Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) is pleased to announce appointments to four roles in the Development and Production team headed by Leanne Saunders.
Two of the roles are in the investment area, where Angela Littlejohn will take up the role of Senior Investment Executive on 12 April and Olivier Leroy will move into the role of Investment Executive in May. The other appointments are Christina Andreef who will remain in the role of Development Executive, and Joel Rudolph who will take up the existing role of Department Co-ordinator.
Angela Littlejohn spent 15 years working in the film and television industry in the United Kingdom, including six years as Drama Production Executive at Channel 4 and Film 4. Upon returning to New Zealand, she was a producer on feature films Apron Strings, Show of Hands, Separation City and Slow West before moving into the Head of Production role at Pukeko Pictures. While there, Angela produced the acclaimed TV drama series Cleverman Season 1 & 2, a NZ/Australian co-production and was Series Producer on pre-school animation TV series Kiddets Season 1, the first NZ/China official TV co-production. In 2019 she joined Bunya Productions in Australia and produced Ivan Sen’s feature film Loveland, and Leah Purcell’s, The Drovers Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson.
Most recently she has produced feature films Juniper and Millie Lies Low with Desray Armstrong.
French-born New Zealander Olivier Leroy began his film career as a Development and Production Assistant at French production company Gloria Films where he was responsible for overseeing financing applications from around the world. In this role he gained extensive experience in the logistic and legal requirements around international coproduction. He has worked at the NZFC since 2018, initially in a support role where he coordinated the Raupapa Whaakari series drama development initiative, before taking the role of Devolved Development Coordinator.
Most recently he has coordinated the development of Te Puna Kairangi – Premium Fund.
Christina Andreef was Development Executive at the NZFC from 2014 to 2017 and returned to the role in 2019 to cover parental leave. She is a filmmaker, whose debut feature film Soft Fruit screened in Critics’ Week in Cannes and was her fourth film invited to Sundance (after her shorts Excursion to the Bridge of Friendship, The Gap, and Shooting the Breeze). Christina is experienced in screenplay adaptation and has taught screenwriting and direction at Sydney Film School, Sydney University, and the University of Technology Sydney.
Joel Rudolph (Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Mōrehu, Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tahu) has recently worked as Office Co-ordinator and temporary Executive Assistant for the NZFC CEO and was previously an Executive Assistant in Parliamentary Service. Joel is a graduate of Victoria University with a Master in Fine Arts in Creative Practice, and has been actively involved in the fields of theatre and opera.
Head of Development and Production Leanne Saunders said, “I am thrilled to confirm the engagement of Angela, Olivier, Christina and Joel to the Development and Production team. Their combined passion for diverse content, their industry experience and established relationships across film and television will be invaluable to the team. All four will work to ensure the NZFC is applying best practice models to support industry practitioners throughout the lifecycle of content creation.”