NZEDGE News — New Zealand through the eyes of the world's media

Zane Lowe to Leave BBC Radio 1 for Apple in US

The presenter of BBC Radio 1’s popular weekday evening music show, Auckland-born DJ Zane Lowe, 41, is moving to the United States after 12 years at the station to take up a role at…

Mike Campbell Scores Top Spot in Men’s Health Man Comp

Sydney-based personal trainer, New Zealander Mike Campbell, 33, has been named in the top six of Australian Men’s Health magazine’s Man competition. The competition calls for blokes who are in top shape and the best…

Berlin’s Pie Addiction Is Growing

Named in tribute to Berlin-based Josh Joblin-Mills’ grandmother, famed for her home-cooked meat pies back in rural New Zealand, Oma Marnies has been stacking up a loyal customer base since it opened…

Savouring Views in New Zealand with Julian Robertson

As the co-founder, chairman and chief executive of the US$30 billion investment firm Tiger Management L.L.C., American Julian Robertson, 82, has achieved a high profile in the world of finance. Robertson, who owns three…

With Bombastic New Single UMO Channel Stately Soulful Music

New Zealand-born Ruban Nielson’s Portland-based three-piece Unknown Mortal Orchestra makes the Guardian’s daily playlist, with their “bombastic” new single Multi-Love. “Such was the oddball beauty of Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s introverted second album II that Multi-Love…

Karen Walker Taps Instagram Sensation Toast the Dog

New Zealand designer Karen Walker and four-legged Instagram sensation Toast the Dog, the droopy-tongued pup rescued by American comedian Josh Ostrovsky and wife, Katie Sturino, both don shades for Walker’s spring 2015 eyewear campaign. “A…

There Is No Occasion That a Pavlova Doesn’t Add to

“Most New Zealand and Australian rivalries are fought on the rugby field, the cricket pitch or the netball court,” according to the Vancouver Sun’s Tracey Tufnail, who includes her own family’s recipe for the…

Running Gets Epic in Asics’ Biggest Global Campaign

Asics has just launched its biggest ever global campaign with an epic new advertisement which was shot on location in New Zealand, and features crowds of runners summoned by a hunting horn…

Comic Artist Ant Sang Draws on East and West for Inspiration

Award-winning comic artist Ant Sang, who was a guest at this year’s Taipei International Book Exhibition, draws on Western and Eastern influences having spent his childhood and teenage years in New Zealand and Hong…

North Island a Land of Volcanoes and Vineyards

Over the coming six weeks, the world’s greatest cricketers will be zig-zagging across New Zealand. So for the cricket fan the Independent’s David Whitley suggests, that’s a fine excuse to disappear to the other…

How Jemaine Clement Became 862-year-old Vladislav

Being a vampire wasn’t entirely new to Jemaine Clement, co-director and star of What We Do In The Shadows. His first credited role was playing one in a 1995 horror short film called Blood…

Peter Gunn off to Italy for Young Chef Competition

A mighty fine plate of beef short ribs with roast celery vinaigrette has secured Attica sous-chef, New Zealand-born Peter Gunn a trip to Milan in June to compete with the world’s top up-and-coming kitchen…

NZ Design Firm Helps Museumgoers “Touch” Cities Around the World

For nearly 20 years, New Zealand-based experiential design company the Gibson Group has designed and built one-of-a-kind, interactive, multimedia visitor experiences for museums, galleries, archives, libraries, tourist centers, and businesses around the…

Hobbit Trilogy Unmitigated Financial Grand-Slam for All Parties

“The Hobbit trilogy has been incredibly successful on a domestic and worldwide stage,” Forbes contributor Scott Mendelson writes. “The three-film trilogy cost around US$765m to produce and made US$2.916b worldwide thus far. Yet no…

Terraces One of Best Tourist Attractions That No Longer Exist

Ask a New Zealander what happened on 10 June 1886, and they’ll tell you the planet lost its “eighth wonder,” says CNN, who deem the Pink and White Terraces of Lake Rotomahana one of…

Ross McEwan Gets down to Business at Royal Bank of Scotland

Very few chief executives of big banks know how to brand a cow, what to do when calving season starts, or how to tell Angus from Shorthorn cattle. Except, that is, Ross McEwan, Financial…

Paula Morris Makes Lucrative Short Story Comp Longlist

Auckland author Paula Morris has made it onto the 19-strong longlist for the 2015 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award, the world’s richest prize for a single short story. The award – now…

Simon Baeyertz Helping Reclaim Puerto Rico’s Food Paradise

New Zealander Simon Baeyertz, a “music-business refugee” who once worked with Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, is now the owner of and the driving force behind Caribbean hotel El Blok. Along…

NZ Open Their Cricket World Cup in Style

“New Zealand fulfilled the hopes of a capacity crowd, celebrating another landmark in the rebirth of , by defeating Sri Lanka by 98 runs,” the Guardian’s Vic Marks writes. “It was a well-nigh flawless…

New Zealand Both the Hipster and Tipster’s Choice

No longer merely the cool underdog that overachieves, New Zealand is a genuine World Cup contender, according to the Hindu, with Brendon McCullum’s men now possessing a gilded opportunity to go where none of…

New Line Cinema to Remake New Zealand Horror-Comedy ‘Housebound’

New Line Cinema has picked up the remake rights of New Zealand horror-comedy Housebound, which earned praise from Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson. Gerard Johnstone, who wrote and directed the movie, will produce the remake but…

Black Grace Touring Retrospective in the United States

Choreographer Neil Ieremia and his contemporary dance troupe Black Grace are currently on tour in the United States, firstly performing their 20-year retrospective programme, including Gathering Clouds, for Philadelphian audiences. Wellington-born Ieremia said that his…

