A veteran of the New Zealand screen industry has been appointed the independent Chair of Te Puna Kairangi (The Premium Production Fund).
Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC), Irirangi Te Motu New Zealand On Air (NZ On Air) and Te Māngai Pāho (TMP), who are jointly administering the $50m fund, have appointed Christina Milligan as the Independent Chair of the Premium Production Fund decision-making panel which has been established as a committee of the New Zealand Film Commission Board.
The fund was announced in December by the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Hon. Carmel Sepuloni, to support Aotearoa New Zealand production of high-quality screen content that tell New Zealand stories for global audiences. The selection of Christina as Chair was made by the Board Chairs of the three funding agencies.
Christina has worked for more than 30 years as a producer in the New Zealand screen industry. Her credits include the iconic feature The End of the Golden Weather and television series Gloss. She is a descendant of Ngati Porou, and her industry work in recent years has focused principally on Māori storytelling, as reflected in her credits as producer of the feature documentary The Price of Peace (2015), and executive producer of the dramatic features Mt Zion (2013) and Cook Ngā Pouwhenua (for release 2022). She is a senior lecturer and researcher in screen production and screenwriting at Auckland University of Technology and has served on several industry boards including the New Zealand Film Commission, Ngā Aho Whakaari and the Big Screen Symposium.
Making the announcement, NZFC Chair Dame Kerry Prendergast said, “We are delighted to welcome Christina as Independent Chair of Te Puna Kairangi. Christina brings a wealth of industry knowledge to the role and we look forward to working with her and the other members of the executive committee.”
The other members of the panel are Dame Kerry Prendergast, Dr Ruth Harley, Dr Eruera Tarena and a representative Board member from each agency. The panel will meet to select the successful applicants from the first round of production financing on May 3. It is a highly competitive round with 31 applications seeking over $125M in funding.