Features – oldstory.waikatoindependent.co.nz

Sunday Surprises Await at Farmers’ Market

Josiah Pepei — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:15:23 +0000

Subcultures are abundant in the Waikato, but there are few tight-knit communities like this one. The Hamilton Farmers’ Market is a staple within the Hamilton community bringing together all sorts of local niche food groups from growers to farmers, home bakers to small businesses all within the Waikato region.

With dozens of food stalls you can choose from at the market it’s impossible to know where to start. From Volare’s sourdough and pastries to the Unique Food Geeks fried bread burgers the delicacies never seem to end. It’s easy to get lost in the endless selection of homegrown fresh produce of fruit and vegetables from The Garden of Eden’s fresh cherries to Farmer Jon’s Organic vegetables, this market has something for everyone.

The Hamilton Farmers Market has been around for 13 plus years and has been teaching customers the value of homegrown produce and the diversity it brings to family dinners. Site manager for the market Fleur Foreman, after helping organise it for so many years, knows what truly makes the Hamilton Farmers Market unique.

“We wanted a place where people could come and know that it’s all locally grown/made fresh. Everyone who sells at the market has had a hand in making what they’re selling – whether that’s growing it or making it.”

Proud site manager, Fluer Foreman at the Hamilton Farmers’ Market. Photo by: Josiah Pepei

While site managing is her job, Fleur always has the sellers best interest in mind.

“Selling at the markets gives a unique opportunity for farmers to sell directly to the public which means fewer overheads and more benefits for the seller.”

While purchasing food is the main draw from the market, what’s more, is getting to know what you’ve purchased as well as the people growing it. The subsection of people who really want to have a deeper connection with their food, no matter what you’re selling theirs always a story behind it.

So if you live in Waikato and ever find yourself free on Sunday morning, believe me, there’s nothing better than starting your day with a trip to The Hamilton Farmers Market.

Soggy Bottom

Loyal stallholder, quality butcher, and founding member of the Hamilton Farmer’s Market, Jonathan Walker is the owner of a small local farming and butchery business known as Soggy Bottom.

For 16 years Soggy Bottom has been a committed supplier of meats throughout the Waikato from Cambridge to Claudelands. They breed free-range pigs, sheep, cows, and chickens, process them in an on-farm butchery, and sell them directly at the Hamilton Farmer’s Market.

About 13 years ago while in search of a way to sell his many types of meats, Jono came across an article in the paper stating that there was soon to be a farmer’s market in Hamilton. Deciding this was the opportunity he was looking for, Jono signed up as a founding member and set up one of the first stalls.

While creating this community took a lot of time, patience and effort the Hamilton Farmers Market grew exponentially with new stalls appearing each week. Stalls like Essenza Coffee who have been around almost as long as Soggy Bottom or newer ones like GoodBugs spreads and juices.

Jono enjoys the role he plays within the market community.

“It is very satisfying most of the time. Lots of small businesses producing quality fresh food supporting each other.”

While discussing the importance and significance other stalls have to Soggy Bottom, Jono says stallholders all help each other out.

“All other stalls contribute to the market. The more of the customer’s weekly shop that we can provide the better we all do. That’s what matters most.”

Soggy Bottom is the heart and soul of the Hamilton Farmer’s Market and with Jono as a proud supporter of the stalls there, the community will only strengthen and grow. From the customers and stallholders at the Hamilton Farmers Market, thanks Jono for all the support.

Hand-Made with Love

Amy Craven — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:14:41 +0000

Millennial women are doing business for themselves.

Home offices and garages have been renovated and undergone a facelift to become the busy hub of small businesses. With low-cost access to website ownership and free social media marketing, anyone can create a business anytime, anywhere.

There has been a major increase in female-owned small businesses in recent years, with savvy young ladies and creative stay-at-home mums transforming their talents into businesses. Selling handmade jewellery, clothes and art have become a popular and profitable way to enjoy what you do and be your own boss.

New Zealand is ranked second best in the world for female entrepreneurs and according to Stuff, 13.4 percent of startups are created by female university graduates.

Dual business owner, Ella Williamson is a professional makeup artist and cake decorator. After taking a cake decorating course two and a half years ago, Ella pursued starting her own business with encouragement from family and friends.

Ella Williamson expertly frosts a pink birthday cake. Photo by: Amy Craven

Both Layers by Ella Kitchen and Layers by Ella Makeup were hit hard by the pandemic. She operates both from her home in Cambridge and receives support from the local community, especially on the Cambridge Grapevine Facebook page although, she first grew her business through word of mouth.

