Creative types take over Ponsonby

09.02.05

Creative types take over Ponsonby

Straight from the "It's a Cliché Because It's True" file, the Ponsonby/Grey Lynn area will be bursting with creative types next weekend.

More than one hundred actors, musicians, writers, comedians and filmmakers will descend on the St Colomba Centre in Vermont Street on Saturday, February 12 for a day of workshops focusing on the business and practical aspects of working in the creative industries.

With tutors including Anthony Healy (NZ Operations Manager of APRA) and Jeremy Corbett (More FM breakfast host), a wildly eclectic mix of creative people will attend workshops on a range of practical topics – from dealing with the media, how to get funding and ‘free stuff’ and where to find the world's festivals; to understanding entertainment and copyright law, and even how to survive on an erratic income.

Dubbed, "Giving Creative Workers A Hand", the workshop day is organised under the umbrella of the CTU, and will see the official launch of the Coalition of Creative Workers and Guilds (CCUG) whose members include Actors Equity, the Musicians Union, Screen Directors Guild of NZ, NZ Writers Guild, NZ Comedy Guild, Composers Association, NZ Film & Video Technicians Guild, NZ Society of Authors, Artists Alliance, Stunt Guild and the PSA.

That represents a huge range of NZ's entertainment industry, and includes those both under the spotlight and behind the scenes. As freelance, self-employed or short-term contractors, they’re often isolated from each other, so the CCUG aims to give them a chance to network with each other, share knowledge and skills, and to find a unified voice to talk to employers and government agencies.

Other workshop tutors – all of whom are donating their time and skills – include Nick Grant, On-Film editor; comedian and broadcaster, Te Radar; journalist Miriyana Alexander; and Tim Thorpe from the Screen Council – another financial supporter of the workshop day.

Seminars are free to union and guild members, and $40 to non-members.

ENDS

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