News of New Zealanders via Global Media

‘What We Do In the Shadows’ Wins Hawaii Audience Prize

‘What We Do In the Shadows’ Wins Hawaii Audience Prize

“What We Do In the Shadows,” Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s New Zealand-made documentary-style comedy about three flatmates who happen to be vampires won the audience award for best narrative feature at the Hawaii International…

New Zealand Tourism Eyes 33% More Indians for World Cup

New Zealand Tourism Eyes 33% More Indians for World Cup

Tourism New Zealand is eyeing a massive 33 per cent growth in Indian travellers to the island Pacific nation this fiscal as it expects an influx of visitors for the World Cup Cricket it…

Richie McCaw: The Man Behind The Genius

Richie McCaw: The Man Behind The Genius

“What makes the New Zealand captain the world’s greatest player?” asks The Telegraph in a lengthy feature article. At Twickenham on Saturday, Richie McCaw eclipsed Sir Colin Meads as the most capped player ever to…

Sandra Nunnerly Making an Impact with Interior Design

Sandra Nunnerly Making an Impact with Interior Design

A favored interior designer among the New York City’s cocktail party set, New Zealand-born Sandra Nunnerley has brought her distinct eye and original aesthetic to projects as varied as Park…

Weta’s Richard Taylor Takes on Thunderbirds Challenge

Weta’s Richard Taylor Takes on Thunderbirds Challenge

The idea to adapt half-century-old television series Thunderbirds began 12 years ago when New Zealander Richard Taylor an Oscar-winning visual effects, makeup and costumes wizard, went to the UK to ask for creator Gerry…

All Blacks Reign Supreme Over England

All Blacks Reign Supreme Over England

The All Blacks gained a fifth consecutive win over England, after the home side led 14-11 at half time. But the English side made error upon error and suffered a long, slow black death in…

Teen Star James Rolleston on Why He’s “Nothing Flash-As”

Teen Star James Rolleston on Why He’s “Nothing Flash-As”

The New Zealand actor James Rolleston who impressed in Taika Waititi’s smash hit Boy is back with two new homegrown films that wowed at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. In The Dead Lands Rolleston,…

PM John Key Pushes National Rebranding with New Flag

PM John Key Pushes National Rebranding with New Flag

Prime Minister John Key, recently re-elected to a third term, is a cast-iron monarchist, the Economist writes. “Even so, he is bent on coming up with a new flag for New Zealand, one in…

Mark D’Arcy, Facebook Creative Shop CCO, Speaks About Creativity

Mark D’Arcy, Facebook Creative Shop CCO, Speaks About Creativity

Mark D’Arcy, New Zealand born VP and chief creative officer of Facebook Creative Shop, was interviewed by Campaign about the ways new technology has aligned creativity and business. “We grew up with linear forms of…

Artist Stephen Mulqueen Reviving Memory of Poppy Lady

Artist Stephen Mulqueen Reviving Memory of Poppy Lady

Dunedin jeweller and sculptor Stephen Mulqueen was in Athens, Georgia recently to drum up support for a memorial to one of the American city’s forgotten heroes – humanitarian Moina Michael, the “Poppy Lady.” Michael made…

Taika Waititi Pens Disney Animation Film Moana

Taika Waititi Pens Disney Animation Film Moana

Disney’s 56th animated film Moana has magic written all over it, according to the Latin Post and New Zealand writer and director Taika Waititi has a hand in it. The film is the studio’s…

Indie Stars Dean Wareham and Luna Announce Reunion

Indie Stars Dean Wareham and Luna Announce Reunion

After a decade apart, indie rockers Luna, fronted by New Zealand-born Dean Wareham, have “insouciantly” announced their reunion with a string of dates in Spain and vague hints at US dates, planned for next…

Curator Wayne Tunnicliffe Assembles Blockbuster Pop Exhibit

Curator Wayne Tunnicliffe Assembles Blockbuster Pop Exhibit

The Art Gallery of NSW’s art curator New Zealander Wayne Tunnicliffe has spent more than two years assembling a pop art collection of 200 artworks from Australia, Britain, Germany, Portugal, France, Spain and the…

