisaged has become a gentle rolling hill. There is still the odd unexpected peak, but over the year, these have definitely become a lot easier to navigate. A bottle of rescue remedy sits on my desk, and every so often gets slightly abused, but we are on the home stretch and everything is finally coming together. The fun fact that came to light once the infrastructure machine swung into action was that all our aims and upgrades coincided with the Guilds’ 30th Anniversary. A wonderful advantageous co-incidence.

So on the administrative front, what have we achieved this year?

Firstly our name change. There are some final details to complete before we can officially implement the name but we are “so” close. And what an outstanding name we will have. The Screen Industry Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand Inc. With our AGM behind us and with the motion to change our name now ratified we can now move forward with proposed branding that we believe will compliment our outstanding name. So I’m excited about our launch towards the end of October. Remember, this will be the 30 Year Anniversary (and all things Guild) launch celebration that you are all invited to!

Our next achievement, a new website. I am very proud of the new site. From my administration end there are still a few learning curves. At this stage I still have my L plates but each day it gets easier for me to use. It is fresh and current and definitely friendly to navigate.

The new website does so much more for us. First and foremost it provides us with a new, far more efficient database system. This does require a small amount of input from you as members and you will all HAVE to log into the site at least once. Once you have done this you can access information which is exclusive to members only, receive notifications, RSVP events, check your payment status, update your own address details and much more.

So, no excuses if you aren’t receiving your magazine or emails. Log in, even if it is just to check your personal details. If you are struggling, you will find some very simple instructions on how to log in on page 7 of this issue of NZTECHO.

Additionally each issue of the Rushes will also include instructions and just to cover it, you can also go to www.nztecho.com/How-to-log-in. But if all else fails, give me a call and I will walk you through the process.

Our next achievement was the challenge to upgrade our Constitution. Since it was originally written, not only have we as an organisation changed, the whole world has changed. We needed to ensure we had a document that was current and works with today’s digital world and as far into the future as our murky crystal ball would allow us to see. I have to admit this was a marathon of a task but “yay” it got done. Next year will definitely be easier, as changing the Constitution is something we hope not to have to do again in the foreseeable future.

Then to top this year off, there was our old faithful Blue Book revision, in a word DONE. Once again a task we hope we don’t have to rewrite again in the near future as this was also one mammoth task.

So with all of the above the Guild really does deserve a damn good party to celebrate but most importantly to highlight 30 YEARS OF THE GUILD. Yes, in capitals, I am shouting this outstanding milestone.

To list the many accomplishments the Guild has realised over this time would require another 500 pages of magazine. We hold a historical place in the New Zealand screen industry as having shaped how we wanted the industry to operate by setting up industry wide accepted standards many years ago.

Some of that history has been recounted in Tony Forster’s article in this issue of NZTECHO. Guidelines will always get challenged and the Guild will continue to stand firm. But also making this possible are the stoic crew who hold the line and do not allow conditions to be eroded.

Additionally the Guild has set the bar for screen industry safety and recently took charge with the implementation of ScreenSafe Guidelines. Many areas which had frayed edges were definitely firmed up as accountability became King and repercussions for failing to adhere to the guidelines definitely gave all players in the industry a shake up.

The Guilds proactive approach to setting up screen industry safety guidelines, to WorkSafe’s satisfaction ensured we have guidelines that are firm, practical and workable to our industry. So be proud Guildonians !

So October 24th we launch in Auckland, October 25th in Wellington and finishing up in Queenstown, October 26th. We then get to official call ourselves the NZ Screen Industry Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand, unveil our new branding, introduce a revised Blue Book, and really celebrate and be proud of everything Guild. There will be the usual nibbles and a fairly generous bar and I promise, speeches will be kept short. For young members, this will be your chance to hear some of the history, meet some of those founding members and see how things were done back in the day.

For some of us looking back we think of the screen industries number 8 wire approach, followed by an “OMG that wouldn’t pass Health and Safety today” and “what is that holding the cameraman on that 30 foot crane ” generally followed by a sigh of relief that we actually survived. These were the pioneering years and there are some great stories.

For those of you who have supported the Guild for many of these 30 years, we owe you so much and definitely a drink or three. This is a momentous occasion for the Guild, few organisations like ours have survived this long.

And hey, we may even have a new government by then and who knows which Prime Minister or MP’s we might extend an invitation to, so this could be your chance (our chance) to get in their ears and let them know what we want for our industry.

It will be RSVP with limited numbers (as you can all understand with new WorkSafe legislation, all venues are limited to numbers). So look out for the RSVP details and announcements in the coming weeks on how to join the party.