Mother of gore
Peter Jackson’s 1992 zombie horror Braindead — released as Dead Alive in the United States — is, according to the Tri-City Herald’s Ed Robertson, “unless someone has video of the Normandy invasion lying around,…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Accent on Mr Big
Auckland University of Technology language expert Andy Gibson says Australian actor Matthew Newton, who plays New Zealand drug lord Terry Clark in the series Underbelly, is using “fush and chup” vowels where real New…
Marlin mayhem
Weymouth-raised stunt fisherman Matt Watson — who famously dove from a helicopter onto the back of a cruising marlin in the Pacific Ocean wrestling the giant fish to the surface before finally letting it…
Fantasy Land
ABC’s new series, Legend of the Seeker, is being filmed in New Zealand, taking advantage of the surreal midland setting. “They have a real respect for nature,”says the shows star, Bridget Regan. “We film…
The News with an Accent
Working as a presenter for BBC World news, Taranaki native Lucy Hockings says her New Zealand accent “is a good reflection of the newsroom, which is very international.” When she became a presenter for…
Call to arms
Actor Sam Neill, one of the stars of New Zealand/British film Dean Spanley, has told Prime Minister John Key at the premier of the film that: “George Bush declared war on an emotion, a…
Girls Don’t Cry
Stuntwoman Zoë Bell, 30, often found it easier to “brawl than bawl” when filming online series Angel of Death, in which she plays assassin Eve. Bell had to display both action and acting chops….
Marvelous Middleditch
Sydney-based New Zealander Paul Middleditch, 40, is interviewed about his success as an advertising director in the March issue of Australian Financial Review. “I believe there was a time when advertising was the stuff…
Peter Jackson in action
Six of Peter Jackson’s Oscars quietly share desk space with a grasshopper model from James and the Giant Peach, a Lancaster Bomber, a cardboard replica of Thunderbird One, and piles of toy soldiers. “I…
Sights on California
Actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, 19, and her family are in Los Angeles, considering a move to California, but right now “bunking down at a modest hotel in West Hollywood between stints with friends at various…
Alongside the Big Guns
Rotorua-born actor Cliff Curtis, 40, has been in Los Angeles promoting his latest film, immigration drama, Crossing Over and re-shooting Eddie Murphy’s comedy A Thousand Words, in which Curtis stars as charismatic spiritual leader…
Alveridge Animated
The rights to Queenstown artist Ivan Clarke’s Lonely Dog picture book — “a series of paintings featuring a lonesome-looking pooch” and his friends in the mythical world of Alveridge — has been bought by…
Gold-plated Memories
Directors Jane Campion and Peter Jackson, as well as actor Russell Crowe — who also hails from Wellington — feature in a Los Angeles Times Oscar winners photo gallery of New Zealand and Australian…
Shortening the long vowels
New Zealand comic Rhys Darby is currently in Australia touring his live show, having recently made his Hollywood debut as Norman in Jim Carrey’s Yes Man and next appearing in English comedy The Boat…
Brain Dead Dolls
Wellington’s Weta Workshop will create practical and creature effects for American director Kristoffer Aaron Morgan’s independent horror film, The Home. “The Home is going to be an amazing film that we are thrilled to…
Demanding justice
Wellington actress Kerry Fox plays a prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal in thriller Storm, a film set in Bosnia with a suspected Serb war criminal on trial after three years in detention. The…
Roy’s New World
New Zealand journalist Andrew Roy has been named as the new head of news at BBC World, the global television channel with 76 million viewers. Roy, who hails from Christchurch and started his career…
On-screen explosion
Wellington director Taika Waititi’s film The Volcano, a follow-up to his 2007 feature Eagle vs Shark, will be distributed by Australian company Transmission Films. The Volcano is inspired by Waititi’s Oscar-nominated short film…
NZ’s film bonanza
Wellington’s Weta Digital will develop the effects for upcoming 3D motion-capture trilogy, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, the sequel of which Peter Jackson will direct in New Zealand. Recently announced is…
