NHNZ, Beach House - Asian Production Powerhouse

Media Release
NHNZ and Beach House Pictures
Wednesday March 5th, 2008

Embargoed until 5pm Wednesday March 5th, 2008

NHNZ and Beach House Pictures Create Asian Production Powerhouse

NHNZ has teamed up with Singapore-based Beach House Pictures to grow its presence and filmmaking opportunities in Asia. The Dunedin-based documentary maker announced today that it has bought into the award-winning Singaporean prod-co.

NHNZ managing director Michael Stedman made the announcement at a function in Singapore attended by invited guests from Asia's filmmaking fraternity. NHNZ and Beach House have worked together regularly over the past two years with today's announcement building upon a solid foundation. The two companies have a proven track record in working successfully together on a range of projects, Mr Stedman said.

"This move reflects our ongoing interest in Asia which is one of the world's most dynamic areas for broadcast media. Singapore is the ideal place for NHNZ to continue its successful drive into the region and Beach House is the perfect partner to achieve that goal, he said.

"Singapore is strategically important for anyone who is serious about doing business in Asia. It's an easy place to work in and an increasingly significant filmmaking hub that we believe is pivotal for NHNZ's continued growth in the region."

This development is welcomed by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) which has collaborated with NHNZ and Beach House on projects such as Man Made Marvels.

MDA chief executive Dr Christopher Chia said, “We are delighted that Beach House Pictures is able to form a long-term partnership with a renowned company like NHNZ. This is a strong testament to the potential of Singapore’s production industry and affirms MDA’s efforts in grooming promising Singapore media companies to become strong international partners and players. We believe this partnership will boost Singapore’s standing as Asia’s creative loci and spur the development of more quality projects for the global marketplace.”

Beach House Pictures managing director Jocelyn Little and creative director Donovan Chan said they were excited about their future with NHNZ.

"We have enjoyed working closely with NHNZ in recent years so today’s announcement marks a significant forward in the growth of our partnership.

"Joining forces with NHNZ will not only enable us to accelerate our plans in Asia and take Beach House to the next level in production but also benefit the wider Asian filmmaking industry due to NHNZ's decades of filmmaking expertise," Ms Little said.

Beach House Pictures will continue to operate from its base in Singapore using the well-established network of local filmmaking specialists. "It's business as usual for us but our closer ties with NHNZ will increase our opportunities and broaden the scope of Beach House Picture's filmmaking prowess," Mr Chan said.

NHNZ opened a production office in Beijing in 2002 and since then has created around 15 documentaries and several series totalling around 55 hours of sought after programming in the region. The company currently has around 15 hours of programming on the slate in Asia.

Founded in 2005 by Jocelyn Little and Donovan Chan, Beach House Pictures produces original television content for the international market. In addition to working with NHNZ on various projects, the prod-co also works with Lonely Planet Television on travel-related programming. Co-productions include the third season of the popular international travel series Lonely Planet Six Degrees. In 2006 Beach House Pictures won a best Director Award at the Asian Television Awards.

ENDS

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