Global Connections

Hi all,

And welcome – as the two Ronnies used to say – to another packed edition.

Winter is well and truly here, and with it a downturn in locally sourced work and a possibility of some fascinating stuff coming in from overseas.

It seems to me, that with every film or project that comes here, as we compete in a truly globalized industry, that being a cohesive and representative industry body matters more every day.

And with New Zealand and Australia still being looked at as a single destination by a lot of international productions, it matters also that we are on a rough parity of pay and conditions with our cousins on the West Island.

A few jobs in the last decade have given rise to mutterings of ‘Kiwis taking our jobs at lower rates’. Mostly it’s banter. But as members of one guild, we also need to always respect the hard-fought battles other unions and guilds have gone through to protect their rates and conditions.

Just like we expect overseas crew coming onto our sets to do.

In this issue you’ll find three reports from the front lines of getting a documentary up and running in Godzone. As well as contributions from our Accounts guru Jane and our philosopher-of-all-things-film Waka Attewell.

Enjoy!

Love your work,

Graeme Tuckett. graemetuckett@gmail.com