Return to Aotearoa

Hello from Hastings, New Zealand.  Hmmm... How did I get here?  Oh wait, I remember, an impulse and a plane ticket.  These things happen.  Especially to me.  There I was, happily motoring along in Los Angeles when all of the sudden, around the beginning of June, I knew I had to move.  Again.  Right then.  So, belongings were packed, leases were ended, farms were invested in -- wait.  What?  

Huh.  Yes, it would seem I woke up this morning on a biodynamic farm and then drove past 31 cows and not just a couple of chickens on my way to work.  And sighed as I took in the view.  

Yes, those are pictures of a 166-acre farm that I've invested in with my friends and farming partners, Fritha and David.  They're the actual farmers.  They know about soil and worms and when the pregnant Jersey cow is about to drop a new calf into the world.  I am not a farmer.  (Let's not kid ourselves, shall we?)  But I like living on a farm.  This weekend I shelled five pounds of broad beans on the porch.  And it was glorious, really.   

So we're all happy.  And by us I mean Fritha, David, me, Fritha's son Rowan, our dog Skip, our cat Cassie, our two rabbits Oreo and Monty, our five ducklings (I call them uno, dos, tres, quatro, and cinco -- who can tell which is which?), our darling chickens (whose names I forget, sorry chickens), our black porch duck who loves his own reflection, our 31 Jersey cows, our 100+ sheep, the two new puppies who arrive on Friday afternoon named Atticus and Scout, and the three horses who arrive next week, one of whom is named BangBang.  

Zoos don't have this many animals.

Thought I'd share a few pictures of the view for those of you who haven't seen it yet.  I'll post some pics of the house soon as well, though there's lots of renovation to be done before any of us move in.  We're living in other cottages on the farm for the time being.  

So the farm is great, the weather is glorious -- it's summer here, and life is pretty sweet.

And work is pretty sweet.  

Funny things happen to me.

I arrive in Hastings about five weeks ago during the Environmental Film Festival, which I attend some sessions of.  The organizer is a friend of Fritha's.  We have dinner with her.  She mentions that there's a film production company operating in Hastings.  This seems impossible to believe but she insists that it's true.  I decide to check it out.   I find them on the web.  They look pretty interesting.  I decide to see if they'll let me hang out between now and the time I'm supposed to head off to film school in Auckland (that would be January).  They are pleased as punch for an extra set of hands and put me to work straight-away on marketing research.  

Soon they're explaining to me that I really shouldn't go to film school at all, but should just stay right there.  I mull this over, am a bit skeptical.  It's a young company, still finding it's footing.  The days go by, I get to know everyone better, get involved in what they're working on.  And suddenly it hits me: these people are ridiculously talented, the projects they're working on are outstanding, and to top it off, they're nice.  And funny.  Seriously.  Why would I leave?  After five weeks I get to be an associate producer on one of the projects and best of all, I'm ridiculously excited to get up and go to work every day.   Where one of New Zealand's top cinematographers is more than happy to teach me filmmaking.  

Like I said, funny things happen to me.  As they say, do not go where the pathway leads, but instead stumble along blindly and expect miracles.  Hey, can't fault a system that's worked so far. 

Please have a look at the projects we're working on.  They're pretty damn cool.  And expect to get an e-mail from me from time to time asking you to get involved in some way.   You won't be sorry.  

I'll keep all of you updated as the journey unfolds.  Who knows where it's all leading, but I've never been much interested in that anyway.