Currently, she makes doughnuts and rocky road treats for local cafes. Over the course of four days, she can skillfully whip up a divine wedding cake. Through work, she often meets florists, venue owners and other small business owners who have built a tight-knit group where they can recommend each other to clients.

“Because you’re in a similar industry it’s nice to have these connections to work with.”

Ella balances her time between the kitchen and her hair and makeup studio, where she skillfully applies makeup to her clients for school balls and parties. Her work revolves around events, so it is common she collaborates with other small business owners that she meets via social media, markets or industry events.

Entrepreneurs build networks and with the current boom of small business owners, we see them supporting one another’s hustle. The effort and talent poured into every cake mixture or every stitch of fabric is admirable and ensures every product is handmade with love.

Blooming Business

Welcome behind the scenes to experience the hustle and bustle of popular flower truck Frankie and Flora – and meet the woman who started it all.

It is 9 am and Claudia Campbell parks the flower-decaled truck outside the Cambridge town hall. The wooden shelves fold down into place to display the collection of bright, bohemian flowers for sale. She spends the day serving customers an array of fresh and dried bouquets.

After stumbling into a part-time job at Amy’s Flowers in Hamilton, Claudia worked her way up to the flower bench and fell in love with the art of floristry. Arranging colours, and being creative, came naturally to Claudia after earning a Bachelor of Media Arts at Wintec. Then, two years ago, she had the dream of setting her own hours and slow-paced work life. So, she purchased an old produce truck and, with the help of a family friend, built shelves to display the bouquets that she expertly creates in just ten minutes.

However, life has only become busier as Claudia spends her weekends creating wedding flower arrangements and Wednesday to Friday parked in Cambridge selling to her local community.

“It makes the hard work worth it when it’s for yourself.”

Frankie and Flora, named after Claudia’s beloved pug, often receives praise on the Cambridge Grapevine Facebook page. Being a one-woman business, she juggles social media content, administrative work and customer service. But, she recognises the support and encouragement she has from her family and the advice other small business owners have offered.

Like most small businesses in New Zealand, Frankie and Flora were affected by the recent pandemic. Custom wedding flowers were cancelled or postponed, making the wedding season even busier now that lockdown has lifted.

Frankie and Flora sell colourful bouquets of fresh flowers sourced from Auckland, wreaths, candles and other goods. For Claudia, the most rewarding part of owning her business is getting to know her local customers and the florist community.

“I’m just proud of my business. It’s nice to say I own a business.”

Welcome to the Never Project Space

Mishaal Kisan — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:14:14 +0000

Art has been around since early human history, its form changing as the ages go by. Contemporary, modern, art has paved a way where even the seemingly unartistic person, can express themselves in an artistic form. For such people, there are few places which seek to support and promote these art forms.

Never Project Space founder, Eliza Webster, feel strongly that community art has to be supported.

“I’ve spent so many tens and thousands of dollars of my own money on this place – I’ll never get it back, and that’s okay. It’s not for me, it’s for the community.”

Never Project Space is an independent artist-run building based in Frankton, Hamilton. It was started and founded by Eliza in 2015 and was known then as Skinroom. At the time she was a contemporary art student working with Wintec tutor, Geoff Clark. Like most other artists, Eliza sought to present her art, however there was no dedicated area to do so. So, instead, Eliza decided to make one herself and established Skinroom.

Geoff Clark and Eliza Webster in the artist-run building, the Never Project Space. Photo by: Mishaal Kisan

For a while, the area was dedicated to contemporary arts only, but over time and over the years, that began to change as more variations of art were included. Particularly, forms of music were incorporated into the space. Because of these changes, Eliza and those working in Never Project Space sought to change the name. This was difficult as she had to choose a certain period of time when the building was temporarily closed down to make the necessary renovations.

However, then came the national lockdown. While most found it daunting, especially small business owners, Eliza on the other hand saw it as a great opportunity and also a well-deserved break.

“It was great, it was my first holiday in six years – I slept for a week.”

Because it is a non-profit space as well, Eliza was not all that concerned about money. It was during this time that Eliza was able to make the necessary preparations and changes to transform what was formally known as Skinroom to the now known Never Project Space.

Photo Portrait Professional

Among the many forms of art, the portrait, the art of representing someone, has been around since early civilization. In ancient times it was used to depict the elites of that society; now days with new technology, anyone can get their own fancy portrait. With said technology, that of course includes photography.

