Posts by Phil Brownlee
-
Or the 70s version:
If things get appallingly bad
And we all get atrociously poor
If we stand in the queue with our hats on
We can borrow a few million more -
I'm very curious about the nature of John Drinnan's 'sources'. It wouldn't be the first time he'd published pure speculation as if it were a story.
-
I don't mean the term 'art' to carry a value judgement here. But different categories of activity.
And 'Art Department' is a specialised and technical usage of the word 'art'.
-
So, is making models for movies 'art'?
-
I know a couple of people who slaved away on the various movies and got their jobs precisely because they had fine art degrees.
I'm a sound artist, and I use the same set of skills in my day job as a sound engineer. Does that mean that, if I record a studio interview, that makes it a piece of art? Having a background as an artist does not mean that everything you produce is 'art'.
Weta Workshop are very good at what they do, but it still seems odd that the council would approach them first for a large-scale public sculpture. (Does anyone know, where did the idea come from in the first place?)
I wonder whether, for some on the Council, Weta Workshop, (and, presumable, Weta Digital, Park Road Post, etc.) are the total extent of Wellington's 'creative industry'. The creative community here extends well beyond that.
-
Apologies if this has already come up in this thread, but let's not forget that Radio NZ's situation is not unique. Similar funding pressure is being applied throughout the Public Service.
Changes to RNZ would likely be apparent, but a lot of the services under threat are things that you mightn't miss until they're not there. And once they're gone, they'll be difficult to get back.
I wonder whether campaigning for RNZ in isolation is overlooking the larger-scale pattern?
-
For many years, Texaco sponsored live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opers which Concert FM was quite happy to re-broadcast despite the filthy taint of sponsorship.
...after editing out most, if not all of the references to the sponsor's name.
-
... just collecting news from other sources as opposed to outsourcing and funding an NZ journo to get out in the field and report the news
Most of what Sam's talking about are feature programmes. Radio New Zealand is more than a news service.
-
@Robbie:
but you could specify the outcomes you wish to procure and set a deadline for delivery then haggle about the price if it isn't up to standard. Wouldn't that guarantee some sort of impartiality and savings ?
I think we're talking about two quite different cultures: one a profit-driven business, and the other the provision of a public service. And yes, I think dispersing the body of knowledge and experience shared among Radio NZ's staff would be detrimental to the provision of that public service. Not to mention the shared physical resources of studios, microphones, etc.
@Sacha:
Perhaps the private sector could step in to run a radio station, but would they fund performances and recordings?
That's a very good point, and one I haven't seen raised yet. Although RNZ don't fund performances. RNZ Concert are part of a wider framework of cultural infrastructure, through recording and broadcasting concerts, and interviews and feature programming.
-
Minimum 80k a year in salary to introduce a programme and push a button is a bit rich ?
But the voices you hear on air are a small proportion of the total staff. RNZ's not, on the whole, a 'push-the-button' operation.
According to him, it makes relatively expensive programmes that could be made for less, while maintaining the quality, by outsourcing...true or false ?
False. I don't believe the quality would be maintained. And any savings would be spent elsewhere in maintaining technical consistency. I'm not convinced the pool of technical and creative expertise within RNZ could be sourced from outside. And I doubt that employing those people as contractors rather than staff would be cheaper.
Basically, if you tried to run RNZ on Radio Live's budget, it would end up sounding like Radio Live. Theyre different kind of operations, and Mitch Harris's attempt to apply the thinking of one to the other doesn't hold up.
(Disclosure: I'm a studio operator at RNZ. I hope that doesn't invalidate the attempt to provide a perspective based in actual experience.)