Pirate Comedy Deserves Another Season
Cancelled after two season, Taika Waititi’s “silly comedy” Our Flag Means Death “deserves one more voyage”, according to Radio Times critic George White. “ was meant to be sacred ground, an untouchable…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Amy Brown’s New Novel Inspired by Women and Art
Like many writers before her, New Zealand-born Amy Brown takes inspiration from the Australian feminist icon Stella Maria Miles Franklin in her captivating debut novel My Brilliant Sister – but instead of telling Franklin’s…
JLo Shares Moment She First Spotted Parris Goebel
In anticipation of the release of her ninth studio album, Jennifer Lopez recently spoke to the NZ Herald’s Jenni Mortimer, with the singer sharing the moment she first spotted the New Zealand choreographer Parris…
Auckland Home Has Rooms with All the Views
“The design of this newly listed home in Auckland will make your head spin – literally,” Abby Montanez writes for luxury lifestyle magazine, Robb Report. “Dubbed The Lighthouse, the three-bedroom spread positioned along…
Who’s Behind TikTok Megastar Paloma Diamond?
Julian Sewell, the creative genius responsible for the internet’s favourite imaginary actress spends his days teaching in South Auckland, Sam Brooks writes for The Spinoff. “I can’t fix this! That’s what I’m talking about! You…
Punk Goes Down Under in Comedy Head South
Punk arrives in New Zealand, a little bit late, in Head South, the new dramedy from New Zealand director Jonathan Ogilvie (Lone Wolf, The Tender Hook) which opened this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam…
Why New Zealand Novelists are Making Waves
When author Emily Perkins decided her next novel would be set in the New Zealand capital, her editors in the UK were pleased. The 53-year-old says this specific detail “seemed to spark interest rather…
NYC-Based Designer Jenny Jiang on What Matters
Jenny Jiang is a New Zealand-born CGI designer and motion artist based in New York. Her artwork involves crafting visual worlds that explores aspects of surrealism, joy and storytelling in the form of beautiful…
Thomasin McKenzie Speaks About Eileen Role
William Oldroyd’s psychological thriller Eileen, based on the 2015 novel by Ottessa Moshfegh, is a challenging movie. But that’s exactly what drew in Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway. McKenzie, who plays a withdrawn young…
How Xena Became Sundance’s Hottest Director
The former Warrior Princess, New Zealander Lucy Lawless, tells Daily Beast’s Obsessed about her unlikely journey to directing the documentary Never Look Away, about fellow New Zealander, intrepid war correspondent, Margaret Moth. Moth spent years…
Anton Thomas Illustrates World Without Borders
In July 2020, his universe shrunk to a two-bedroom apartment by a rattling train line, New Zealander Anton Thomas pulled out an H pencil and opened a portal to the world, Natasha Frost writes…
Cinematographer Dave Garbett wins Emmy
The second annual Children’s and Family Emmys took place in Los Angeles recently, and while Disney+ and Netflix tied with nine wins each, there was one New Zealander who stood out, the NZ Herald…
AGT Act Tape Face Talks About His Inspiration
When mime Tape Face made his first appearance on America’s Got Talent in 2016, judge Simon Cowell called him “clever”, Mel B labelled him “genius” and Howie Mandel called him “brilliant” and predicted that…
Inside Story of Entire Studios’ Celeb-Fuelled Rise
After forging a relationship last year, the LA-based brand Entire Studios and London-based retailer Selfridges take things to the next level via an exclusive collection and an in-store pop-up. Esquire UK meets one of…
Birnam Wood Gets the Paperback Makeover
New Zealand-born author Eleanor Catton’s bestseller Birnam Wood is one of “eight intriguing” paperbacks included in a New York Times piece about book design – “the paperback edition is the second chance, an opportunity…
Baritone Phillip Rhodes Debuts at Opera Australia
New Zealander Phillip Rhodes (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Kahungunu) “proved to be a safe hand” in his debut role as Giorgio Germont for Opera Australia in Verdi classic, La Traviata. “Listening to his sonorous baritone deployed…
Looking Back at the Lord of the Rings Effect
“ absolutely put us on the map,” says Jasmine Millet, head of creative industries at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and an advocate for the region’s filmmaking industry. “People started…
Unveiling a Breathtaking Whangārei Green Roof
“During the World Green Infrastructure Congress 2023 in Berlin, we were awarded the Built Environment Green Roof Award for the Hundertwasser Art Centre and Wairau Māori Art Gallery,” University of Auckland Associate Director of…
Thomasin McKenzie Gets the Accent Right in Eileen