“I remember growing up running around with an old point-and-shoot camera, photographing anything and everything.”

Chris Davis is a portrait studio photographer who predominantly works in black and white, being more focused in using studio lighting to bring about the shape, form, and texture of the subject. Rather than going for traditional looks, his works tend to move more towards the fine art trend in things. Recently, Chris has been experimenting in using colours in his portraits for a more surrealistic approach.

Photography appeared to be innate for Chris. Growing up, he would spend his time taking pictures of “anything and everything”, though he stopped around the age of ten. But it was not long until it came back to him. During his high school years, his passion for photographic portraits started. For nine years since, Chris has enjoyed telling stories and narratives through portraits of people. It was in his second year at Wintec during his bachelor’s degree when he moved towards a studio and began emphasising lighting in his portraits, which changed his style significantly.

Like many other artists in the area and beyond, Chris from time to time presents his portraits in Never Project Space. He could be referred to as a veteran artist at the building since he was also there when the gallery first started as Skinroom. However, it was only recently that Chris was able to mount a solo exhibition at the gallery.

“I have presented my work there a few times, none before have been a solo exhibition until now… Maybe you’ll see me there again next year.”

To explore Chris Davis photography check out his instagram @chris_dean_davis

Efforts Behind Colours

Hao Zheng — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:13:27 +0000

An illustration is like a building block, which is made up of an illustrator’s aesthetics, time, skill and creativity.

David Creighton-Pester is an illustrator and designer in Hamilton, New Zealand.

David has had a strong interest in illustration since he was a child and his rich imagination, which makes him start to create all his life.

In 2009, he started his design company Scorch Design.

David said that illustration is a time and energy-consuming passion because it requires practised painting skills, as well as pleasing colour aesthetics.

However, illustration technology and excellent painting aesthetics need continuous practice and improvement, which is a slow and challenging process. David needs to spend a lot of time and patience to practice over and over again, and finally complete the advance of his illustration.

At the same time, as an illustrator, David needs to cultivate his own unique painting style, to make his illustration difference from others.

It’s hard to stick to illustration as David said that New Zealand is not a big country like the U.S or U.K in illustration learning. He lacks opportunities for communication and progress, and it is difficult to support himself through illustration. Therefore, he established his own website, and he usually receives orders from different countries through the Internet to further develop himself.

Until now David’s illustrations have been published in books and used in products around the world, including New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the United States and Canada.

His illustrations are full of imagination and happiness. His illustrations for children’s books bring fun to children all over the world.

Adhere to the Love of Illustration

It is difficult to insist on doing something, but the love of hobbies will give people the strength to move forward

Aspiring illustrator Zhipeng Wang, settled in Hamilton from Hong Kong with his family in July last year and is currently studying English language at Wintec.

A tall young man, Zhipeng is passionate about illustration, and once wanted to study the subject at a tertiary level. However, following advice from his parents, Zhipeng decided to choose finance as his major in the future.

However, his passion for illustration is not affected by his parents’ opposition. He continues to teach himself illustration and can draw excellent works. Zhipeng said that even though there were many challenges ahead for his art he is interested in continuing to learn new illustration techniques. Even if there are difficulties, and requires hours of work, he still enjoys it, regularly comparing his practice pictures for obvious progress.

Often, if he feels he has progressed, he will feel overwhelmingly proud and satisfied, like a child who has been given candy. Zhipeng hopes to continue his practice as an illustrator while studying finance.

Zhipeng has uploaded his works on Chinese social media and attracted many followers. He has begun to receive requests for contributions from others and is starting to make some money from his art. Although the remuneration was not much, it proved that others recognized and loved his illustrations. When Zhipeng said that he could make money from his illustrations, his smile on his face was as brilliant as the sun. He said with pride that painting is the fairest art because as long as you practice hard, you will get a reward.

Looking at the firm eyes of Zhipeng, I know that he will continue to move forward for his dream because nothing can make people more motivated than interest.

Slime, from Gross Toy to Hand-Made Fun

Ngarie Pahl — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:12:47 +0000

Invented in 1976 by the company Mattel Toys, the purpose of the toy was to be a gross substance for children to play with. Mattel continued to produce slime, due to it retaining popularity, until 1990.

However, slime started going out of fashion after the companies stopped making different colours and styles of the oozing substance. The original look of slime was green and oozy which was marketed towards young boys.

