Huge congratulations are in order for two exceptional screen industry women recognised in the King's Birthday Honours.
Associate Professor in Screen Production at Auckland University and WIFT NZ member Shuchi Kothari has been appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her services to the screen industry.
Kothari co-wrote and co-produced the feature film Apron Strings (2008), which was invited to 15 international film festivals. She co-produced NETPAC winning film Kāinga (2022), and co-created A Thousand Apologies (2008), New Zealand’s first Asian prime-time sketch comedy show.
She was a juror for the New Zealand Screen Awards and the Show Me Shorts International Film Festival, and has been an industry assessor for the New Zealand Film Commission since 2009.
In 2018 she co-founded the Pan-Asian Screen Collective (PASC), advocating for equitable representation of Asian screen practitioners in New Zealand. She was creator and convenor for the Episode One Web Series Pilot Programme, which enabled participants to develop and make a pilot episode. She has designed and run workshops for PASC, the Pasifika Screen Artists Guild, and delivered talks at Ngā Aho Whakaari (the Indigenous Screen Guild).
Her work as a filmmaker, mentor and advocate was recognised by WIFT's Great Southern Film and Television Award for Outstanding Contribution to the NZ Screen Industry in 2022.
Click HERE for One News coverage:
Also honoured this year, screen industry stalwart Chloe Smith, another previous winner of WIFT's Great Southern Film and Television Award for Outstanding Contribution, in 2006. Chloe has been made Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit recognising her 43-year career in the New Zealand screen industry. She has been involved in 47 major projects, including Academy Award winning films 'The Piano' (1993) and 'The Power of the Dog' (2021), and internationally renowned television series including 'Spartacus' (2010). She collaborated with American producers on 'Xena: Warrior Princess' (1995) and 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' (1995), helping establish world-class production and post-production facilities in New Zealand.
Click HERE to listen to RNZ interview Chloe Smith.