Reflecting on Community Losses
Kia Ora.
Sadly we have had to say goodbye to member Paul Grinder this past month and to Paul Chattington, who also passed away way too early.
My heartfelt thoughts go out to both Paul’s family and friends at this time. Please see the two salutes to these men in this issue.
It’s a humbling time when people in our community pass. It makes us all reflect on how precious life is and how important we are to each other.
It’s hard to sit and write this knowing how the past couple of years have taken a toll on everyone’s mental and physical well-being. We need to take a minute and check in on yourself, your fellow crew, family, and friends to see how they are doing, and please reach out for support if you need it or you see someone struggling with their health or well-being.
So please take care out there. I know the stress our sector brings and the toll it takes; your health is more important than anything.
So with this in mind, SIGANZ will be hosting networking evenings so everyone can get together, relax and have a good catch-up.
With all things COVID, taking some time out with our peers has been challenging. So in August, we will have the first networking nights in each of the four cities – Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Queenstown. We will shout a couple of drinks and food for each member who attends and take a night to celebrate the lives of those who have passed this year, relax and chat. We will send out confirmed dates in an email update soon.
The subcommittees have been busy finalizing The Blue Book and Rate Card Review. These are in the final consultation phase and will be ready to release in the coming months. I want to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has taken the time to participate in these important reviews.
The next round of Professional Respect Workshops will be hosted in Auckland and Wellington in August and Christchurch in September. Please take the time to attend these workshops when the dates are released. We encourage all HODs to participate in these workshops and these steps towards creating safer working environments for everyone.
You would have heard that the Screen Industry Workers Bill is going through its final readings. The second reading was supposed to happen at the end of June, and we are waiting for the next date to be confirmed. Once the bill has passed, we will be hosting information evenings to educate our members and broader industry Production Technicians on how it will affect you as a contractor.
Our Business Toolkit is being finalized as I write this. We are working on delivering this information to our members online. The toolkit will include information on tax, valuable templates, how best to set yourself up as a contractor, negotiate your contract, and more. We will have this ready in October and as interactive as possible to make the information easy to understand and accessible whenever you need it.
In closing, COVID seems to be hitting us at home and on set, so please remember to take care of yourselves and each other. Your health and well-being are important, especially as the industry is starting to get busy again. COVID adds another layer of stress for everyone.
Ngā mihi nui, Kelly.