Cut to 2020, this toy has become a phenomenon, with many people not only buying the toy but also making it. Now you can make slime any way you want, with hundreds of videos on the internet of how to make the toy at home. The appeal of making slime and ignoring the gross factor is trendier today.

Where this toy is most popular is in America, with traditional slime and sand slime are just the basic examples, with more and more being under development and made every day.

The ‘art’ of making slime has now become a pastime for people to do. Even though the subculture of slime making is far more prominent in America than here in New Zealand, it is increasingly becoming a world-wide fad.

Chappyslimes is a small business on Instagram, that creates novelty and decorative slimes of all shapes and colours. They are a New Zealand company that ships their creations all around the world. A YouTuber by the name of Karina Garcia, has dedicated many videos on reviewing and making slime.

From gross toy to handmade fun, slime has changed shape in the market over nearly thirty years.

Rosa’s Slimy Stress Reliever

Rosana Garner is a young Latin American woman who has an interesting hobby – Slime.

A student in the high-pressure nursing programme at Wintec, Rosa needed to find something that would help her relax.

“I found the texture, smell and sound of slime calmed me down while studying.”

After immigrating from America in 2004, Rosa lived in Taranaki until 2017, before she moved to Australia, then back to New Zealand at the start of this year.

Discovering the hobby on YouTube and Instagram, Rosa became fascinated with this strange substance. For the last few years, Rosa’s collection of slime has grown to over 40 types of slime, ranging in texture and colour.

Some of the collection she has bought, but most of them she made herself. The aspect of slime that intrigued her the most, Rosa said, was the “texture, smell and sound”.

One of the many reasons Rosa enjoys slime is the “sensory stimulant” properties.

With each slime having different smells and textures it adds to the enticing part of collecting as many as possible.

All of the numerous types help stimulate the brain and the sensory system, which calms people who have busy or stressful lives.

Rosa is adamant collecting and playing with slime is a stress reliever.

Although for Rosa, the stress-relieving side of slime did not truly kick in until Covid19 and New Zealand went into isolation. Being a nurse is very important to Rosa, and though she did not have to work during the lockdown, she did have exams and lectures online.

The slime helped her during her studying because she had something in her hands to stop her from fidgeting. Slime helped her concentrate on her studies.

Escaping the Mundanity of Life

Jed Murtagh — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:12:17 +0000

There are plenty of ways to escape the mundanity of day-to-day life. I’ve recently become attached to my PlayStation, coming home from a day’s worth of pretending to fit into society, to kill evil space capitalists. However, while the worlds created by my PlayStation are vibrant and wonderful, I’m still constricted by the game developers’imagination.

I have to follow their story lines, play with their characters, and repeat the same part over and over because I keep getting shot.The same has been said of the fantasy genre of all media for a while now. While fans of Tolkien are able to have the words on the pages become worlds in their minds, once fans are within these fantasy worlds they want to create stories of their own.

Thankfully there was a group of friends from Mid-Western America in the mid-70s who wanted to do just that, which led them to create the table-top role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons (DnD).

At first glance the game can seem complex and confusing.The game immerses players into the world of fantasy determined by dice rolls and told in a group setting. One player known as the Dungeon Master (DM) guides the other players through the narrative of the story while they make decisions for their characters.

Players create their own characters by choosing a race (such as human or elf) and a class (such as Barbarian or Monk). Each race and class has their own traits and characteristics which manage what players can do with their characters. Once players have created their characters the DM leads them on a journey by engaging with the characters within the narrative.

Game pieces for Dungeons and Dragons. Photo by: Jed Murtagh

The game uses 6 different size dice per person, one of which has 20 sides. The rolls of the dice are paired with other game mechanics which then determine the outcomes of players’ decisions within the narrative of the game.

These restrictions, while seemingly complicated, stop a game of DnD turning into sheer make-believe. The game-play becomes incessantly less complicated as a game will follow a basic three-part pattern: the DM describes the environment; the players describe what they want to do; then the DM narrates the results of the players’ actions. It’s this pattern that keeps both the game-play and narrative of the story moving along.

While the players of DnD create sensational worlds, the game has also been caught amongst sensational controversy within the real world. As the game gained popularity in the mid-80s it was swept up within the Satanic Panic from the time. The game received false allegations of promoting Satanism, witchcraft, and murder. Over 40 years later and a community has flourished while the controversy has been all but forgotten. DnD players have managed to escape from that aforementioned mundanity all through their imagination and a set of dice.