Thomasin McKenzie takes it as a compliment when people don’t know she’s from New Zealand. The 23-year-old actor – who broke through with 2019’s Jojo Rabbit and 2021’s Last Night in Soho – regularly…
Photographer Hōne Naera-Scott on a Journey
Dwelling in foreign territory is something fashion photographer Hōne Naera-Scott is used to, Ticia Almazan writes in a story for Vogue Philippines. “Up until my early 20s, I was always just trying to be…
Chill Out with Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins
Taika Waititi has always seen cinema as something optimistic. Growing up in a poor area of New Zealand, where he was born to an Ashkenazi mother and Māori father, movie theatres offered the future…
Birnam Wood Makes NY Times 2023 Best of List
“Each year, we pore over thousands of new books, seeking out the best novels, memoirs, biographies, poetry collections, stories and more. Here are the standouts, selected by the staff of The New York Times…
Author Anna Smaill Looks in the Mirror
Featuring in The Guardian’s regular column, ‘A Moment That Changed Me’, is New Zealand author Anna Smaill, 44, who describes how she fell in love with clothes. “When I was growing up in Auckland in…
Art Gave Brent Harris a Way Back from Pain
In New Zealand-born Brent Harris’s surreal painting I Weep My Mother’s Breasts (1996) two identical young men shed pendulous tears that end in nipples. Magic realism comes to mind: a Diego Rivera painting or…
LOTR Chainmail Production a Two-Year Odyssey
“There’s a lot of chainmail in Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” Men’s Journal journalist Griff Griffin writes. “Think of the hundreds of soldiers who wear it into battle, from Orcs…
Luminary Award Bestowed Upon Jane Campion
New Zealander Jane Campion has been honoured with Next Generation Indie Film’s 2023 Luminary Award. The director accepted the award at the third annual gala, which took place at the end of October in…
Mysterious Ways Set for N American Release
Specialty distributor Ariztical Entertainment has acquired the North American rights to New Zealand-set wholesome gay love story Mysterious Ways, with a multi-platform digital release in 2024, Patrick Frater reports for Variety. Written and directed by…
Acquire’s Zane Furtado Makes Under-40 List
New Zealander Zane Furtado, general manager of technology and innovation at Acquire, has been named in Campaign Asia-Pacific’s 40 Under 40 2023 list. Furtado, who is also co-owner of the independent trading desk focused on…
New Zealand Ideal Setting for Mystery
New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh, 46, makes the case for New Zealand’s place atop the world of mystery and thrillers, in a story published by CrimeReads. “Several years ago, I was sitting in…
Kaylee Bell Wins Country Music Award in Nashville
Waimate musician Kaylee Bell, has become the first New Zealander since Keith Urban to win at America’s prestigious CMA Awards, 1 News reports. Her song Keith – a tribute to Whangārei-born Urban – is a global…
Tenth DJ Champ Title for Kalib Strickland
New Zealand DJ Kalib Strickland, 19, who goes by the name DJ K-Swizz, is on a massive high after winning his tenth world DJ championship title, going back-to-back at the Olympics of DJing, the…
New Yorker Editors Rate Catherine Chidgey’s Pet
New Yorker editors and critics choose their “most captivating, notable, brilliant, surprising, absorbing, weird, thought-provoking, and talked-about reads” every Wednesday and on a recent week noticed New Zealand author Catherine Chidgey’s latest fiction, Pet. This…
Setting the Scene in Our Flag Means Death
After starting the season with its lovable cast split in two, Our Flag Means Death concluded its second season with the entire crew of the Revenge sailing off together into the literal sunset –…
Beatles Fan Peter Jackson Directs Music Video
Following his acclaimed documentary Get Back, New Zealand director Peter Jackson is continuing his relationship with the Beatles by directing his first ever music video for the band’s final song, Now and Then, Guardian…
Amazing Race’s Phil Keoghan Not Slowing Down
Phil Keoghan, host of The Amazing Race, is a citizen of the world. This New Zealander may call California home at the moment. His stack of passports and ability to land shows that take…
LA-Based Artist Emma McIntyre Paints Magic
“With vivid hues and dynamic mark-making, conjures up pieces that might change before our very eyes,” Berlin-based writer Olivia Parkes reports for the Art Basel website. “ paintings are full…
M3GAN’s Universal Dance Thrills at Halloween
Universal and Blumhouse’s M3GAN, directed by New Zealander Gerard Johnstone, quickly became a cult classic as the killer AI doll twirled and kicked her way into our hearts after the film’s run earlier this…
Producer 33 Below Shares New Club Cut