Hayden Tee One of Melbourne’s Hottest Musical Stars

Hayden Tee One of Melbourne’s Hottest Musical Stars

New Zealander Hayden Tee is one of Melbourne’s East End Theatre district’s hottest stars, playing Javert in Les Misérables, which then tours Australia over the next 20 months. Tee, who is based in New York,…

Lorde Dishes up Pre-fame Secrets for Billboard

Lorde Dishes up Pre-fame Secrets for Billboard

With the Lorde-curated Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 soundtrack coming out on 17 November, the soon-to-be-18-year-old pop singer is proving her taste in collaborators – Kanye West, Chemical Brothers, Miguel and more – are…

Rena Owen’s Hollywood Revival

Rena Owen’s Hollywood Revival

On the telephone from her West Hollywood apartment New Zealand actress Rena Owen says the biggest misconception about her life in Los Angeles is that she leads one of movie-star luxury. “The amount of people…

Jetpack Maker Charts Flight to Australian IPO

Jetpack Maker Charts Flight to Australian IPO

New Zealand jetpack manufacturer Martin Aircraft Co. Ltd. is looking to raise up to A$25 million through a December listing on Australia’s securities exchange. The money will be used to fund further development of…

Ross McEwan at the Helm of a UK Bank in Much Better Health

Ross McEwan at the Helm of a UK Bank in Much Better Health

Almost a year to the day since the Hawke’s Bay-born retail banker Ross McEwan replaced Englishman Stephen Hester at the helm of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the bank appears in much greater health. Inessential…

Uili Lousi’s Sacred Geometry and Leap of Faith

Uili Lousi’s Sacred Geometry and Leap of Faith

Uili Lousi, Tongan-born New Zealand artist, speaks to the Epoch Times about his journey of art and using New York city for spiritual inspiration. “New York is the best place to test your spiritual life,”…

Makeup Artist Amber D Has the Dream Job

Makeup Artist Amber D Has the Dream Job

For aspiring makeup artists, New Zealand-born Amber D has the dream job. Now based in Australia, she has an extensive background in makeup artistry: with clients including Lorde, Steven Tyler and Rita Ora. She…

Lancashire University Appointment for Professor Robin Pollard

Lancashire University Appointment for Professor Robin Pollard

New Zealander Professor Robin Pollard has secured the dual role of deputy vice-chancellor and vice-president of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) group. Pollard has a reputation as an experienced and accomplished leader of university…

All Blacks Rugby Match Draws Record Crowd in Chicago

All Blacks Rugby Match Draws Record Crowd in Chicago

Saturday’s landmark rugby game at Soldier Field, Chicago, saw the All Blacks play the USA Eagles in front of a sell-out crowd of 61,500 – the largest to witness rugby in the United States. Both…

Rugby’s Rising US Popularity Helped by All Blacks

Rugby’s Rising US Popularity Helped by All Blacks

The match between the All Blacks and USA Eagles marked the largest-ever audience for an international rugby contest on American soil; signaling the sport’s growing U.S. popularity. “People do really like watching rugby in America,”…

Dana Finnigan’s Lovely Loos a First in the UK

Dana Finnigan’s Lovely Loos a First in the UK

New Zealand-born designer Dana Finnigan’s design company, which is based in Glasgow, prints “lovely loos”, wallpaper, fabrics and ceramics. Finnigan, 33, produces £2000 toilets and sinks with every inch covered in her own, bright…

Cross Country by Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Cross Country by Planes, Trains and Automobiles

With less than a fortnight to spend on the other side of the world, the Independent’s Kate Simon used planes, trains, automobiles … and a bike to make every second count on a trip…

Mansfield, Hulme, Frame – Literary Wizards

Mansfield, Hulme, Frame – Literary Wizards

With the Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan announced as this year’s Booker winner – last year, was our own, Eleanor Catton – the Irish Times brings you “10 great novels from Down Under”. Three authors from…

One of the Most Gay-Friendly Places to Stay on Earth

One of the Most Gay-Friendly Places to Stay on Earth

New Zealand is one of the top three most gay-friendly travel destinations, according to Lonely Planet. In 1998, New Zealand was the first country to adopt the label of ‘Gay/Lesbian Friendly’ when referring to…

Alpine Fault Hole Revealing Secrets of Earth’s Crust

Alpine Fault Hole Revealing Secrets of Earth’s Crust

An international team of scientists drilling a 1.3-km deep hole into the Alpine Fault in the South Island say they are already gaining valuable insights into the earth’s crust less than a quarter of…

