December 2018 Archives  

31 December 2018

Rob Honored in 2019 New Years Honours With NZ Order of Merit

ImageThe 2019 New Zealand Honours have been announced and Rob has become an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for for services to the New Zealand film and television industries.

TAPERT, Mr Robert Gerard (Rob)
For services to the film and television industries

Mr Rob Tapert is a film and television producer from the United States with more than 50 production credits, who has been involved with New Zealand’s screen industry since 1993.

Mr Tapert has brought projects into New Zealand from major production studios including Universal Studios, Screen Gems, TriStar, and Sony. His production credits within New Zealand include the feature films ‘Boogeyman’, ’30 Days of Night’, and the remake of ‘Evil Dead’ and seasons of the television shows ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’, ‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’, ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’, ‘Legend of the Seeker’, and ‘Spartacus’. The shows ‘Hercules’ and ‘Xena’ provided more than seven years of continuous employment to hundreds of people in the industry and opportunities for New Zealand actors and crew to hone their expertise.

Due to the scale and duration of his productions, those starting out in the industry have had opportunities to gain valuable experience in technical areas of filmmaking. He has made a point of engaging New Zealanders as Heads of Departments on his productions, creating opportunities to contribute to critical production decisions and gain experience to advance within the industry. Mr Tapert has also kept post-production of his projects within New Zealand, further contributing to the advancement of the post-production sector of the industry.

The full honours list can be found here


 

 

27 December 2018

Australian SFX Magazine 5 Dec 2018: Lucy Lawless Xena in Xena Warrior Princess

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Australian SFX Magazine 5 December 2018

At a time when people are celebrating female icons, many are looking back at Xena as a groundbreaking show for female empowerment. “The #MeToo era is the perfect time to bring back Xena and Gabrielle to set the world to rights!” says Lucy Lawless, who played Xena from 1995 to 2001 and has starred in Battlestar Galactica and Ash V Evil Dead. now Lawless is about to produce and star in new Australian TV drama My Life Is Murder where, she happily reveals, “there will be no blood and guts” – for once!

Would you like to play the role of Xena again?

I would in a one-off. I wouldn’t do the lifestyle again – I couldn’t! That’s for someone young and hungry. I’m always rolling my eyes when there’s an action component in something I’m doing now because I’m so bored with it. But I’d do a limited thing.

 

What would Xena be doing if she was around now?

I like to think she’d be a special prosecutor!

Did you keep any set souvenirs?

Not so much Xena stuff. With Xena I think everything was pretty trashed by the end. I might have a few weapons – I’ll let the kids duke it out with them!

What would it say on Xena’s gravestone?

I don’t really want to channel Arnie, but, “I’ll be back!” Every character I’ve ever played always comes back. “Not resting in peace!”


 

 

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