Graham Thompson

How long have you been in the film industry, and why are you joining the Guild now?

I attended the NZ Film and Television school in 1991. I had tutors like Al Bol, Fran Walsh. In 1992 I started as all-round assistant to Wayne Birmingham Grip/Line producer, and started working on a variety of Japanese jobs. It was Wayne who sent me out to scout. He knew my love of the South Island and wanted to get some of the Queenstown work to move to Canterbury.

What was your first position in the industry? Did you stay in that department, or move around?

My first role was always scout. I did a lot of scouting on Heavenly Creatures for Peter Jackson. I moved into unit managing for the shoot, and I moved between unit management, location management, and location scouting for nearly 30 years after that.

What do you think the main role of the Guild should be in, in the industry. What would you like to see the Guild achieve?

I have had Christchurch as home base for nearly 30 years, since the nineties. We were busy with film and TVCs. I had two assistants through the nineties and into the early 2000s, then 2008 hit and the world stopped coming. We started climbing back, and then 10 thousand earthquakes happened, and it all went to custard again.

So a few of the locals got together and worked out there’s still people working, projects happening, but there’s been no one connecting the dots. Thanks to AJ at AJ Films. She got us talking together and hatching a few plans. So thinking forward, Christchurch is a nice place to grow old, so the guild is a great way to know what’s going on in the other centres. I see a great little industry coming back in the future. We need to communicate, share ideas, and forge a new future, for we all know how quickly change can come to this industry.

How will this current recession change us. Will we ever be ‘back to normal’?

I believe we are in for some semblance of new order and not sure the shape this will take. I believe the new normal will maybe be on a different scale.

What do you love about working in film?

I have had a rich career in film and TVCs and stills, finding my way around NZ, finding places, meeting people, building crazy sets in the strangest places in the shortest timeline. And I’ve seen the film industry grow, thrive, and go through many cycles. We still are unique, with the number 8 wire mentality. Just getting it done for the love of all things film. And I feel there is still a way forward.