Terry Serepisos is the man in charge of the Apprentice New Zealand

Kim Laurenson is the first contestant to be fired by ‘The Boss’ Terry Serepisos in the New Zealand version of The Apprentice.
Laurenson stepped up to project manage Team Athena in the first challenge of the series, in which the contestants were tasked with devising a strategy to raise the most money from a sausage sizzle, situated in central Auckland.

The boys team, Number 8 won the challenge, sending Team Athena to the boardroom, where Laurenson and team mates Catherine Livingston and Kirsty Parkhill were placed in the line of fire.

Laurenson was charged with not taking leadership of the team, letting them fall into disarray. She disagrees, saying she kept up clear communication and instruction at all times.

“I worked accordingly to the girls, and communicated with them very openly…every time I sought instruction from them to see how they were feeling and if they knew what their job was, I was told ‘yes’.”

However team mates Livingston and Parkhill successfully fought their case and Laurenson was fired, for what Serepisos cites as her in inability to follow through on the task.

Based on the highly successful American format, fronted by Donald Trump, The Apprentice New Zealand will give 14 contestants the chance to win themselves a six-figure salaried job with Terry Serepisos , and the potential to become his deputy.

A self-made entrepreneur, Serepisos has made his name in property development, with an estimated personal worth of 140 million dollars.

He is also the sole owner of the A-League Wellington Phoenix football club.

Serepisos is looking forward to meeting the 14 contestants.  “I’ve worked hard to achieve what I have in life, be it in business or personally. I’m excited about meeting people who are also prepared to put in the hard yards to achieve their goals and be successful.”

Auditions were held in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown, with 1500 applicants narrowed down to a shortlist of 200, and in the first episode of the show the final 14 contestants will be revealed - seven men and seven women.

Serepisos’ advisors are John Mitchell, Head of Communications for the Century City Group, and Nathan Greenham, Head of Commercial Operations for Wellington Phoenix FC.

For more information on The Apprentice New Zealand visit www.tvnz.co.nz/apprenticenz.

SIx Dollar Fifty Man - Andy

The Six Dollar Fifty Man seems to be doing well.

Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland’s short film The Six Dollar Fifty Man has taken out the top prize at Flickerfest 2010 19th International Short Film Festival in Australia which qualifies the film for consideration for the 2011 Academy® Awards.

The film has won the ‘Cooper Award’ for ‘Best Short Film’ at the International Film Festival which is based in Bondi Beach, Sydney.  Flickerfest 2010 received a record 1500 entries in its 19th year as Australasia’s only Academy® Award accredited Short Film festival.

This award follows The Six Dollar Fifty Man’s recent selections for the upcoming Berlin and Sundance film festivals as well as the world’s most important short film festival in Clermont-Ferrand, France.   The film has gone from strength to strength after having its world premiere and later gaining ‘Special Distinction’ at Festival de Cannes in France in May 2009.

Written and directed by Wellingtonians Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland and produced by Wendy Cuthbert, The Six Dollar Fifty Man tells the story of a gutsy 8-year-old boy who retreats into a make believe world to deal with playground bullying.

The 15 minute short won a slate of awards at the 2009 Qantas Film and Television Awards, which included: Best Short Film, Best Performance in a Short Film and Best Screenplay for a Short Film.  It also won the ‘Black Pearl Award 09’ for ‘Best Narrative Short’ at the Middle East International Film Festival in the United Arab Emirates and Best Short Fiction Film in the official competition of Expresion En Corto International Film Festival in Mexico.

The Six Dollar Fifty Man was made with finance from the Short Film Fund of the NZ Film Commission.  International sales are handled by NZ Film, which is the sales arm of the NZFC.

Flickerfest 2010 19th International Film Festival took place from 8th – 18th January.  For more information visit www.flickerfest.com.au

The ceremony via satellite from South Africa will include the live announcement of the make up of the pools (including the 3 other countries in the All Whites group) for the preliminary round of the World Cup next year.

TVNZ sport presenter, Jenny-May Coffin will host the broadcast with former All White, Noah Hickey from the Television Centre in Auckland before crossing live to Cape Town for the Draw Ceremony hosted by Hollywood based South African actress, Charlize Theron.

The 90 minute long glittering ceremony will feature local entertainment, World Cup historical content, global football identities, political leaders, FIFA officials and celebrities plus footage showcasing South Africa in the lead up to the draw itself scheduled for 6.45am.

Launched in Wellington today, Tourism New Zealand’s 100% Pure New Zealand ‘Your Big Break’ competition will see five budding film-makers direct and produce their own three-minute short films on location in New Zealand.

