Three Industry Leaders Join Board Of Film NZ

Three Industry Leaders
Join Board Of Film New Zealand

Film New Zealand today announced that three industry leaders have joined its Board of Trustees. The three new Trustees attended their first Board meeting in Wellington on Friday. They are:

Gary Little, managing director and founder of Digital Post Limited, New Zealand’s first digital film and television post-production facility which is based in Auckland;

Jos Ruffell, business development executive at Sidhe, New Zealand’s largest game production studio which is based in Wellington;

Kevin (KJ) Jennings, who runs the Film Queenstown Film Office and is executive manager of Film Otago Southland. He has been elected by the seven regional film offices with whom Film New Zealand has partnership agreements.

Film New Zealand’s chair Julian Grimmond said the diverse and high-level industry experience of the new Trustees would bring added benefits to Film New Zealand, which is New Zealand’s national film office.

Other Trustees are: Wellington-based producer and line producer Julie Elstone, Wanaka-based production accountant Keith Mackenzie, and Sarah Cull who is the Trustee nominated by the New Zealand Film Commission. Line producer Murray Francis has been invited to continue as a Trustee for one further year, to assist with the transition to Film New Zealand’s new strategic direction for consolidated marketing and promotional activity, which was announced in August.

The three new Trustees replace founding Trustees Peter Avery and Sue Thompson, and Trustee Dame Cheryll Sotheran, who have resigned.

Film New Zealand has also appointed advertising expert Howard Greive of the Assignment Group as marketing advisor to the Board. His 1999 Saatchi and Saatchi “Bugger” commercial for Toyota has been voted as one of New Zealand’s five favourite commercials from the 1980s and 1990s.

Film New Zealand, founded in 1994 by the screen production industry, is New Zealand’s national film office, located in Wellington. It is constituted as a charitable trust, with governance by a board of trustees, representing the screen production industry, funders, and regional film offices. It has revenues/funding from the Ministry of Economic Development and the New Zealand Film Commission, together with annual project-based funding from Investment New Zealand, an agency of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. It facilitates access, nationally and internationally, to New Zealand as one of the world’s best screen production destinations.

More details of Film New Zealand’s new Trustees:

GARRY LITTLE started his career in 1969 as a technical cadet in Auckland with the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation where he worked in radio and television engineering. During the 1970s, this led him to work in sound, film and television editing around the world including TV1 in London and ABCTV in Sydney. On his return to New Zealand in 1977, he worked briefly as a video editor with South Pacific Television (TV2) in Auckland before taking up a position in 1978 as senior editor and operations manager with Vid-Com Limited, New Zealand’s first video post-production facility. As senior editor at Vid-Com he worked on numerous international award-winning TV commercials and in 1986 won a gold camera award at the US Industrial Film Festival. He retained his position at Vid-Com till September 1990 when he resigned to establish Digital Post, which has grown to become a leading and very successful company in the Australasian region.

JOS RUFFELL specializes in international business development in the video game and new media industries. Current responsibilities include new client development, working with studio management teams to set and execute strategic direction, market development, contract negotiation along with coordinating studio marketing and PR. During his time at Sidhe, Jos has played a key role in securing projects from international media groups such as MTV and Warner Brothers and has helped drive studio growth to over 100 employees. Having come from a start-up background at an independent games studio, and with over six years experience in the Games industry, he is committed to growing and expanding the digital media industries in New Zealand. He is also chairman of the New Zealand Games, Animation and Visual Effects Trust, which holds AnimfxNZ, an annual digital convergence event in Wellington covering Games, animation and visual effects.

KEVIN (KJ) JENNINGS runs the Film Queenstown film office and is the executive manager of Film Otago Southland, a regional collaboration covering the southern half of the South Island. As regional film office representative on Film New Zealand’s Board of Trustees, he will foster an open line of communication through the network of regional film offices and Film New Zealand. He is an active member of the Association of Film Commissioners International and has been a speaker at their annual Cineposium conference. He will continue to nurture valuable relationships with film offices from around the world. He has a wide variety of film industry experience, previously working in both the production and art departments of TV commercials and feature film. This gives him a valuable perspective on the detailed workings of the industry from the ground up. Originally from Northern California, he has called Queenstown home for 20 years. Initially working on the startup of AJ Hackett Bungy in 1988, he has since opened and operated a restaurant, established an exclusive guiding business, and currently organizes a charity mountain bike race.

ENDS

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