New Zealand-born producer Jack Laven, aka 33 Below, has shared his new single, “Hold Tight”, a hypnotising dancefloor number that’s likely to stay with you for some time, according to James Keith writing for…
Ron Te Kawa Embroiders and Connects
Textile artist and former fashion designer Maungarongo Te Kawa (known to many as Ron) interprets his name as ‘one who brings peace and tranquillity to the land’. Te Kawa’s chosen artform is the quilt,…
Artist Angela Tiatia Keeps ACMI Visitors Guessing
The opening sequence of New Zealand-born artist Angela Tiatia’s The Dark Current, a 17-minute digital video now screening at the ACMI in Melbourne, is as mesmerising as it is suspenseful, Lenny Ann Low writes…
Georgia Nott Reborn as Georgia Gets By
With four studio albums under their belt, the Nelson brother-sister act BROODS remains a beacon not just of radiant sound, but of soul-stirring emotion – and with the release of Georgia Nott’s first solo…
Six Katherine Mansfield Stories You Need to Read
“The only contemporary writer Virginia Woolf admitted to being jealous of,” New Zealand-born Katherine Mansfield “is one of the greatest short story writers of all time,” Catherine Dent writes for Canada-based humanities-focused site, The…
Sam Hamilton Exhibits at Portland’s Converge 45
“The strongest curatorial statement of Converge 45 is at Oregon Contemporary, where a five-channel video by Portland-based, Aotearoa New Zealand-born Sam Hamilton (Sam Tam Ham) rejects the hegemonic world order in favour…
Rose Matafeo’s Romcom Even Better than Ever
“ is no longer a will-they-won’t-they series. Instead, it focuses on the joys of friendship – and becomes more enjoyable, relatable and far more moving,” Rachel Aroesti writes in a…
Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne’s Star on the Rise
It’s been 10 years since her debut as Kahu in Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople at age 13, and Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne’s career continues to soar, Eda Tang writes for Stuff. Named a “Rising…
Brag’s Poppy Reid Wins at B&T Media Awards
New Zealand-born Sydney-based Poppy Reid, editor-in-chief of Australia’s biggest youth publisher The Brag Media, is among the big winners at the B&T Women In Media Awards 2023, taking out the champion of change category,…
Conductor Gemma New Makes Proms Debut
“Every musical era has its characteristic audience faux pas. Once upon a time it was failing to remove extravagant headwear, which obscured the view of those sitting behind. These days – and despite rules,…
New York Times Recommends Catherine Chidgey’s Pet
Auckland-born writer Catherine Chidgey’s latest novel Pet has been included in The New York Times’ regular column, ‘Nine New Books We Recommend This Week’. “In this twisted psychological thriller, a motherless 12-year-old Catholic school student…
How George Nelson Fell in Love with Haiku
It was Haiku Day on 19 August in Japan, and just like many of Japan’s kinenbi or “faux holidays”, the designation stems entirely from wordplay. Haiku Day (haiku no hi) is on 19 August…
Bumpa Love a Voice for Melbourne Drag Queens
Bumpa Love wears many hats – the New Zealander is a trailblazer in Melbourne’s drag scene, an activist queen, a “businesswomen queen”, and now a contestant on Season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down…
Game Developer Pippin Barr on Playful Creations
New Zealand-born Pippin Barr might just be the most prolific solo game developer in the world. Since 2011 he has released a baffling 81 of them – and while many are just snapshots or…
Rose Matafeo’s Starstruck Back for Third Run
With her smash hit Starstruck exploring fairytale romance and what happens next, New Zealander Rose Matafeo breathed new life into the sitcom. But, as the series returns for a third run, she’s now wondering…
Barack Obama Has New Zealand Favourites
Among former president Barack Obama’s recommended summer reads for beach, porch or sun lounger is New Zealand author Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood, Martin Pengelly reports for The Guardian. “Here’s some books that I’m reading this summer,”…
Parris Goebel Knows Femininity Is Strength
This year, New Zealander Parris Goebel choreographed Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show – and she says she’s only getting started, Alison Cohn reports for Harper’s Bazaar. Goebel, 31, first got to have a hand in…
Milky Day Draws on Struggles to Create New EP
Korean New Zealander Milky Day tells digital music site Atwood Magazine about changing his life path to music, wanting to be genre-fluid, and how he turned his personal struggles into his upcoming EP. Milky Day…
Marya Martin Talks 40th Summer Festival
New Zealand-born flautist Marya Martin is celebrating the 40th summer season of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Long Island’s longest-running classical music festival. celebrates its 40th summer season. With 11 concerts across July and August,…
