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New Zealanders have a chance to see a significant part of our television history as the first episode of the landmark historical drama series The Governor has today been added to NZ On Screen.
NZ On Screen Content Director Irene Gardiner says The Governor is one of the most important titles to be added to the website. “The series was our first historical blockbuster, it was absolutely huge in production scale, and also stirred up huge controversy. It was kind of like New Zealand’s War and Peace. There really hasn’t been anything quite like it since.”
The Governor examined the life of Governor George Grey in six thematic parts. English actor Corin Redgrave played Grey, supported by an all-star cast of Kiwi talent, including George Henare, Martyn Sanderson, Don Selwyn, and Grant Tilly.
The Governor was made in 1976, and Gardiner says the epic colonial drama was a massive undertaking for that time. The unprecedented production scale placed serious demands on the NZBC/National Film Unit co-production as there was no similar local model back then.
“It was probably a miracle the series got to air, and when it did – in 1977 – it was hugely controversial.
“Prime Minister Robert Muldoon, perhaps smarting from infamous run-ins with the state broadcaster’s journalists, really set the bloodhounds on the trail of the series.
“He questioned the appropriateness of the budget, and despite there being other expensive period dramas made at the same time, such as Hunter’s Gold, The Governor was singled out by a government razor-gang looking to slash costs. Claims the series had cost more than a million dollars made front-page news.”
Producer/director Tony Isaac and writers Michael Noonan and Keith Aberdein made up the main creative team behind The Governor. Noonan told NZ On Screen he felt a lot of the controversy surrounding the series was fanned by members of the fledgling feature film industry in the late 1970s, who were annoyed that so much Government money had gone to a television production.
The Governor received mixed reviews when it screened. Some reviewers felt it was something of an ambitious failure, but the series won the 1978 Feltex Award for Best Drama, and is now remembered as an extraordinary achievement for its time.
Gardiner says that as well as the epic production scale, The Governor was also significant because it challenged the accepted Pakeha version of history that Grey was the “Good Governor.”
“The series incorporated a Maori perspective and revealed that while Grey was a figurehead for the new colony, he was also a less than perfect figure. In that sense, the series was quite ahead of its time.
“Whatever its imperfections and controversies at the time, The Governor has certainly gone down in New Zealand television history as one of our most legendary programmes.”
Gardiner said it had taken some time to clear episode one of the series, but NZ On Screen was hopeful other episodes would be added to the website in time. “I think this it is really significant for our television industry and our popular culture that people can now see the series free on NZ On Screen. There will be a whole generation of New Zealanders who will be able to see The Governor for the first time.”
NZ On Screen’s latest monthly Top 10 illustrates New Zealanders’ enduring love for nostalgia titles.
Blerta, Billy T and Gloss are all in our March Top 10 most viewed titles. Classic John Britten and Peter Snell documentaries take the number one and two spots in the Top 10, mainly because they get a lot of international hits through motorbike and athletics club websites. An early episode of the sketch comedy series Skitz comes in at number 10, because of the presence in the cast of one Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords. And if you are wondering what “Monkey Tale” is at number five, then visit the NZ On Screen site to have a look. It has to be seen to be believed!
1. Britten – Backyard Visionary (1993)
2. Peter Snell – Athlete (1964)
3. Blerta Revisited (2001)
4. Billy T Live (1990)
5. Monkey Tale (1952)
6. Gloss (1987)
7. The New Zealand Wars (1998)
8. The Piano (1993)
9. Once Were Warriors (1994)
10. Skitz (1998)
The following titles and profiles have been added to NZ On Screen over the last couple of weeks:
Full Length
Te Po Uriuri (2001) Short Film
Awatea, a young warrior, is enraged when his lover Te Po, a high-born chief’s daughter, enters an arranged marriage. Retribution is swift and brutal. Set in the late 16th century and based on a Shakespeare sonnet (“my love is as a fever, longing still”), the storytelling of Te Po Uriuri is visceral, and suitably mythic in style. Rurus hoot; bloody patu gleam and bodies and the oily black of the night are vividly shot by Waka Attewell. Directed by Toby Mills and filmed in te reo, it was selected for the Hamburg International Film Festival.