USA Today: Breaking Down the All Blacks Haka

USA Today: Breaking Down the All Blacks Haka

USA Today has provided insight into the Haka, which has become a familiar rite to anyone who has watched a New Zealand team play in international sporting events. The Haka, drew headlines this summer as…

Britain Can Learn a Lot from NZ’s Healthcare System

Britain Can Learn a Lot from NZ’s Healthcare System

The distant shores of New Zealand, which has a broadly similar healthcare system to the UK’s, provides some lessons for Britain’s NHS, writes Robin Gauld, professor of health policy at the University of Otago. “New…

New Zealand Ranked One of the Best Places to Run a Business

New Zealand Ranked One of the Best Places to Run a Business

New Zealand is among the highest-ranked economies in the World Bank’s latest “Doing Business” report, which scores 189 nations based on how hard it is to run a company there. New Zealand was ranked second…

Designer Sean Kelly Wins Project Runway Season 13

Designer Sean Kelly Wins Project Runway Season 13

New Zealander Sean Kelly, 25, has won season 13 of Project Runway, battling it out with a show at New York Fashion Week in a final judge Heidi Klum declared the best in the…

Jennifer Flay Helping Inject New Life into French Art Scene

Jennifer Flay Helping Inject New Life into French Art Scene

Premier Paris art fair Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC) has never been better according to experts, and all thanks to New Zealander Jennifer Flay who has been at the helm of FIAC…

Chelsea Jade Making New Music Offshore in NY and Tokyo

Chelsea Jade Making New Music Offshore in NY and Tokyo

Singer Chelsea Jade Metcalf has created considerable buzz in her home of New Zealand, and she’s finally ready to take her art elsewhere; she’s been in New York recently for the CMJ Music Marathon,…

Weta Cave Workshop Expands for Tour Groups

Weta Cave Workshop Expands for Tour Groups

Hobbit fever is ramping up in Wellington ahead of the third and final installment of Peter Jackson‘s “Hobbit” trilogy and Weta Workshop is expanding to meet demand. In a bid to cater to growing demand from tour groups…

Graeme Mahy Looks to Brew up Some Beauties in NSW

Graeme Mahy Looks to Brew up Some Beauties in NSW

New Zealander Graeme Mahy was a key player in setting up Murray’s Craft Brewing Co. in NSW in 2006 before travelling the world to gain knowledge about beer production and also impart…

Hobbits Fit Their Safety Masks for Air NZ Safety Video

Hobbits Fit Their Safety Masks for Air NZ Safety Video

Ahead of the final instalment of The Hobbit trilogy, and continuing its long tradition of entertaining in-flight videos, Air New Zealand has launched its latest “epic” pre-flight safety demonstration. The airline has done a new…

3D Printing Sounds like the Future of Music

3D Printing Sounds like the Future of Music

This is music to the ears of instrumentalists and fans of 3D printing alike. New Zealander Professor Olaf Diegel, who teaches product development at Lund University in Sweden, along with a band of students…

Coromandel the Best of Both Scene and Serene

Coromandel the Best of Both Scene and Serene

The Coromandel Peninsula “is crawling with sandy hot spots, but there are plenty of calm alternatives, too,” according to the New York magazine which recommends both “scenes” and “serenes”. “Reachable only after driving on a gravel road,…

Andrew McCarten on How to Make a Film about a Living Person

Andrew McCarten on How to Make a Film about a Living Person

New Zealand producer and screenwriter Anthony McCarten discusses the difficulties in making a film about a person who is still alive. McCarten’s latest feature is a biopic about theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, The Theory…

Art of Living with Significant Spatial Drama

Art of Living with Significant Spatial Drama

New Zealand-born painter Stefan Dunlop’s treetop Noosa home is one of a number of artists’ houses throughout the world with “significant spatial drama”, according to a Telegraph article. Dunlop is an individual “with an…

Auckland’s French Café One of World’s Top Five Restaurants

Auckland’s French Café One of World’s Top Five Restaurants

Auckland restaurant The French Café, run by hotelier Simon Wright and wife Creghan Molloy Wright, has shot to global fame after being voted one of the top five best fine-dining establishments in the world. The…