Not Very Boring
Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie of the Flight of the Conchords discuss silly songs, the sweet tooth of success and why Australians are always in the cross hairs, with CNN reporter Shanon Cook. Asked…
In town for love
Auckland actor Martin Henderson, 34, who is based in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, is back in New Zealand filming Home by Christmas, a World War II love story directed by Gaylene Preston due for…
Return of the Poker Face
Flight of the Conchords “is finally back” on American television screens for a second season. The Los Angeles Times reviews the series opener on HBO: “Mixing the ironic whimsicality of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ with…
Truly Awesome Victory
Lower Hutt-raised Hollywood starlet Anna Paquin, 26, has won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Drama, awarded for her performance as Sookie Starkhouse in HBO’s vampire series True Blood, beating A-list…
Zoë the turncoat
Auckland stuntwoman and actress Zoë Bell, 30, stars in American web action series Angel of Death alongside fellow New Zealander, Lucy Lawless. Bell plays a mafia assassin who suffers a catastrophic head wound and…
In love in Fiji
Hamilton-born Shortland Street star Ben Mitchell, 27, has been in Fiji for the premiere of his latest project, the film Love Has No Language in which he stars opposite Bollywood actress Celina Jaitley….
Stellar win for Brettkelly
Auckland documentary-maker Pietra Brettkelly has won Best Documentary Award for Art Star and the Sudanese Twins at the 2008 Whistler Film Festival. The jury was quoted as saying, “This is a film that…
Neill’s canine enactment
Sam Neill, 61, plays the title role of Edwardian clergyman the Dean in Paramount Pictures film Dean Spanley, which opens in UK cinemas on December 12. In a Guardian interview Neill discusses…
Teaming up for culture
New Zealand and South Korea are forging an artistic alliance with a film co-production treaty signed in September 27 and the forthcoming New Zealand Cultural Diplomacy International Program which will be held over three…
New Zealander in Ink
Auckland tattooist Nikole Lowe, 36, is one of four London-based artists featured on the Discovery Channel’s six-part reality show London Ink, a series which delves into the world of tattooing. Lowe is interviewed in…
Imagination live
Auckland comedian Rhys Darby — who plays Jim Carrey’s boss Norman in Yes Man, which will be released in the US in December — has launched his first live stand-up DVD, entitled Imagine That….
And the award goes to
Lincoln-born Phil Keoghan, Emmy Award-winning host of television show ‘The Amazing Race’, shares some of his on and off air adventures with USA Today ahead of the show’s 13th season and a stint in…
Edwardian assortment
Sam Neill stars in Toa Fraser’s second feature Dean Spanley which Variety reviews, describing the film as “immaculately cast”. “Based on an obscure novel by late Anglo-Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, Alan Sharp’s screenplay…
Filming the Arabian dream
New Zealand writer and director Craig Johnson, who has lived in Dubai since 2003, is about to begin filming an English-language production based on expatriate life in the city, to be released in time…
Fraser’s film premiere
New Zealand film director Toa Fraser’s latest feature, Dean Spanley, is to have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 6. The film is part of the ‘gala programme’ which is…
Telepathic in Louisiana
Anna Paquin, 26, is mind-reading Southern waitress Sookie Starkhouse in the HBO vampire series True Blood, which starts September 7 in the United States. Paquin chats with Women’s Wear Daily about going blonde…
Screen Australia hires Harley
New Zealander Ruth Harley – currently CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission – has been appointed chief executive of the newly formed national film agency, Screen Australia. Dr Harley begins the position in…
Clement’s Celestial Chevalier
Wellington Conchord Jemaine Clement takes on the role of fantasy novelist Dr Ronald Chevalier in teen comedy Gentlemen Broncos, a film created by Napolean Dynamite’s Jared Hess to be released in 2009. According…
Montreal bound
