NZ On Air Supports Variety and Spice

Classical music, traditional Pasifika dance-music and the glitz of Auckland’s Hero Parade are all winners in the latest round of NZ On Air funding allocations.

Hero Parade, Polyfest and New Zealand Young Musician of the Year are three very different programmes that will add spice and variety to the Kiwi television menu, according to NZ on Air Chief Executive Jo Tyndall.

“It’s not often we get the chance to show young New Zealanders performing classical music on television, “said NZ on Air Chief Executive Jo Tyndall.

“Similarly, Polyfest and Hero Parade are specialty events which reveal the talent, glamour and originality of New Zealanders vibrant in their own culture, “said Ms Tyndall.

A love of music and dance will bring together five thousand rangatahi, teenagers aged 13 to 17, in the annual Auckland Secondary Schools’ Maori and Pasifika festival competition. Polyfest 2001 will feature coverage of the event that is the largest traditional dance and music competition in the country, where entrants vie for the title of best cultural college in Auckland.

Students also feature in a very different music programme, showcasing the New Zealand Young Musician of the Year 2002. Preparations for the biennial competition are already underway with auditions beginning in late September 2001, leading up to the finals in March 2002. Television coverage will feature edited highlights of the semi-final and final rounds of the competition.

Hero Parade will be a 90-minute entertainment special, featuring the Auckland street party that is now a highlight of the gay, lesbian and transgender community’s calendar. The parade attracts a range of VIP guests, including the Prime Minister who will open the 2001 event.

NZ on Air has allocated $130,240 to C4 Productions to produce one 90 minute programme of NZ Young Musician of the Year 2002, to be broadcast by TV One in 2002.

Front of the Box Productions will receive $200,000 to produce five half-hour programmes of Polyfest 2001,to be broadcast on TV2 later this year.

Hero Parade producers, Phoenix Television, have been allocated $120,000 to produce one 90 minute special, to be broadcast on TV3.

For further information:
Jo Tyndall
Chief Executive
NZ On Air
Tel: (04) 382 9524
This media release is available on the Internet, at http://www.nzonair.govt.nz

Polyfest 2001 $200,000
5 x half hour programmes
Broadcaster: TV2
Producer: Claudette Hauiti, Front of the Box Productions

NZ Young Musician of the Year, 2002 $130,240
1 x 90 minute special
Broadcaster: TV One
Producer: Robert Hagen, C4 Productions

Hero Parade 2001 $120,000
1 x 90 minute special
Broadcaster: TV3
Producer: Simon Sinclair/Mandy Toogood, Phoenix Television

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