New Single And Video Signals Good Time Ahead For Reggae Band NLC
NLC Drops Soulful Te Reo Māori Single For NZ Music Month
The Whanganui-based musicians are well known for their fusion of reggae with elements of soul and dub woven with te reo Māori and English. Their latest offering goes one step further; an original song recorded totally in te reo Māori, called Ko au ... More >>
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NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
Tom Hiddleston spotted in Queenstown during shoot of Tenzing film where he plays Sir Edmund Hillary
Hollywood actor Tom Hiddleston (centre carrying brown bag) is pictured at the staging area below The Remarkables for an upcoming film where he plays Sir Edmund Hillary. Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech. Already a subscriber? Sign in here Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen. Tom Hiddleston spotted in Queenstown during shoot of Tenzing film where he plays Sir Edmund Hillary Hollywood actor Tom Hiddleston (centre carrying brown bag) is pictured at the staging area below The Remarkables for an upcoming film where he plays Sir Edmund Hillary. English actor Tom Hiddleston has been spotted in Queenstown this week as he films a movie playing New Zealand's greatest mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary. Hiddleston stars as the Kiwi legend in the biopic of Hillary's sherpa climbing companion Tenzing Norgay, who completed the world first summit of Mt Everest, with Hillary, in 1953. In the Herald exclusive photographs, taken near The Remarkables this week, Hiddleston is seen in cold weather gear with a bag slung around his shoulder. Staff unloading old style hiking equipment for the upcoming movie, near The Remarkables. Photo / Supplied Film crew are pictured offloading props and equipment, including old-style climbing gear, from helicopters.
NZ Herald
3 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Kerikeri's world-class events facility, the Turner Centre, turns 20
'I remember driving into Kerikeri, what I thought was a reasonably small town, and seeing this massive events centre. And I was like, 'Wow, these guys are lucky'. Little did I know a few years later I'd be up here running the place. Careful what you wish for, eh?' While that initial surprise may have worn off after three years in the job – following a stint running Wellington's popular CubaDupa festival – Paul said he still found it remarkable. 'For a town under 10,000 people, to have a 400-seat theatre and an event centre that can accommodate 1000 people is just amazing. It's probably one of the very few towns around the world that [has] a facility of this size for the population.' With the Turner Centre widely regarded as the best performing arts venue north of Auckland, many touring groups bypassed Whangārei and headed straight for little Kerikeri instead. 'It's meant that we've had access to performances that you would never otherwise get in a small town. The capability of the stage and the capacity of the fly tower and the rigging system means we can bring up the likes of the Royal New Zealand Ballet or the [New Zealand] Symphony Orchestra.' The Kerikeri-based Northern Dance Academy perform The Nutcracker in 2015. Photo / Peter de Graaf The other thing that made the Turner Centre unusual was that it was planned and paid for by locals, not by the council or Government. 'That's a big part of the Turner Centre story. The whole building was built and fundraised by the community. So there's a real investment in the place, and that's why we see it so well attended.' The dream began in the 1970s when arts enthusiasts John Dalton and Doug Turner were putting on shows in the Memorial Hall, a possum-infested former fruit-packing shed. As the population and interest in the arts grew in the 1980s, they decided something bigger and better was needed. Doug Turner in 2011. Photo / Peter de Graaf Aided by fellow volunteers, they spent the next two decades planning, lobbying, cajoling and fundraising. What was initially known as The Centre at Kerikeri was opened on August 5, 2005, by Prime Minister at the time, Helen Clark. Its bold design, by local architect Martyn Evans, included a distinctive swooping roof to create space for stage machinery. The roof also gave the centre its early nickname, 'the ski ramp'. John Dalton died in 2012, followed by Doug Turner just late last year. The venue was renamed the Turner Centre in 2011; the main auditorium had already been named after Dalton. The centre's distinctive roof led to its nickname, "the ski ramp". Photo / Peter de Graaf, RNZ Turner's daughter, Susan Corbett, said her father would have loved to see this weekend's 20th anniversary show. 'He would have thought it was absolutely wonderful. And he'd be very pleased to see that everything that he and John dreamt about all those years ago has come to fruition, and is still happening – and in very exciting ways with Gerry keeping things moving on.' Corbett said her parents owned Kerikeri's Cathay Cinema for 35 years. They would host art exhibitions and plays at the cinema before joining Dalton organising shows in the Memorial Hall. Corbett said their legacy showed the value of dreaming big. 