Author name: Mark It

The future of NZ On Air and the Film Commission as separate, standalone organisations is on the Government’s radar. National’s Paul Goldsmith, who holds the arts and media ministerial portfolios, on Tuesday morning confirmed public speculation that the Government was…

Some of Aotearoa’s biggest names in film and television are celebrating the launch of the latest Māori-made feature film to hit cinemas. Thousands gathered in Hamilton on Monday night for the New Zealand premiere of Ka Whawhai Tonu – Struggle…

Film school is not cheap. A year of graduate-level classes at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts can run upward of $40,000. So why, you might ask, would you spend that much money learning to use generative AI tools when you…

To use VFX or not use VFX: that is the question, and one that each TV show has to answer differently. “Sweet Tooth,” the Netflix series set in a world where a virus has wiped out much of humanity and,…

Russell Crowe has opened up about why he turned down the chance to play Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Speaking to GQ, the New Zealand-born actor hinted the conversation with Jackson had to do with their shared…

She’s starred in everything from Shortland Street to 800 Words to Mean Mums, but you might not recognise Anna Jullienne in the publicity photographs for her latest role. The established actor sports dramatic makeup and a striking costume for her…

What if each time you watched a movie, it played out differently? That’s the idea behind generative film, a new genre that some filmmakers are starting to experiment with. The idea is to use AI to mix up scenes and…

The back-of-the-envelope math does not look good. It now appears that much of the budget for “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” the most expensive film ever made in Australia, was funded by Australian taxpayers. Screen NSW, a government agency supporting…

A few months ago, Elizabeth and Nitza from The Writers Lab approached me with a simple question: “What percentage of movies are written by women over the age of 40?” The Writers Lab is an organisation set up specifically to nurture the…

The Hollywood Basic Crafts have officially wrapped the first week of negotiations on a new three-year agreement with the studios. In a memo to members, the unions — which include Teamsters Local 399, IBEW Local 40, LiUNA! Local 724, OPCMIA…

This story was originally published on The Spinoff In the dark of night, a mysterious figure drags a body through a sea of mud. The next morning, as the local community celebrates the discovery of a dinosaur fossil, two men…

The Taxpayers Union has said that the New Zealand Film Commission needs to stop giving out film subsidies – because they’re not good value.  According to numbers compiled by former boss of South Pacific Pictures, John Barnett, the Film Commission…

A film and TV welfare association has been launched in the UK in the wake of the tragic death of producer John Balson. Balson took his own life a few weeks after working on true crime doco In the Footsteps of…