Matt's Job is to Create Worlds

The Artists Making a Permanent Mark on Hamilton

Jamie Batters — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:11:29 +0000

Hamilton is a diverse and multicultural city, diversity makes us who we are and is a crucial part of the unique place we have in the world.

There is plenty of rich culture and tradition that comes hand in hand with this diversity, including tattooing.

Traditionally, the Eurocentric view connected tattoos with criminals or low-class individuals. This stigma contrasts with traditional Māori and Pacifika culture and creates an interesting environment for individuals to form an opinion on body art.

Local Hamilton tattoo artist Courtney Harper says despite the existing stigmas, that Hamiltonians are very accepting of tattoos.

Having tattoos is more accepted in mainstream society than ever. Many people believe that New Zealand is one of the most tattooed countries in the world, with nearly one in five adults inked.

Client showing off her new tattoo done by Kaysey Smith. Photo by: Jamie Batters

In a once male-dominated industry, women are now more likely to go under the needle than men.

Not only is there an increase in women getting ink, but over the past 20 years, there has been a shift in the number of women entering the profession.

The introduction of female artists breaks the stigma that tattoos are limited to men, and the female visibility draws in a broader range of clients – both young and old.

In a rapidly growing market, artists are often booked for months in advance in order to keep up.

Hamilton and the wider Waikato region is filled to the brim with talented artists that all specialise in different styles and techniques. They often have regular clients who consistently return and have others who travel from all over the country and wait a long time to have a piece of their work.

Often, artists gain their following through social media, and there has been an explosion of tattooing online. Social media has a huge impact on the way artists work and allows their content to be reached by anyone.

Many young people have much more positive opinions on tattoos than past generations, and for many, the online exposure of tattooing is a contributing factor.

The online tattooing community connects artists to both future clients and fellow artists. For many people this accessibility is crucial to forming great relationships with others as staying connected is so easy.

While many would agree that as a nation we are on the cusp of acceptance, it does not mean that New Zealand is entirely welcoming of tattoos. Thankfully, there is a community of forward-thinking artists who are working to break through the everpresent stigmas and bias that exists in our community.

The Little Friend behind the Needle

Often, Hamilton is unfairly judged by the rest of the nation and the jokes and snide comments gloss over our city full of hidden gems.

Two such gems are owned by local tattoo artist and store owner Courtney Harper, who says she “couldn’t imagine living anywhere else” as the born-and-bred Hamiltonian is tied here by her “two babies” – boutique store Harper Inc and Little Friend Tattoo.

Courtney is very easy to like, she is the ultimate ‘cool girl’ with the most genuine friendly personality and sense of humour. Meeting with Courtney leaves you feeling upbeat and smiley and her welcoming and enthusiastic nature is clearly translated in her work.

Harper Inc is Courtney’s ‘first baby’ that she formed with her mother, Sandy Harper, after being in retail for years. Courtney says the sense of community that she has through opening the store four years ago is what keeps her going in the industry.

The store is for all women and all sizes. Courtney says that they only stock clothes that they “are obsessed with” in hopes that their customers will love them just as much.

Little Friend Tattoo studio is Courtney’s newest project that she shares with another local artist, Kristin Pie. Both Courtney and Kristin focus on detailed, intricate and delicate pieces.

Courtney specialises in hand-poked tattooing and creates clean and fresh fine line pieces for all of her clients. She began honing her craft on herself and friends but as her talent developed and grew, so did her online following.

“The goal of Little Friend Tattoo was to create an inclusive space for everyone to enjoy and feel welcome.”

The studio acts as a safe space for anyone who wants to get some ink and is everything that a generic and stereotypical tattoo parlour is not. It is an open and inviting space that is intimate, light, and clean, immediately putting the client at ease.

Little Friend Tattoo is a fresh take on something that once held a strong stigma and this freshness is truly Courtney and Kristin’s point of difference.

Through tattooing, Courtney says she has made many connections with clients and other local artists. She has met a diverse range of people both young and old and she loves the “deep and meaningful” that comes with her work.

The sense of community she has and the relationships she has made with regular clients is what has cemented her as an integral part of the tattoo community and with Hamilton locals.

The passion Courtney has for what she does is evident and her genuine interest and care for her clients is clear. Sitting down and being tattooed by Courtney is a guaranteed lovely time that flies by, and you truly feel like you have sat down for a chat with an old friend.