New Zealand Wins Seat on UN Security Council

New Zealand Wins Seat on UN Security Council

New Zealand has won a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The 15-member council has five permanent members – the US, UK, France, Russia and China – and 10 non-permanent seats, filled…

Sean Kelly Wins Project Runway

Sean Kelly Wins Project Runway

New Zealand designer Sean Kelly has won reality TV show Project Runway in New York. The Wellintonian who now lives in Brooklyn was one of four finalists who were given a budget to prepare a…

Simon O’Neill Is the Mighty Otello in New Houston Opera Season

Simon O’Neill Is the Mighty Otello in New Houston Opera Season

For most tenors, according to New Zealander Simon O’Neill, performing as Otello “is the Everest” of all roles. He plays the Moorish general for the Houston Grand Opera season. Otello demands a tenor…

NY Inspiring Fashion Illustrator Natasha Wright

NY Inspiring Fashion Illustrator Natasha Wright

New Zealand fashion illustrator New York-based Natasha Wright, who has 47,000 Instagram followers a day, is working for well-known illustrator Dallas Shaw on projects such as clothing prints and promotional work for brands like…

‘Housebound’ a Satisfying Horror-Comedy Spookfest

‘Housebound’ a Satisfying Horror-Comedy Spookfest

The horror-comedy film Housebound, the writing-directing feature debut from New Zealand filmmaker Gerard Johnstone, is described as “creepy, silly, inventive, darkly funny and, at one point, mind blowingly bloody,” by Gary Goldstein for the…

Mark Burry Maintains Epic Work on the Sagrada Família

Mark Burry Maintains Epic Work on the Sagrada Família

Executive architect of the Sagrada Família New Zealander Mark Burry has been able to complete Gaudí’s designs by devising parametric computer modelling techniques, adapted from the aerospace industry. Burry has even sped up the…

Our Teens Make TIME’s Most Influential List

Our Teens Make TIME’s Most Influential List

Auckland golfer Lydia Ko and singer Lorde have been included in TIME magazine’s annual list of the 25 most influential teens, a list based on social-media followings, cultural accolades and business acumen. “After going pro…

New Zealand-Inspired US Burger Bach Cookin’ Up our Beef

New Zealand-Inspired US Burger Bach Cookin’ Up our Beef

Burger Bach, a New Zealand-inspired gastropub chain based in Virginia, has plans for a third restaurant south in the North Carolina city of Durham. The chain’s point of difference in a country not short…

NZ Designer in Project Runway Final

NZ Designer in Project Runway Final

New Zealand designer Sean Kelly has made it to the finals of American reality TV show Project Runway. Kelly was named as a finalist in an episode which aired on Thursday in the US. The competition…

New Zealand Fault Hole Revealing Secrets of Earth’s Crust

New Zealand Fault Hole Revealing Secrets of Earth’s Crust

Scientists drilling a 1.3-km deep hole into the Alpine Fault in New Zealand’s South Island say they are already gaining valuable insights into the Earth’s crust less than a quarter of the way down. The…

Koekohe Beach One of the Most Bizarre in the World

Koekohe Beach One of the Most Bizarre in the World

Koekohe Beach in Otago, famed for the Moeraki Boulders, is one of the world’s most bizarre beaches according to the Architecture and Design website, which also features the Beach of the Cathedrals, Ribadeo, Spain…

Hospitality Guru Shane Green to the Rescue

Hospitality Guru Shane Green to the Rescue

Las Vegas hospitality guru New Zealander Shane Green is the host of new Travel Chanel reality show, Resort Rescue. Green shows owners his unbelievable hidden camera discoveries and why their resort is in bad…

Artist Louise Menzies Thinks like a Mountain at UConn

Artist Louise Menzies Thinks like a Mountain at UConn

Auckland-based multimedia artist Louise Menzies is serving as artist-in-residence at the University of Connecticut (UConn) creating the exhibition, “Time to Think Like a Mountain,” which focuses on materials found in the university’s…

US Indie Film Role for Former Vampire Jemaine Clement

US Indie Film Role for Former Vampire Jemaine Clement

New Zealand comedian Jemaine Clement, who played 862-year-old Vladislav in What We Do in the Shadows, will next star in the indie drama People Places Things directed by James Strouse. Following appearances in Hollywood films…