New Plymouth-born actress Melanie Lynskey stars in the Anthony McCarten-directed Show of Hands, which has been selected for its world premiere at this year’s Montreal Film Festival. Show of Hands is based on McCarten’s…
Bond Director’s Edge
Hastings-born film and television director Martin Campbell – most well-known for James Bond hits Casino Royale and GoldenEye – begins shooting his latest Hollywood feature, Edge of Darkness, this month. The film, which stars…
With Unstudied Grace
New Zealand actor Jonno Roberts has the role of Stanley Kowalski in a Seattle production of A Streetcar Named Desire. It may seem a strange quirk, that someone from New Zealand has been given…
NZ Cinema in Beijing
The 2008 New Zealand Film Festival opens in Beijing and includes screenings of Eagle vs Shark, No. 2 and Out of the Blue. The Festival is a means of offering Chinese…
Ward and Puhi reunite
Director Vincent Ward, 52, has been in Sydney at the world premiere of his latest feature Rain of the Children, a film which documents the life of Tuhoe woman, Te Puhi who Ward met…
Changeably Crowe
This is New Zealand actor Russell Crowe on the cover of the June issue of PhotoIcon in “typical mercurial and irreverent mood”. Taken by British portrait photographer Michael Birt in February 2000 at a…
Hobbiton revisited
New Zealand is once again the backdrop for Middle Earth, Peter Jackson and Hobbit director Guillermo Del Toro confirmed in an hour-long live internet chat with fans. Speaking from New Zealand and London respectively,…
Constantly Gardening
Auckland greensman Robbie Penny has worked on Bridge to Terabithia, 10,000 BC and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian arranging on-set nurseries, sourcing Belgian lettuce ferns and relocating apple orchards. Feet are…
Finding Precious
Tauranga-based filmmakers Lance and James Morcan are searching for the best person to take on the role of four-foot-nine power-lifting champion Precious McKenzie. Ranked the best weightlifter in South Africa, McKenzie, now 71, was…
Royal Interlude
Filmmaker Andrew Adamson’s Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, shot in New Zealand, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia, has been released worldwide. The release comes just before Adamson takes a break from what has been…
Paquin in beautiful 100
Academy-Award winner Anna Paquin, 25, features on US Men’s magazine Maxim’s 2008 Hot 100, the “ultimate list of the world’s most beautiful women.” At number 50, Paquin is described as the: “sexy, troubled, and…
New leathers for Lawless
Lucy Lawless, has been both trawling the back streets of West Hollywood for replacement leather chaps and performing at the Carling Academy in Islington, London. The lesbian icon, just turned 40, talks to Time…
Great spirit returns
New Zealand’s favourite wizard, Sir Ian McKellen will return to the country to reprise his role as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit. McKellen had told Empire before he was…
Two Hobbits of a Kind
Peter Jackson is joining forces with Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro to make the two back-to-back film adaptations of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Jackson will co-produce the film with fellow director Fran…
Island Calling at Festival
New Zealand filmmaker Annie Goldson’s An Island Calling, featured at the Canadian International Documentary Festival, explores Fiji’s infamous 2001 murders of Red Cross boss John Scott and his partner. “The facts are known about…
Rogue takes orders
Wellington actress Anna Paquin, 25, will star as Sookie Stackhouse in HBO drama True Blood, to air in the US in September. Paquin, who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Jane…
Rose’s Web Comeback
Mt Maunganui former lonelygirl15, Jessica Rose, returns soon to Web-only-TV in a US-made horror-thriller Blood Cell. The show follows Rose’s character, Julia, as she contends with an unseen murderer who will talk to her…
Peter Jackson step aside
Christchurch video production company Gorilla Pictures is making a zombie film “better than most indie stuff cranked out on the cheap” in the US, according to horror film aficionados Dread Central. Director Logan…
Taylor-made for Shortlives
Richard Taylor’s animated children’s programme Jane and the Dragon now airs in the US every Sunday afternoon on NBC. Jane and the Dragon is created from drawings so detailed they required even more…