The Little Club that Could

Emma Niven — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:10:26 +0000

Waikato Diving Club enables anyone to become part of a second family which supports everyone to reach their goals from the poolside. The club, which has been running for 75 years, used to be part of the Swimming Club in Te Rapa. However, over time they’ve split into separate clubs.

Everyone is welcome even if they’re slightly challenged. As they say, diving helps with water confidence, spatial awareness, and promotes health and safety.

They teach a range of different diving squads, there’s learning to dive, competitive levels, age group, and elite. There are two parts of the club: competitive athletes who want to compete at a high level, and noncompetitive divers who are giving it a go.

The club coaches just want kids and anyone interested to give it a go and try something new.

The coaches work with every diver in the small club, as they know everyone is different. They like to push their divers as far as they can go, but they will also help if they develop a mental block. Diving is very much a mental sport as well as a physical challenge. The club chairman, Danny Hallen is passionate about seeing improvement.

“Some divers will find it just too hard. But it doesn’t matter because we want every kid to try… There’s so much joy seeing little kids’ faces when they accomplish diving off a high board.”

Chairman, Danny Hallen, coaches young divers at the Waikato Diving Club. Photo by: Emma Niven

For young children, the coaches aim to grow deep-water confidence by initially helping learners to dive off the edge of the pool or the springboards. This doesn’t cause them to panic and prepares them for jumping off something and into water outside of the club.

Learning to dive is where they teach the skills divers need for higher levels in the sport such as jumping with a straight posture and rolling out of a tight little ball from one-meter and three-meter springboards with a tight core.

Although, diving is a small sport in New Zealand as there are limited boards and facilities. But that does not reduce the talent of this little country.

For example, Waikato Diving Club had three divers due to travel across to Australia, and a couple of girls across to Singapore early this year. However, due to Covid-19, this was unable to happen.

Jumping from a Higher Platform

Chloe Warrick has become diving club captain. Photo by: Emma Niven

She was so scared to compete at her first diving competition, but she was surprised how fun and enjoyable it was. It wasn’t stressful for her compared to gymnastics where she wanted the car ride to be five hours, so she wouldn’t have to go.

To get in contact with the club click here

Waikato Film Culture Creates Buzz

Paula Jacobsen — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:09:31 +0000

When you think about New Zealand film, you think of Wellington or Auckland as being the desired location to find industry professionals. But, I had underestimated how vibrant and diverse the Waikato film industry is. Recently I had the opportunity to work behind the scenes on the short film, Drink Up, You’re Next, that was being shot in the rural Waikato. It was an eye-opening experience of what the film community in the Waikato is like and what makes it unique.

The short film is written and directed by Nathan Higgins, a Waikato filmmaker. This project is not only filmed here, but he is using the local film community to produce it.

“There are so many great filmmakers down here who I have already worked with; we definitely have a community spirit.”

This sentiment is a shared around the crew on set. While some know each other from previous projects, others are working together for the first time. Observing their interactions on set and the ease of their collaboration, you would not know some had just met. Gaffer, Sam Eton-Walters, says that people grow during production.

“People that are making films, as we do, they all find each other… you have to love it.”

Cast and crew shoot a scene at the Te Rove Hall, Ngahinapouri. Photo by: Paula Jacobsen

The natural integration with one another comes from people with experience, a level you wouldn’t expect to find here in the Waikato.

The cast and crew members’ degree of skill and knowledge was unexpected. And a lot of them have come from impressive backgrounds. Some crew members have worked on multiple short films, or in the theatre, or have studied and worked in the United States film industry. Best Boy, Sam Murphy enjoys the team environment that film industry demands.

“It is pretty rare that you find a medium that can’t exist without an army of willing and creative people. And it has to mesh. If it doesn’t mesh, it doesn’t work.”

Unifying and supporting this community is one of the aims of the Waikato Film Hub. It is an organisation that provides workshops, facilities, and networking opportunities for local filmmakers. Drink Up, You’re Next Production Manager, Kelly Keith Fritz, is also a member of the Waikato Film Hub.

“It has been the key that has bought me to work on film in the Waikato. I joined when I first arrived in Hamilton. That was where I met a lot of my colleagues, my fellow filmmakers. It’s a very community-minded group.”

From Hamilton Boys’ High to Director’s Chair

The global pandemic killed many film projects here and around the world – for Nathan Higgins, it provided an opportunity for a project to come to life.

