В Вайкато создан благотворительный фонд для развития киноиндустрии и поддержки местных творцов

A new Waikato charitable trust aims to open the doors of the film and television industry to more people across the region. The Waikato Screen Charitable Trust has been established to create pathways for emerging creatives, local communities and existing screen professionals through education, training, mentoring and storytelling. The independenttrust will offer workshops, mentoring, scholarships, cultural storytelling initiatives, community events and outreach programmes, with a particular focus on Māori, Pacific, rural and regional communities. It comes as filming activity in Waikato and demand for screen content continues to grow. Waikato Screen’s crew directory lists more than 140 local screen workers across areas including camera, production, art, post-production and directing, while Hamilton continues to develop its own film-making community. The 2026 48Hours competition featured multiple Hamilton-made entries, including films from Dairyland Pictures, New Tiger Media, Rebecca Yuan, Slate48 and Spring Onion. The region is also attracting major international productions. A Minecraft Movie was filmed partly in Huntly and Waikato Screen has said the region has also hosted productions such as Chief of War, Beyond Goodbye, The Gone and Avatar: The Way of Water. The trust now aims to ensure the benefits of that growth extend beyond productions simply coming to the region. Managing trustee Tracy Hampton told the Waikato Heraldthatsetting up the trust was an opportunity to connect screen sector growth with long-term benefits for Waikato communities. She said as more productions discover Waikato, “we have an opportunity to ensure that this growth creates meaningful pathways for our people and strengthens the capability already within our region”. “Storytelling can build confidence, preserve cultural knowledge, bring communities together and open doors into an industry that many people may not otherwise know how to access.” The trust will also support people already working in the industry to develop their skills and stay connected to the evolving demands of film and television production. Hampton said developing an experienced regional workforce would be important as the sector continued to grow. The other trustees are Rachel Adams, Erin Griffiths, Vea Mafile’o and Piripi Curtis. The trustees have experience across film and television production, screen-sector development, education, training, governance, business, cultural storytelling and community partnerships. For Mafile’o, the trust was also an opportunity to give back to her home region. “As a proud Waikato-born-and-bred farm girl, it feels pretty special to come home in this way and support a kaupapa [initiative] that invests in the creativity of our region,” she said. Waikato is full of incredible people, places and stories, she said, “and I’m excited to help awhi [embrace] our local creatives, create pathways into the screen industry, and hopefully see a whole lot more of this hearty region and our stories on the big screen and beyond”. The trust will work with iwi, hapū and whānau on storytelling initiatives focused on local narratives, cultural knowledge, significant places and relationships. It will also work alongside community organisations, educators, funders, councils, creatives and screen-sector partners. The Waikato Screen Charitable Trust will operate independently of Waikato Screen NZ Ltd, the region’s film office. While Waikato Screen supports productions and wider screen-sector development, the trust will focus on education, community participation, creative storytelling and skills development. Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. Before he joined the Hamilton-based team, he worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive. He previously worked as a journalist at Black Press Media in Canada and won a fellowship with the Vancouver Sun.