Long Distance Teamwork
Tintin collaborators Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg are in touch across the world via a video-conferencing setup for the first installment of the film, using a custom-made iChat-type system by which Jackson can see…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
With glass and steel
David Hovey, the New Zealand-born, award-winning architect who owns Optima Inc. in Arizona says his dream home would be a contemporary home built of steel and glass built near the ocean in New Zealand…
Tackling Genres
New Zealand band Cut Off Your Hands is interviewed by American indie music publication Sentimentalist Magazine before the four-piece played the United States’ largest music festival, Austin’s South by Southwest (SXSW) 2009. Their debut…
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,…
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…
Commonwealth win
Auckland author Mo Zhi Hong has won Best First Book Prize for South East Asia and the South Pacific at the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2009 in London for his debut novel The Year of…
Art for all times
Contemporary Pacific art exhibition Le Folauga is showing at Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts until April 5. Le Folauga features a representative sample of the best artwork being created in New Zealand by…
Natasha Likes It
Natasha Bedingfield, 27, the UK singer who has sold over ten million records, is currently back in New Zealand — the birthplace of her parents — finding inspiration for her next album, which she…
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…
Gray’s marvellous mutants
New Zealand comic book writer and editor of the Marvel Collectors’ Edition line of magazines Scott Gray is interviewed by Comic Book Resources about “his take on the second generation of X-Men, the villains…
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…
Not Quite the End
When Tim Finn and Split Enz supported Skyhooks and AC/DC at Sydney’s Festival Hall in 1975, they were booed at by teenager Magda Szubanski. “Years later, Magda admitted that she was booing us —…
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…
Hands Play San-Fran
Auckland-formed indie band Cut Off Your Hands are touring the United States promoting their 2008 debut album You and I. “Pause a minute while taking in the dreamy, vigorous Brit-pop of Cut Off Your…
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…
Dodgy and Deadly
Over three weeks, Wellington artists Christian Pearce and Greg Broadmore created exhibition ’99DS’ with digital images created entirely on Nintendo’s DS handheld game console, which were on display through February in Wellington’s Civic Square….
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…
Bald and branded
Air New Zealand’s recent “billboard cranium” marketing stunt has been applauded by American Peter Shankman, author of Can We Do That?! Outrageous PR Stunts That Work for their “Tom Sawyer handing out paintbrushes” approach….
Writings of here and there
Author Kapka Kassabova moved to New Zealand from Bulgaria in 1992 at the age of 17 “having suffered the full experience of ‘Socialism with a Human Face’ that was the notional premise behind the…
Rooms with views
New Zealand artists Judy Millar and Francis Upritchard have both secured venues at the 2009 La Biennale di Venezia, with Millar’s large-scale installation ‘Giraffe-Bottle-Gun’ to be exhibited in Sant’ Antonin church and Upritchard’s ‘Save…
A Vision in Ribbons
Auckland ballerina 16-year-old Hannah O’Neill — who recently won first prize at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland — is in her second year at the Australian Ballet School and “has a luminous quality…
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…
Phase Five
The Phase Five Program, led by NZ On Air’s Mike McClung and Brendan Smyth, is exposing international audiences to up and coming New Zealand bands. The Program pairs a Phase Five…
Is it or isn’t it
29 January 2009 – University of Canterbury professor of philosophy Denis Dutton’s latest book The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution – which supposes that art appreciation stems first from evolutionary adaptions made during…
Strange Brew Debut
Cambridge rockers The Datsuns will play Galway, Ireland on February 5 promoting their latest album Head Stunts, which was recently recorded in Sweden. Formed in 1997 under the name Trinket, The Datsuns have drawn…
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…
Walking on thin ice
New Zealand’s best known trompe l’oeil muralist Marc Spijkerbosch was recently commissioned by ad agency Ogilvy to paint five images promoting pedestrian safety on pavements around Auckland for the city’s council. The images portray…
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…
Australasian Citizenship
Wellington-born David Kirk, former All Black captain and chief executive of Fairfax, is now an Australian citizen. Kirk, skipper of the World Cup winners in the inaugural 1987 tournament, confirmed he would always…
Nomination for Brown
Ladyhawke continues to make entertainment headlines with a 2009 Shockwaves NME Award nomination for Best Solo Artist, alongside Laura Marling, Lightspeed Champion, Jay-Z and Pete Doherty. The Awards will be announced…
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…
Perchance for professor
Auckland-born poet Fleur Adcock is one of eight names being discussed by the Oxford University English faculty to take up the position of professor of poetry when current incumbent Christopher Ricks comes to the…
Into the bazaar
New Zealand Herald columnist and travel writer Jill Worrall is interviewed by Iranian freelance journalist Kourosh Ziabari for The Moderate Voice, a widely-read independent political news blog, on the topic: ‘Iran – the most…
Robot rock
Hamilton based rock band the Trons are appreciating a rapid ascent, despite the noted absence of any actual human members. The Hamilton based four-part robot rock band consists of Ham on vocals, Fifi on…
Out of the dark
January 17, 2009 – Auckland writer CK Stead’s Collected Poems 1951-2006 is reviewed this week in the Guardian. “The main stylistic influence on Stead is probably Ezra Pound, from whom he has inherited a…
Thriller crashes onto shelves
Wellington author New York-based John Wareham’s latest book The President’s Therapist and the Secret Intervention to Treat the Alcoholism of George Bush hits US stores on January 20, Inauguration Day. The President’s Therapist is…
Teddy’s triumph
Baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes plays Antony in New York City Opera’s presentation of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra, in a performance the New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini calls “fervent and sensitive,” “the best…
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…
Evolution of the Artist
Denis Dutton, philosophy of art professor at The University of Canterbury, has published a book building off his standard-bearing art theory website Arts & Letters Daily. The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution…
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…
Back to Her Roots
Christchurch-born musician Bic Runga, 32, has been in Kuala Lumpur performing at the launch of the new BMW 7 Series, having just completed an album for Oxfam with Neil Finn, Radiohead and Wilco. “I’m…
Tickled pink
New Zealand advertising agency DDB, creators of the pink hugging monster for Pink Batts insulation, has been rated the world’s best agency in the 6th annual Bestadsontv.com rankings; New Zealand agencies Colenso and Saatchi…
Enchantment for sharing
Children’s writer Margaret Mahy, recipient of the Carnegie Medal for Children’s Literature, the Hans Christian Andersen Medal and a host of other awards, says the shared experience of a parent reading to a child…
Raskolnikov reincarnate
New Zealand author Neil Cross discusses his latest novel The Burial in UK publication Metro. “I’ve always been fascinated by guilt,” says the 39-year-old, who divides his time between producing fiction and writing for…
A Creative New Zealand
New Zealand’s contemporary art scene “boasts established institutions, a healthy commercial scene, and a flourishing network of artist-run spaces,” as catalogued in this year’s artasiapacific Almanac. The Arts Council, Te Waka Toi, and the…
In the Manner of a Woman
Having spent the year taking the art world by storm, New Zealand resident and south-pacific artist Shigejuki Kihara is one of artasiapacific’s “five artists for 2009”. Kihara, a Japanese Samoan made a name for…