The finalists will be flown to New Zealand by Tourism New Zealand, where they will work with The Lord of the Rings producer Barrie Osborne and Wellington’s Park Road Post Production facility.

The winning film will be selected by Peter Jackson, who will personally view the final five entries.

“Your Big Break’ is asking people to capture the essence of 100% Pure New Zealand and tell the world their story of how they see the youngest country on earth,” Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton said.

“We are always looking for new ways to talk about New Zealand on the world stage and this project is a perfect fit for our target market, who we know love film and cinema.

“The importance of having two film industry legends involved with ‘The Big Break’ is immense. Their support will help ensure the project is noticed by the world’s film industry, give it international reach and, we hope, result in some great stories,” Mr Hickton added.

To enter the first round of the competition, aspiring directors must submit a screenplay and supporting content via the campaign’s website -

www.your-big-break.com.

The competition opens on 9 December and anyone can enter. Four of the final five films will be selected by an industry panel, including Barrie Osborne, with the fifth film being selected through public votes for a ‘People’s Choice’ finalist.

Barrie Osborne, who will assist the five finalists with their films once they arrive in New Zealand, says he is looking forward to returning to New Zealand to work with the young film-makers.

“I thought it would be exciting. It was a really innovative and creative thing to try. I also love New Zealand and this was a chance to showcase New Zealand,” Mr Osborne said.

Find out full details of the project and vote for your favourite films at www.your-big-break.com

The MP for Waiariki - Te Ururoa Flavell - says misinformation, mischief making and an appeal to racial prejudice are fuelling the debate around the Maori Television bid for ‘free-to-air’ television coverage of the rugby world cup in Aotearoa.

“Here are the facts around the situation:
1 Sky TV, TV One and TV3 put in a joint bid for the tv coverage and their bid was rejected
2 They then put in separate bids but co-operated on price, and those too were rejected
3 Sky TV bid for and won the pay tv rights
4 The three networks above did NOT include MTS in any of their approaches
5 While there were NO bids on the table for free to air coverage MTS put together a solo bid
6 If the Maori Television Service bid is successful it will trigger a contract whereby MTS will deliver certain outcomes to Te Puni Kokiri over the next three years
7 The contract is NOT a grant or a subsidy but a purchase agreement - on the other hand TVNZ has enjoyed tens of millions of dollars of grants and subsidies from the taxpayer in its life time, TV3 is a straight out commercial broadcaster whose role is to maximise its profits for its shareholders, it has NO allegiance to the public of New Zealand, MTS is a public channel controlled by a satute of Parliament
8 There is NO single channel in the country which has 100% ‘free-to-air’ coverage - but if MTS is successful it has two years to improve its already 90% coverage and there are many ways to do that
9 Unlike the other networks MTS has offered to share coverage through sub-licensing arrangements

“Those are the facts. The reality is that the so-called ‘big boys’ ignored MTS and tried to have the International Rugby Board on and the IRB called their bluff. MTS on the other hand cleverly put together a deal and a stand alone bid which has considerable mileage in it for Maori, in fact for all New Zealanders.”

“Since they discovered how credible the MTS bid is and that they have been blind-sided by the channel they ignored, TVNZ and TV3 are trying hard to discredit the bid and have been working on politicians who are more than willing to put the boot into anything Maori.”

“I’m hoping fair-minded kiwis having seen the facts laid out will see that there is a fair degree of ’sour grapes’ here and people crying foul after being caught short. I’m also hoping they’ll remember the good work MTS has done with meagre resources to bring ANZAC day and the Breakers and other programmes to the nation. Kia ora.”

The application has been specifically designed for use on the iPhone and enables users of Apple’s mobile to have access to the whole of www.tvnz.co.nz in one free downloadable app.

“User feedback has been really positive, people have said it’s a better news app than other big news organisations one’s like CNN and that it’s an impressive use of the iPhone/iPod touch platform, so we’re really happy with the way it’s gone so far”, says TVNZ’s Business Manager of Emerging and Social Platforms, Sophie Lyon.

The TVNZ iPhone application became the most downloaded free app and the most downloaded free news app in the NZ iTunes store almost immediately after it was launched on Monday and remains number one (see attached).

“The way it has already been received shows that New Zealanders are excited about being able to get TVNZ content this way.”

“This is the first version of the iPhone app, we’re planning to rollout changes and improvements as new features become available on the iPhone”.

