Chairperson’s report for
NZCS 1st AGM 6th May 2009
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In January 2008 NZCS was formed and our first official meeting held in this same room where 12 people gathered. So in the last 16 months what have we been able to achieve?

Well we went from the original 15 founding members to 41 Full members, 5 Associate and 8 Corporate members mostly just from word of mouth.

We set up a forum and website which is linked to most New Zealand Screen Industry sites. Through the website we have been contacted by several international productions looking to make contact with New Zealand’s leading Cinematographers.

We have established good points of contact with the English, Australian and Canadian Societies and through our membership of IMAGO we keep in contact with likeminded organizations all over Europe.

Informative evenings have been hosted in the company of visiting International Cinematographers including Dean Semler, Vittorio Storraro, and Wally Pfister, some of whom screened samples of their own work and shared with us what is behind their passion for film making.

Many equipment and service suppliers who are directly connected with our local industry have hosted well attended evenings to keep members abreast of changing technologies as well as keeping all members in touch with each other.

The committee has met regularly to consider new membership applications and carry out the administrative work required to maintain the running of our society.

In short, as a committee we have had our hands full but I’m happy to say that at all times I have been more than pleased with the attendance at meetings and it’s been great to have had the support of so many respected DOP’s in building up the membership base of our organization.

Going forward there are plenty of opportunities for the future direction of our society. I personally have a few questions for the larger membership.

1. It seems to me that we need access to a viewing facility that enables us to regularly meet and screen either fellow members work or films that may be of interest to our membership base. This needs further investigation as to what screening facilities are available to our society and whether this should be coupled with some ongoing support from a corporate member or sponsor. Is there someone amongst our membership willing to take this project on?

2. We have had good uptake in both the Full and Corporate membership categories however I feel that the Associate membership has been overlooked by many in the industry to date. Should we be actively trying to spread the word to potential associate members and if so how?

3. As a society of professionals in our craft, should we be looking to host some form of training program or workshops for aspiring DOP’s or others in the camera dept? I believe there may be funding avenues available should we wish to explore this further.

4. Other tasks to be taken up by the incoming committee include research on group discounts that maybe available to our society for the benefit of all members.

I’d like to thank the outgoing committee for their input and support over the past 16 months. I am also very happy to see that most of the outgoing committee members have put their names forward for your consideration for re–election this year. I would especially like to thank Janet Klee who steered us through the first year as Secretary / Treasurer and was instrumental in setting up much of our administrative systems. Kiri Te Kahika has gallantly taken up to the challenge and is now looking to improve the way we operate wherever possible. On behalf of the membership I’d also like to thank Murray Milne who as well as being a valued committee member has also generously hosted our meetings at his business premises most months. A special note of thanks to the 2 people most involved in our online presence, James Bartle and Dale McCready. James’ generosity in giving his time to get our site up and running so quickly really was instrumental in giving us a front door online. Dale’s continued administration of the forum and design concepts for our logo has meant we have gained an even wider profile at little expense to our funds. Having these skilled people step forward to tackle these tasks has proven to be essential for our initial set up. I can only hope that others from within our membership will at times come forward to share in shaping the future of NZCS.

Finally I’d like to thank all of you members, who put your hand in your pocket, paid up and signed up to be a part of this organization. You told us you did not want an elitist club and I hope as a committee we have delivered on that front. We now have the basic structure and contacts needed to make this society an integral part of the New Zealand screen production industry.

Kevin Riley
NZCS Chairperson