Image: Macey Chipping (playing Issie Brown) and Blaze the horse in Mystic
Nine productions which have received support from Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) have made the finals of the New Zealand Television Awards.
All three finalists in the children’s category, Mystic, The New Legends of Monkey and Kiri and Lou received the Screen Production Grant, and along with several other finalists have reached international audiences, emphasising yet again the depth of talent and creativity within the film and television industry in New Zealand.
NZFC CEO David Strong says the announcement highlights the important role the NZFC plays in supporting New Zealand productions.
“The NZFC is here to build the sustainability of New Zealand’s screen industry, support our talented filmmakers and showcase our unique culture. We are proud to have helped them achieve this success, wish them the best of luck and congratulate all the finalists.”
The NZFC has supported the nine projects through several of its grants and funds, including The New Zealand Screen Production Grant (NZSPG), the Screen Production Recovery Fund, International Co-Development Fund and the Feature Film Finishing Grant.
The nine finalists have received 21 nominations across 17 of the award categories.
The winners will be announced at the New Zealand Television Awards Gala to be held in Auckland on 1 March 2022. We congratulate all the nominees and wish them the best of luck on the night.
NZFC and NZSPG Supported Projects:
Rūrangi, produced by Craig Gainsborough, Max Currie, Cole Meyers, Melissa Nickerson and Tweedie Waititi is nominated in the NZ On Air Best Drama Series category and its director, Max Currie is nominated in the Screen Auckland Best Director Drama category. Elz Carrad is nominated as Best Actor and Arlo Green as Best Supporting Actor.
Also nominated in the NZ On Air Best Drama Series category is The Gulf - Season 2, produced by Paula Boock, Donna Malane, Christian Frederichs and Philly de Lacey. Alison Bruce is nominated as the Best Supporting Actress with cinematographers Dave Cameron and Rewa Harré nominated in the Best Cinematography: Drama category and editors Eric de Beus and Gretchen Peterson receiving nominations in the Best Editing: Drama category.
Loimata: The Sweetest Tears, produced by Jim and Anna Marbrook is nominated in the NZ On Air Best Documentary and Best Pasifika Programme categories and director, Anna Marbrook, is nominated in the Best Director Documentary/Factual category.
Three NZFC-supported series are nominated in the NZ On Air Best Children’s Programme category, Kiri and Lou, produced by Fiona Copland, Mystic, produced by Richard Fletcher and Simon Crawford-Collins, and The New Legends of Monkey, produced by Rachel Gardner, Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Robin Scholes and Peter Andrikidis.
The New Legends of Monkey also received nominations for Liz McGregor and Susie Glass in the Best Costume and Best Makeup Design categories.
Popstars, produced by Philly de Lacey, Jonathan Dowling, Tony Manson, Simon Fleming and Tina McLaren is nominated as Best Original Reality Series, and The Sounds has received nominations in the Images and Sound Best Original Score category for Rian Sheehan and for Ben Sinclair, Ray Beentjes, Chris Sinclair and Steve Finnigan in the Best Contribution to a Soundtrack category. Mike Single is nominated for Best Camerawork: Documentary/Factual for his work on Colours of China.
All the finalists for the NZTV Awards 2021 can be found here.