The application has been designed to be very intuitive and has some useful features, including:

·        pre-loaded content which makes it faster, easier to use
·        Synchronising via mobile network or WiFi and downloads the latest news, sport, weather and TV listings direct to your device.
·        Up to the minute news from ONE News, including instant access to breaking news
·        National, world, business, sport and entertainment news
·        Comprehensive weather information, including regional forecasts
·        Up-to-date four-day TV schedule, covering most all of TVNZ and most free-to-air channels
·        Read anywhere

TVNZ’s Head of Marketing and Digital Media, Jason Paris says, “this application leverages the best of two great brands – Apple and TVNZ – to deliver a fantastic customer experience and deliver news to Kiwis wherever they are. It’s yet another example that TVNZ is New Zealand’s leading TV and digital media company.”

The app is available on the iPhone App Store http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=329786380&mt=8

Aotearoa’s landscapes and its magnificent menagerie of natural oddities - birds, insects, and trees like nowhere else on the planet - are showcased in 15 award-winning titles. From Discovery Channel and David Bellamy documentaries, to Wild South and Our World classics.

The Nature Collection has been curated for NZ On Screen by long-time presenter of TV nature programmes Peter Hayden - who now works behind-the-scenes at NHNZ.

The award-winning Dunedin-based production house evolved out of TVNZ’s Natural History unit, and has an international reputation for making documentaries about the natural world.

Hayden said so many strong natural history programmes had been made in New Zealand, it was hard to narrow his selection down to the 15 titles in the collection.

“I’ve picked titles that I think Kiwi nature lovers will really like. Nature programmes always seem to have held a special place in New Zealanders’ hearts.”

Nature is a highlights collection from three decades of NHNZ productions. Some of these programmes are iconic and have been rarely seen since they screened.

The collection features the documentary series Moa’s Ark (presented by naturalist David “old man’s beard must go” Bellamy); the award-winning series presented by Hayden himself: Journeys in National Parks and Journeys Across Latitude 45 (screened as part of Our World); and the popular children’s nature series Wildtrack.

The one-off documentary titles in the collection are the Wild South classics: Seven Black Robins, and The Black Stilt ; Discovery Channel docos Emperors of Antarctica, and The Lost Whales; and award-winning films: Kea - Mountain Parrot, Under the Ice, Bandits of the Beech Forest, Mirrorworld, Ghosts of Gondwana, and Exhuming Adams.

NZ On Screen is the NZ On Air-funded website set up last year to showcase New Zealand television and film. You can view The Nature Collection, and over 700 other titles, free of charge at www.nzonscreen.com. Winner of Best Entertainment Website at the 2009

Maori Television provides this media statement in response to a number of queries today regarding its bid for the exclusive free-to-air broadcasting rights for Rugby World Cup 2011.

Maori Television Chief Executive Jim Mather said the bid is based on a sound, robust business plan which achieves a number of broadcasting and business objectives.

Winning the free-to-air rights represents a unique opportunity to deliver programming that goes to the heart of our nation, elevates the status of Maori Television in the minds of all New Zealanders, and delivers language and culture to the widest audience possible. Mr Mather said Maori Television expects to significantly increase and retain new audience as a result of the RWC broadcast.


It is also a major opportunity to demonstrate Maori success, development, leadership and pride. It provides a unique platform to promote Maori development, business and tourism, and to ensure that the New Zealand culture is reflected throughout the RWC tournament.

Key points regarding Maori Television’s bid are:

Audience Reach:

• Maori Television is available to 90% of the population via UHF Analogue and 100% of the country via Satellite.
• Maori Television is available to all New Zealanders via the Freeview network. The Freeview network launched in 2007 and is a Government initiative that will replace the analogue network (by 2012 or thereabouts) as the transmission provider for free-to-air television.
• Maori Television is available via Sky Television.
  

Capability:

• Maori Television has developed its bid and initial planning in consultation with experienced external sports production personnel who have previous major international sports experience across Olympics, Commonwealth Games and previous Rugby World Cups. It is their view that Maori Television has the necessary expertise to produce this tournament in a unique and exceptional way. It should be noted that Maori Television is currently producing as much sport each year as any other free-to-air broadcaster.
• From the outset it has been Maori Television’s intention, should it win the bid, to utilise Maori Television staff  working alongside highly experienced external contractors whose expertise lies in live, international-level sports broadcasting.
• Maori Television cannot confirm who commentators might be because it would be inappropriate to do so until such time as a bid was successful. However, the intention is to utilise our own internal personnel and the best available external commentary expertise. We are confident that we can assemble a quality commentary team.
• Maori Television is recognised for the quality of its local programming, which is often described as the ‘real New Zealand’. Maori Television is adept at broadcasting unique, attractive programming that is about and for New Zealanders.
  