Nathan is a Waikato-based filmmaker who has an impressive background in film as actor, crew member and is a talented script writer.

His journey started at Hamilton Boys’ High, learning the basics in moving image. With encouragement from his teacher, Quentin West, he continued his studies at the South Seas Film and Television School in Auckland, which cemented his decision to work in film. I caught up with Nathan on the set of his current project, Drink Up, You’re Next, that he has both written and directed.

Drink Up, You’re Next is a short film that discusses the adverse impact that New Zealand drinking culture has in our rural communities.

“It’s about a 21st from hell. It centres around a dysfunctional family and how their bad drinking traditions have negative effects on the next generation.”

Inspired by personal anxiety that Nathan had from his 21st, the story developed into an honest view of a party that has gone bad.

“I always had this little anxiety in my head about my 21st. That little nightmare that continued to stay and provided me with the inspiration for the film.”

Nathan grew up in the rural Waikato and this provided the inspiration for the story. So, it was a natural decision to work with the local film community to produce the project. By using a cast and crew familiar and supportive of the subject matter, he has managed to recreate a realistic recreation…

“The Waikato film scene has a community spirit. Always willing to help out. Pay is always nice, but we want to do it because we love it.”

Following suit, the local community have rallied around the project, be it by providing a rural hall as the location, to Hautapu Rugby providing realistic rugby scenes. Even the creative organisation Creative Waikato has been able to help out to get this project off the ground.

“We were allowed to use their audition space, which made it feel a lot more professional than just having actors turn up to my house. Just keeping it professional makes everyone feel that we are doing a real project that needs to be taken seriously.”

Filming for the project is now completed. Nathan and his editor, Adam Harvey, will have a task to edit the film over the summer ready for film festivals next year.

“While everyone is enjoying the beach and the summer weather, me and my editor Adam will be sitting in a dark room editing. But it will be fun. We will remember the fun times we had on set, so it should be okay.”

Lunch with NZ’s most popular author

Oskar Howell — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 20:51:05 +0000

Oskar Howell travels to Otorohanga to interview Danielle Hawkins, author of When It All Went to Custard, over a delicious two-course home-cooked lunch.

This article was first published in Newsroom. You can read it here.

Come for lunch, said Danielle Hawkins. The biggest-selling novelist in New Zealand lives on her family farm overlooking Otorohanga. Her views are breathtaking: Kakepuku mountain rises from the plains, and farms dot the foothills of Mount Pirongia in the distance. Her lunch is pretty specular too.

She’s made freshly baked sourdough bread to go with cauliflower soup, and a lime and coconut cake for dessert. The interview was conducted over the dining room table.

As she poured the soup into bowls, Hawkins began answering questions about her novel When It All Went to Custard, which has become a publishing sensation – number one on the New Zealand best-seller list for months, only toppled for one week when Fiona Kidman won the $50,000 Acorn prize for fiction with her novel This Mortal Boy, but Custard promptly regained the top spot and has stayed there ever since.

From the beginning, Hawkins had a clear location in mind for the novel. Her family farm acted as her inspiration for the station where most of the story takes place. The farm has been in her family for three generations. Her grandfather bought it when he returned from World War II, and Hawkins and her husband Jarrod now run 500 cows and 500 sheep.

Hawkins' family farm stretches far off into the distance. Credit: Oskar Howell

It really shines through When It All Went to Custard. Hawkins writes knowingly of the fresh mornings, the freezing rain, and the rolling hills and gullies of the fictional settlement of Tipoi. A story of betrayal and struggle, the novel follows the main character Jenny, after she gives her cheating husband the boot and juggles a sheep farm, council job and a coterie of well-meaning friends, all the while looking after her two children Lily and Nathan.

Jenny can never seem to catch a break. The bills begin to stack, the useless advice from friends stacks even higher and the troubles never seem to leave her side – just like her loyal dog Tessa.

It’s very good fun, but the first draft was written in fear and agony. “I really struggled with this book,” she said. “At first I was writing it and enjoying it. Then I got sick. I had cancer and was having chemo. I thought, ‘I haven’t got anything else to do, I’m going to bloody keep writing this book.’

I thought, ‘I haven’t got anything else to do, I’m going to bloody keep writing this book.’

“So I kept on writing and kept on writing, and I knew I wasn’t writing very nice stuff and that was depressing, but I didn’t stop. I felt this great sense of obligation. I struggled through it and struggled through it and struggled through it. I wasn’t feeling very cheerful and it really showed.