Excerpts
Alex (1993) Film – 2 x 5 min excerpts
Ans Westra – Private Journeys, Public Signposts (2006) Documentary – short clip
Sweet As (1999) Documentary – 10 min excerpt
Trailer
Trial Run (1984) Feature Film
People: full profile
John Laing
Don Reynolds
People: short profile
Keisha Castle-Hughes, Maurice Gee, Anne Kennedy, Kirsty Cameron, Murray Milne, Victoria Kelly, Donald Duncan, Elizabeth McRae, Simon Raby, Peter Elliott, Kelly Johnson, Philippa Boyens, David Harry Baldock, Roger Hall
Screentalk interviews
Larry Parr
Annie Collins
Tony Hiles
It’s been a busy week for NZ On Screen and a lot of great material has been added to the site.
Full Length Programmes:
The Haunting of Barney Palmer (1986)
Maori Battalion Returns (1946)
Aroha. The Story of the Maori People (1951)
Shoes (1996) [a short film]
Patterns in Flax (1947)
A Nice Sort of Day (1977)
Man with Issues (2002)
The Maori Today (1960)
Film Trailers:
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1999)
Fracture (2004)
Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1980)
Excerpts:
Intrepid Journeys, Syria and Jordan: Danielle Cormack
Kiwi Buddha
Insiders Guide to Love
Aotearoa Hip Hop summit
Mana Wahine
Profiles of People:
AK Grant
Philippa Steele
David McPhail
Frank Whitten
Hone Tuwhare
Ashleigh Seagar
And finally
… the latest ScreenTalk interview features Yvonne Mackay and Margaret Mahy
Right now the NZ On Screen team is totally focussed on content acquisition. The site has been designed and developed and now a lot of content needs to be pulled together for launch! This means digitising film and television programmes – which is happening at the Film Archive and at the Dub Shop – as well as researching, finding photographs, and writing perspectives and profiles for key cast and crew.
We will put nothing online that does not have copyright clearance. This is a massive undertaking for the Rights and Legal team (Kim Baker and Catherine Juniot) who are chasing producers and copyright holders all over the country to get titles cleared.
NZ On Screen is hiring …
We’re looking for an online web editor (not a video/film editor).
Who we are:
- A small team of dynamic, motivated, friendly and hard-working people who are creating an iconic New Zealand website.
- NZ On Screen will be a showcase of moving image and sound content created in NZ or by NZ’ers.
- We are the people who are putting it all together.
Who you are:
- You are a person with a passion for editorial detail. You know where apostrophe’s go and can spot a spelling mistake a mile off.
- You know what style guidelines are and how to keep consistent tone through different pieces of writing.
- You know that writing for the web is different from other media, that online users have to be addressed in an online style, and ideally you know how to do this.
- You have a strong interest in, and ideally knowledge of, the NZ film and television industry through the ages.
- You have more than a passing familiarity with computers and the programmes they run (especially macs).
- You can spell internet, you know what it can do and are keen to be part of where it can go.
- You have a good working knowledge of colloquial Maori language and the evolving Kiwi vernacular.
- You can make order from chaos, enjoy working with creative people and keeping track of many things at once.
- You are familiar with information management, and content management systems and are not afraid to use them.
- You like small teams, are independent, motivated, self-managing and not afraid to defend your point of view.
- You are based in Wellington.
If you like the sound of us, and we’ve captured your key skills and interests in a nutshell … and you’re looking for 20-32 hours work / week … and you’re available asap … then send in your CV and a cover letter to Brenda (brenda at nzonscreen.com) by May 10th and we’ll talk.
It was an auspicious moment. One week ago the first lot of content, digitised by the NZ Film Archive, copyright cleared and ready to go, arrived at the NZ On Screen office.
Clare O’Leary, Content Director for NZ On Screen, used the well established ’sneakernet’ network to transfer the files.