Maori Language:

• All RWC game broadcasts will include between 5-10% Maori language. The broadcasts will be similar, in terms of Maori language content, to the current NZ Breakers broadcasts on Maori Television. Much of the language content will be aimed at teaching New Zealanders simple Maori words and phrases and encouraging the use of the Maori language. Media reports that the broadcasts are to be in 100% Maori language are completely incorrect.
  

Transmission:

• Should Maori Television win the bid, all games that are available for live broadcast will be transmitted on the Maori Television channel. These games will comprise 5-10% Maori language.
• A second commentary, in 100% Maori language, will be simulcast on the Te Reo channel.
  

Shared Broadcasts:

• Should Maori Television win the bid we will be open to considering sub-licensing some games to other broadcasters. However, any sub-licensing arrangement is at the discretion and approval of the IRB, and would be subject to commercial terms and conditions that are suitable to Maori Television.
• Maori Television has requested of the IRB that its bid be modified to include the right to sub-license.

Sir Howard Morrison passed away today

New Zealand is morning the death of one of it’s favourite entertainers - Sir Howard Morrison.

Haere e Matua, haere, haere, haere. Ka haere koe ki Te Atua. Moe mai ra i to moenga roa.

‘To Sir with Love’, the tribute programme honouring Sir Howard Morrison will screen tomorrow night at 8:30pm on TV ONE.

The 90 minute show, commissioned by TVNZ last year, was hosted by Pio Terei and staged at the Civic Theatre in Sir Howard’s hometown of Rotorua.

To Sir with Love features highlights of Sir Howard’s career spanning six decades as well as performances from Dame Malvina Major; John Rowles; Frankie Stevens; Tina Cross; Jackie Clarke; Suzanne Lynch; Ray Woolf; Ben Makisi; Spacifix; Howard Morrison Jnr.

The tribute screened twice last December and more than 1.2 million kiwis tuned in to watch.

To Sir with Love will screen again tomorrow night between 8:30pm-10:20pm on TV ONE.

Qantas Best News
One News	TV One
Best News or Current Affairs Presenter
Fair Go - Kevin Milne	TV One
Best News Reporting
3 News - Amanda Gillies	Victoria Bush Fires	TV3
Best Current Affairs Reporting for a weekly programme or one-off current affairs special
Sunday - John Hudson, Stephen Butler, Leander Scott-Donelan, Portia Mao	Bad Milk	TV One
Best Current Affairs Reporting for a daily programme
Close Up - Robyn Janes, Louisa Cleave, Corinne Ambler	Schools	TV One
Best Current Affairs Series
Q+A	Episode 3	TV One
Investigation of the Year
Sunday - Ian Sinclair, Dale Owens	Dr Disaster 2	TV One
Journalist of the Year
Close Up - Robyn Janes, Louisa Cleave, Corinne Ambler	Schools	TV One
Best News Camera*
Best Current Affairs Camera*
20/20 - Christopher Brown	The Amazing Race	TV2
Best News Editing*
One News - Kirsten Bolam	Ironwoman	TV One
Best Current Affairs Editing*
Sunday - Will Kong	17 Hours	TV One