Panicked Super Rich Buying up NZ Bolt Holes

Hedge fund managers are buying up remote stations and land in places like New Zealand to flee to in the event of civil uprising against growing inequality, it has been claimed. With growing inequality and…

Geologists Solve Tectonic Mystery with Explosives

Local geologists may have finally explained how tectonic plates shift by blowing up hundreds of kilograms of dynamite in a 100km line from Glendhu Rocks in the Wairarapa to Queen Elizabeth Park on the…

Atea Oceanie a Cool Brand of Insouciance Hard to Beat

In just two years of being, the London-based womenswear label Atea Oceanie, founded by New Zealander Laura Myers, has risen through the ranks with its clever fusion of sportswear and fashion, Wallpaper magazine reports. Armed…

‘Theory Of Everything’s Anthony McCarten & Working Title Set Winston Churchill WWII Epic

After The Theory Of Everything garnered five Oscar nominations including Best Picture, writer-producer Anthony McCarten has signed a deal to work alongside producer Lisa Bruce and Working Title partners Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan…

Bill Culbert’s Exhibition Most Engaging to Hit Sydney in Years

“The work of internationally acclaimed, New Zealand-born, France-based artist Bill Culbert has the potential to change the way you shop as well as the way you view art,” begins Nicholas Forrest in a review…

Anna Smaill’s Debut Novel Communicated Through Music

New Zealand poet Anna Smaill’s debut novel The Chimes, reviewed in the Independent, is “dystopian fiction but not quite as we know it.” “Smaill draws on her training as a classical violinist to create a…

Singer Brooke Fraser Sheds Her Pop Folk Skin

Following a trio of successful folk-pop albums, Wellington-born singer Brooke Fraser, 31, re-emerged in 2014 with Brutal Romantic, a collection of dark, nervy electronica that doesn’t easily invite reductive descriptors like “organic” or “rootsy.” A…

Damaged Christchurch Mirrors Relationship in New Film

The feature-length Sunday, which has its Australian premiere at the 9th Byron Bay Film Festival, is set in Christchurch a year after the 2011 earthquake, where scenes of damage, poignancy and hope provide a…

Planting Trees in Public Spaces Leads to Healthier Society

University of Canterbury research has suggested that planting trees in public places could lead to a healthier society. The university research analysed the activities of 12,500 New Zealanders and found people living near parks and…

Danielle Cormack’s Toughest Role Yet

Auckland-born actor Logie-nominated Danielle Cormack, 44, came to the attention of Australian audiences playing a feisty and imperious solicitor in the ABC drama Rake. The character that followed in Underbelly: Razor was no shrinking…

ACT MLA Meegan Fitzharris Sworn in at Assembly

Incoming ACT Legislative Assembly member New Zealand-born Meegan Fitzharris introduced herself as “the first MLA from Gungahlin” at her maiden speech delivered when the former bureaucrat and government staffer was sworn in…

Stephen Hunter’s On-screen Transformations Continue

You might not recognise New Zealand actor Stephen Hunter, 46, from one of his biggest film roles without a bushy red beard, a huge, ring-shaped plait of red hair and a lot of bulky…

New Zealand New Festival to Wow New Yorkers

New Zealand gang culture, the art of sleep and a man who believes he is the key to putting another Clinton in the White House are among the offerings slated for the

Wellington Acting like a City but Loving like a Village

Wellington, which celebrates its 150th year as New Zealand’s capital, has a funky, creative vibe, which comes in part from a strong community feel. These characteristics make it one of the BBC’s 2015 “Hottest…

Jemaine Clement Stars as Israeli Fixer Opposite Sam Rockwell

The Utah filmmakers who begat Napoleon Dynamite made a triumphant return to the Sundance Film Festival with New Zealand actor Jemaine Clement playing opposite American funnyman Sam Rockwell in Don Verdean, a movie about…

Martin Basher Causing Big Waves in the Art World

New York-based New Zealander Martin Basher, 35, is included in an Art Collector magazine feature about the work of artists who have caught the eye of collectors and achieved commercially successful sell-out exhibitions. “There’s immediate…

Scott Dixon Sets Crazy Pace Winning Daytona’s Rolex 24

New Zealand’s most famous speedster, three-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon (pictured right), was the key to team Ganassi wining the prestigious annual Rolex 24 at Daytona on 25 January, according to team members. Dixon, 34,…

Australian Tech Millionaires Hold Queenstown Secret Summit

Some of Australia’s best-known tech millionaires were in Queenstown recently at a mysterious meet-up where the requirement for entry was having a company valued at over $100 million. Among the invitees were Seek co-founder Paul…

Cricket Legend Martin Donnelly Remembered in Warwickshire

Legendary New Zealand batsman, Ngaruawahia-born Martin Donnelly, who also briefly played rugby for England, was a member of the Warwickshire County Cricket Club in the late 1940s impressing local fans with his skill. “As a…

Routeburn Track a Spectacle of Jaw-Dropping Scenery

For the ultimate adventure the Wall Street Journal recommends escaping into the “supersize spectacle” of one of New Zealand’s nine Great Walks for a tramp along the 32-km Routeburn Track. Journal correspondent Robin Kawakami (pictured)…

Sundance Comedy Immeasurably Funnier with Jemaine Clement

Jemaine Clement plays the lead role in indie romantic comedy People, Places, Things as penny-pinched New York graphic novelist Will Henry who is struggling upstream with life and the numerous females in his orbit,…

Kate McIntosh’s Joyous Creation Hits Vancouver Festival

New Zealand-born Belgium-based dancer and conceptual performance artist Kate McIntosh took her “favourite theatrical creation” Dark Matter to this year’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, one of Vancouver’s signature events. “It’s a joyous,…