The Gravy - Series Four, Episode One (Taranaki)
Little Bushman muso Warren Maxwell goes west in this edition of The Gravy, to meet a trio of artists creating work in the shadow of Mt Taranaki. Waru Wharehoka, an autistic painter, makes abstract works, is obsessed with weapons and zombies, and takes Maxwell on a paddle beneath New Plymouth. Assemblage artist Dale Copeland scavenges plane wrecks on the mountain and dead friend's teeth for her art. And photographer Fiona Clark discusses why she used colour film to snap her controversial 1975 drag queen images, and using a photo to help save the Waitara River.
K' Road Stories - Put Your Hands Together, Please
Jane Sherning Warren’s satirical portrait of the artist as a young woman was one of a series of short films exploring life on the colourful K Road strip. Jaded Arlette (Morgan Albrecht) endures a barrage of art-speak as her posse saunters from her Artspace exhibition opening to Verona Cafe. When the ridiculous art theory of her partner leaves truth far behind, she challenges his cred, and a chase ensues. A drag queen with a pool cue comes to her rescue, and she (and the audience) get an unexpected lesson in how people's identity is a performance.
This Town - First Episode
This acclaimed TV series heads to Aotearoa’s heartland, dispensing with narration or a city slicker presenter so that local personalities can represent themselves. The opening episode travels to the West Coast to meet the 'Coasters' who live there: from publicans, prospectors and bushmen, to sheila truck drivers, knitting drag queens and musical theatre directors. The Dominion Post’s Karl du Fresne wrote of the show: "Producer Melanie Rakena has done a superb job seeking out engaging characters with interesting stories and allowing them to tell them in their own way."
Pop
Actor-turned-director Gregory King's debut short offers an experimental twist on the "fly on the wall" film. Here a handheld camera becomes the fly and the connection between three groups of modern city dwellers: an Asian family and the Auckland they encounter via airport, taxi, and hotel; a whacked-out man and a boy toying with each other in a dilapidated squat; and a party of drag queens in a high rise apartment (heels, snow and sequins). Pop won an 'Outstanding Achievement in Video Production' award at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Queer Nation - Kylie Minogue
Australian diva Kylie Minogue is in New Zealand to promote her 1997 Impossible Princess album in this interview for the Queer Nation TV series. Filmed in an Auckland hotel room, Libby Magee asks the pint-sized gay icon why ‘the boys’ love her and whether she’s ever kissed a girl. Kylie talks about Royal Albert Hall collaborations with Nick Cave and Elton John, what it’s like to snog Jason Donovan, and needing to wear heels while performing at Sydney’s Mardi Gras: “Most of the Kylies here are about seven feet tall!”. Kylie finishes by coming out of the closet.
The Player - First Episode
The concept for this 2004 reality series involved 10 bachelors trying to succeed on the Auckland dating scene, while overcoming specially set challenges. Hosted by model Nicky Watson, and produced by Touchdown supremo Julie Christie, this first episode sees Watson pick the 10 (from 15 who began) who will move into the bachelor pad. It introduces the lewd lines, lingerie and phallic fruit that saw The Spinoff’s Duncan Greive describe the show as "an affront to humanity – but man, was it ever fun to watch". Caution: the content from the ‘lads' mag’ era is PC free.
Stephen Stehlin: Providing a voice for Pasifika people…
Stephen Stehlin is the longtime producer of TVNZ's weekly magazine show Tagata Pasifika, which targets Pacific communities in New Zealand. He has also worked on a number of other factual TV shows like Koha, Māori Battalion - March to Victory and When the Haka Became Boogie. Stehlin was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2008 for services to Pacific Island television and the arts.
Shoop Shoop
This pop-punk version of Monte Video's novelty hit by Wellington band Spacial Verb was the winner of a competition run by radio station Channel Z. The video reprises the original's tale of finding love in all the wrong places, with the station's staff making up the cast and lead roles for breakfast show hosts (and former ICE TV presenters) Nathan Rarere and Jon Bridges. Rarere rings every ounce of lasciviousness out of the already suspect lyrics — and that's Bridges in the pink. Watch out also for James Coleman and Clarke Gayford in the trio of drag queens.
Topless Women Talk about Their Lives - Episode Two
In the second episode of Harry Sinclair’s late night TV3 micro-series, Liz (Danielle Cormack) and Neil (Joel Tobeck) watch the sun rise from a Karangahape road carpark; but, romantic as this could be, it seems Neil has no more chance of keeping up with Liz than her less than inspiring boyfriend Ant (Ian Hughes). Meanwhile, back at home, Ant is making scones and entertaining some random visitors — larger than life drag queens (and K Road identities) Buckwheat and Bertha. But baking is a step too far for a hungover Liz ... and her mother is on the phone.
Baked Beans
Dunedin band Mother Goose scored their biggest hit with this novelty song extolling the previously overlooked romance-promoting qualities of sauced legumes (and won extra marks for avoiding flatulence jokes). The Australian-made video references Queen's pioneering Bohemian Rhapsody clip and features Melbourne trans-sexual drag show performer Renee Scott as the recipient of one of the more bizarre pick-up lines. In his post Mother Goose career, keyboard player Steve Young (the bearded ballerina) directed The Chills' classic Pink Frost music video.