'Why not dream big? And it's just as well they did, because we probably wouldn't be able to afford it today. Their dream has happened, and the community has got this wonderful asset because of it.' A scene from Kerikeri Theatre Company's The Sound of Music in 2021. Photo / Peter de Graaf In total, building the two stages of the Turner Centre – The Plaza event centre was completed in 2012 – cost around $20 million. Gerry Paul said a commercial building expert had told him building the same venue today would cost more than $100m. Operating a large venue in a small town was not without its problems, however. In 2024, with rising maintenance costs and the after-effects of the Covid pandemic threatening to overwhelm the Kerikeri Civic Trust, the Far North District Council took over ownership of the building. The trust was still responsible for equipment, staff and programming. In the past year, Paul said the centre had been used by 43,000 people, had 558 bookings and given away 5000 free event tickets to youth. A shift since 2022 towards greater inclusion had included a series of 'pay what you can' events and initiatives such as community kapa haka. Bay of Islands College cultural group Te Roopu o Pewhairangi perform at the Turner Centre's 10th anniversary celebration in 2015. Photo / Peter de Graaf John Oszajca, a US-born actor and singer-songwriter who now lived in Kerikeri, said the town was 'incredible lucky' to have a venue like the Turner Centre. Now the president of Kerikeri Theatre Company, Oszajca said he had performed at the centre as a musician and actor, as well as bringing plays to life on the stage. One of his personal highlights was co-producing the musical Little Shop of Horrors in 2024. He said the venue had become a second home to him. 'I think having high-calibre performing arts, which you couldn't have without a venue like this, makes the quality of life notably better. It's one thing to live in a beautiful town. It's another thing to live in a beautiful town that has amenities, and it's another thing again to live in a town that offers inspiration to the people that live there, both as artists and as patrons.' The centre had also served as a springboard for young performers who had gone on to forge careers in the arts. One of those hoping to follow in their footsteps is 17-year-old Jack Laird, a Year 13 student at Kerikeri High. Laird had just played the part of Scuttle the Seagull in The Little Mermaid; this Saturday he would be one of more than 100 performers taking part in the centre's 20th anniversary show. On this occasion he would be playing drums for hard rock band Bandwidth Riot, winners of the recent Far North Smokefreerockquest. Having a venue like the Turner Centre meant a lot to Kerikeri youth, he said. 'It's so nice to have that venue, that outlet, to be creative and just give us a voice. I don't know what we'd do without the Turner Centre.' Also performing in Saturday night's anniversary show would be the Bay of Islands Singers, Kerikeri Theatre Company, Taylah Barker from Fly My Pretties, a duo from Americana folk band T Bone, local rocker Merv Pinny and Ngāti Rehia Community Kapa Haka, with local legend Troy Kingi the headline act. - RNZ
Newsroom
4 hours ago
- Newsroom
Layoffs ‘imminent' for Wellington staff at Wētā FX
Around 100 employees are to lose their jobs at digital visual effects and computer animation company Wētā FX. A spokesperson at the Miramar-based company, founded by Sir Peter Jackson, says Wētā FX yesterday informed their crew that they are proposing changes to around 100 roles in its support departments, largely based in Wellington. 'A consultation period has since started with the crew that are proposed to be impacted. Following a period of feedback and review, the changes will be confirmed and impacted crew will be informed,' they say. 'If the proposed changes are confirmed, they will be phased in with specific dates or role transitions dependent on individual agreements and circumstances. 'Wētā FX currently has approximately 2200 crew globally, most of which are contracted artists that are not impacted by the proposed change process. As with all visual effects houses, artist numbers fluctuate based on the needs of current projects, so it is not uncommon for crew numbers to shift over time. 'A number of macro factors have led to the proposed changes, including current challenges facing the global entertainment industry. 'In addition to unexpected delays in projects being greenlit due to financial considerations, the industry continues to feel the long-tail impact of the pandemic, industry strikes, and changes in audience content consumption habits. 'As a leader in visual effects, which happens at the end of a film's creation in the post-production process, Wētā FX is navigating the after-effects of these disruptions to ensure ongoing sustainability.' A Wētā employee, who asked to remain anonymous, says while this round of layoffs doesn't impact artistic departments, contractors in these departments have been told their work agreements will not be renewed at the end of this year. 'This is might seem normal for the way the VFX industry works but this is happening at a completely different scale than it usually would,' they say. 'Managers are asking their crew members if they would consider taking extended unpaid leave of up to nine months with no guarantee that their job would be there after the nine months.' Another employee at Wētā, who does not want to be named, also believes the restructure will also impact contractors, who are expecting to have their work agreements discontinued. 'Understandably, many of us are anxious about the scale of this move and what it means for the future of our careers, our families, and the local creative industry,' they say. News of the job losses comes just two years after another substantial round of layoffs. In 2023 billion-dollar global game tech company Unity Software terminated its service agreement with Wētā, causing 265 redundancies. A number of staff were hired back by Wētā, though there were further redundancies several months later, an employee tells Newsroom. The San Francisco-based company purchased Wētā Digital in 2021 for US$1.625 billion (NZ$2.64b), while its VFX teams continued under the Wētā FX arm – of which Jackson holds majority ownership. Wētā, which earlier this year announced plans to establish a permanent Melbourne headquarters, has provided visual effects to Avatar, Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes.