Qantas Film and Television Awards 2009 General Television Winners

Images & Sound Best Drama Programme
Until Proven Innocent - Paula Boock, Donna Malane	Lippy Pictures Ltd	TV One
NZ On Air Best Comedy Programme
The Jaquie Brown Diaries - Jaquie Brown, Gerard Johnstone, Hayley Cunningham	Young, Gifted & Brown	TV3
Maori Language Commission Best Maori Language Programme
KA HAKU AU - Maramena Roderick, Ngahuia Wade	Maramena Ltd	Maori Television
Qantas Best Children’s/Youth Programme
Play It Strange 2008 - Rachel Jean	Isola Productions Ltd	C4
Best Information/Lifestyle Programme
Hunger for the Wild - Peter Young	Fisheye Films Ltd	TV One
Best Entertainment Programme
Dancing with the Stars - Debra Kelleher	TVNZ	TV One
Best Sports Broadcast
International Netball Series 2008 - Barbara Mitchell	TVNZ	TV One
Kordia Group Ltd Best Event Coverage
C4 goes to Vodafone Homegrown - Arwen O’Connor, Nikki Streater	Satellite Media, C4	C4
Best Observational Reality Series
Rescue 1 - Martin Cleave	Great Southern Television	TV2
Best Constructed Reality Series
Missing Pieces - David Lomas	Eyeworks New Zealand	TV3
Best Performance by an Actress - General Television
Piece of My Heart - Emily Barclay	MF Films Ltd	TV One
Best Performance by a Supporting Actress - General Television
Piece of My Heart - Keisha Castle-Hughes	MF Films Ltd	TV One
Best Performance by an Actor - General Television
Until Proven Innocent - Cohen Holloway	Lippy Pictures Ltd	TV One
Best Performance by a Supporting Actor - General Television
Until Proven Innocent - Peter Elliott	Lippy Pictures Ltd	TV One
Best Presenter Entertainment/Factual Programme
Dancing with the Stars - Jason Gunn	TVNZ	TV One
Atomic Coffee Roasters Ltd Best Script - Drama/Comedy Programme
Outrageous Fortune - James Griffin, Rachel Lang	South Pacific Pictures	TV3
Images & Sound Best Director - Drama/Comedy Programme
Aftershock - Brendan Donovan	Gibson Group	TV3
Best Director - Factual/Entertainment Programme
Eating Media Lunch - Paul Casserly	Great Southern Television	TV2
Best Multi Camera Direction in General Television*
IRB World Sevens Series Wellington - Steve Jamieson	TVNZ	TV One
Best Camera Work - Drama/Comedy Programme*
Until Proven Innocent - David Paul	Lippy Pictures Ltd	TV One
Images & Sound Best Editing - Drama/Comedy Programme*
Until Proven Innocent - Paul Sutorius	Lippy Pictures Ltd	TV One
Best Original Music in General Television*
Lost in Libya - David Ironside	Pacific Screen	TV One
Best Sound Design in General Television*
Aftershock - Phil Burton, Don Paulin, Chris Hiles	Gibson Group	TV3
Best Production Design in General Television*
Piece of My Heart - Tracey Collins	MF Films Ltd	TV One
Best Contribution to Design in General Television*
Dancing with the Stars - Claire Palmer	TVNZ	TV One

Qantas Film and Television Awards 2009 Documentary Winners

Best Popular Documentary
A Good Way to Die? - Dan Salmon, Tash Christie	Octopus Pictures	TV3
Best Arts/Festival/Feature - Documentary
the art star and the sudanese twins - Pietra Brettkelly	Pietra Brettkelly	Other
Best Director- Documentary
the art star and the sudanese twins - Pietra Brettkelly	Pietra Brettkelly	Other
Best Camerawork - Documentary/Factual Programme*
Hunger for the Wild - Peter Young	Fisheye Films Ltd	TV One
Best Editing - Documentary/Factual Programme*
the art star and the sudanese twins - Irena Dol	Pietra Brettkelly	Other

Qantas Film and Television Awards 2009 Film Winners

Qantas Best Feature Film - Budget over $1 Million
Dean Spanley - Matthew Metcalfe, Alan Harris	General Film Corporation
Best Feature Film - Budget under $1 Million
Untouchable Girls - Arani Cuthbert	Diva Productions
Best Director in a Film Feature (budget under and over $1 million)
Dean Spanley - Toa Fraser	General Film Corporation
Best Lead Actor in a Feature Film
Apron Strings - Scott Wills	Great Southern Television
Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film
Apron Strings - Jennifer Ludlam	Great Southern Television
Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film
Dean Spanley - Peter O’Toole	General Film Corporation
Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film
The Map Reader - Bonnie Soper	Arkles Entertainment
Best Screenplay for a Feature Film
Dean Spanley - Alan Sharp	General Film Corporation
Best Cinematography in a Feature Film*
Apron Strings - Rewa Harre	Great Southern Television
Best Editing in a Feature Film*
Dean Spanley - Chris Plummer	General Film Corporation
Best Original Music in a Feature Film*
Untouchable Girls - The Topp Twins	Diva Productions
Images and Sound Best Sound Design in a Feature Film*
The Strength of Water - Dave Whitehead, Polly McKinnon	Filmwork Ltd
Best Production Design in a Feature Film*
Apron Strings - Johnny Hawkins	Great Southern Television
Best Costume Design in a Feature Film*
Dean Spanley - Odile Dicks-Mireaux	General Film Corporation
Best Make-Up Design in a Feature Film*
Dean Spanley - Marese Langan	General Film Corporation
Best Short Film
The Six Dollar Fifty Man - Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland	Sticky Pictures Limited
Best Performance in a Short Film
The Six Dollar Fifty Man - Oscar Vandy-Connor	Sticky Pictures Limited
Best Screenplay for a Short Film*
The Six Dollar Fifty Man - Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland	Sticky Pictures Limited
Outstanding Technical Contribution to a Short Film*
Poppy - James Cunningham	Supercollider Ltd

Special Award