“Eventually I struggled to the end of this thing that was a bit of a dog and I sent it off saying, ‘I don’t like it very much but I’m sick and I can’t look at it anymore.’

“And they [HarperCollins, her publisher] wrote back and said, ‘Yeah we don’t like it either.’

“I was like, ‘That was constructive, thank you.’ It was kind of crushing.

“I had to do lots and lots of rewriting. But I knew I hadn’t got it right. It just needed to be made nicer all the way along. By the end of the first draft, poor old Jenny was the most unfortunate person in the world and everyone was trying to shaft her and they were all just a pack of total mongrels and no one was any good. I had to go through and make everyone a whole lot nicer.”

The novel is written in the kind of hushed voice, quiet chit-chat style that New Zealanders do so well.

“I really like getting dialogue right in books,” she said. “I was reading a book a few years ago and at the end the characters got together and the guy takes her in his arms and says, ‘I want to make babies with you! Lovely babies!’ No man would ever say that.

“So if the dialogue feels Kiwi, it’s because it comes out of my accent.”

The fictional town of Tipoi is half Te Kuiti, half Putaruru. Jenny works in a council office, which Hawkins based on the Waitomo District Council.

Lunch, done. Photo: Oskar Howell

As she cleared away the cauliflower soup, Hawkins said the experiences of the characters – from farming to floundering – were based on experiences of real people. Like Jenny, Hawkins’ family also lives close by.

“Mum and Dad are just down the road. But they’re not the parents in the book, and neither is my sister. She’s a particularly nice girl, married to a particularly nice fellow and they live in Te Kuiti. The only similarity is that she’s a lot thinner than me.”

The cancer and the rewrite meant she missed her deadline, but the publishers were understanding, and patient.

“They were very, very nice about it,” she said. “It had a delivery time but I got cancer, and they just said, ‘It doesn’t matter when it turns up.’ That was really lovely. So I only put pressure on myself.

“But it’s a shame it’s not very well paid, writing. Well, the authors aren’t very well paid. I don’t know if the publishers make any money out of it or not – I suspect they make quite a lot more than we do.

“It’s really easy to get bitter and resentful, you know – something that is paid like a hobby and you have to treat it like it’s a job. For me, it really pisses me off and I get quite bitter about the whole thing and it’s better just not to get bitter and to keep enjoying it.”

HarperCollins turned down her first manuscript. “They said, ‘Try rural women’s fiction- that’s what sells really well.’ I went, ‘Oh that’s kind of easy cos that’s my life.’”

She wrote Chocolate Cake for Breakfast, which became a best-seller. When It All Went to Custard was the second in her two-book deal with the publisher.

She served her coconut and lime cake. It was sublime. We had seconds, and she talked about the book she’s currently writing.

“I’m trying to set it in a made up fairytale-type kingdom and I’m struggling a little bit with that,” she said.

“You can’t write in a Kiwi idiom cos that would just make it ridiculous. You’ve got to make sure they’re not saying, ‘Ah, she’ll be right!’ But having taken out all the little ‘chur bro’ and stuff, I haven’t got anything to replace it with. So it’s coming along rather slowly.

“I thought it would be fun, cos it’s the kind of book I like to read. She [the main character] lives in this castle and her father’s quite a nice man but he kind of wanders around in a selfish way, wanting to shoot everything that moves. And she gets kidnapped by revolutionaries but they’re really inept and don’t know what they’re doing. She ends up rescuing them.

“I’m trying to do it without being exactly like Terry Pratchett or being really lame. A bit fairytale, so it reminds you of Cinderella as you go. She’s got this crazy great aunt that won’t cut her hair. But I’m not sure if I’ll be able to pull it off.”

It’s a radical departure from Chocolate and Custard.

“I just felt like I had explored all the storylines of girls a bit like me who had lived rurally. There’s only a certain number of things that could happen. Once you’ve had the unexpected pregnancy storyline and your husband wandering off, you’re kind of done.”

Leaving the dining table and walking out onto the patio reveals the true beauty of the farm setting: a panoramic view of the whole region. Her pigs trot up the hill to greet her. A pīwakawaka flits around the fenceposts, and a tui bathes in the birdbath, enjoying the pale sun. Hawkins has seen a resurgence in native birds on her farm, and the bird bath seems to be a selling point.

She said, “I think I’ll keep writing for the rest of my life.”

When it All Went to Custard by Danielle Hawkins (HarperCollins, $35)