useful media

We went to Hamilton recently to film this profile on Tai Aroha, a residential therapeutic programme run by Ara Poutama Aotearoa – The Department of Corrections.

The life and times of Pixie Williams, the singer of New Zealand's first pressed record and the #1 hit 'Blue Smoke'.

We are so happy to announce that our documentary Tapu te Ranga Marae is premiering online and for free at the Doc Edge Festival from June 12th - July 5th 2020.

When I first heard the pitch, I was apprehensive, how do you make a story about women who don't vote or can't vote interesting. After some long discussions, I got on board with the project and we both dived in headfirst.

The next day, I was in my car driving up to Wanganui. I have always wanted to see what it was like at the top of the Whanganui Awa and this was an opportunity to do just that. 

Ruth and I took on the challenge of running the 48Hours competition nationally again this year.

Early in 2018, we were hired by AWA films to production manage and line produce an 8-episode comedy television series to be screened on Maori Television called Takes a Village.

Working for Wellington production company - AWA Films, Ruth and I were hired as production managers on the web-series Colonial Combat.

48Hours is a petri dish for film-making talent in New Zealand, from the train-wrecks to the champions, this creative competition puts our film-makers to the test.

Last month, I took a trip to Whangarei, Kerikeri and Kaitaia working for Wellington video production company Kaboose Media to take some photographs for the Immigration New Zealand LINKZ magazine.

Manawa Karioi is a 25 year old restoration project in Island Bay run entirely by passionate volunteers.

Beyond the Battalion is a story about a little known documentary called Sons of Tumataenga to be screened on Māori Television on Anzac Day

I was brought on board to mentor the students through the documentary process from pre-production, production, post production through to completion.

At a recent fundraising event where the video was premiered the fundraising income doubled previous years totals, it broke a national fundraising record making a spectacular $165,000. I truly believe we would not have made half of that if we had not made the video.

Fresh of the shelf - New Poster for our newly completed film project - The Inbetween

The original inspiration for Judgment Tavern came from an image in Director Dean Hewison's head. It was an image of a young girl carrying her father's living head searching for his body. We interviewed Nova about the experience of acting in Judgment Tavern and what it was like working with her dad.

We find that we often ask clients and collaborators the same set of questions when we sit down to talk a project through. We’ve made a handy list for you to start thinking about.

I arrived by boat with one week to make some new photography work. I had some advice from a colleague not hold onto your original idea and to be open to reacting to the environment.

I caught up with the Vaka and it's crew when they arrived in Mana Marina. Here are some of the photo's I took during their stop-over in Wellington.

The score was composed by Tane Upjohn-Beatson, and this video is about how Tane worked to provide the emotional punch that the film depends on.

There was some complex camera moves and blending of shots that kept them on their toes when it came to compositing.

I woke up at 6.00am on Saturday to get to the airport on time; rushed around like a maniac double-checking my camera and camping gear and made a mad dash for the airport.

Useful Media is a proud sponsor of the 48 hour film competition and is partnering with Kelly Dare for the Wellington best actress award, a $500.00 prize.

The brief was to showcase a new product which was Weatherby Firearms with cool graphics on them.

We had a visit from David Paul from Camera Works, who lent our D.O.P Kirk Pflaum a Flowline Serene. 

Director, Dan Lynch's vision was to create a music video that was like a short film, in which a man who is hopeless with real women tries to live out his fantasy relationship with a doll.

Candy Rose Music Video for Wellington Band Supermodel was shot in a disused studio in the heart of Naenae in Lower Hutt, New Zealand.