January 27 2006
NHNZ Strikes Gold and Silver in New York
An episode of the Equator series, made by Dunedin-based production company NHNZ, has won a Gold Medal at the prestigious
New York Festivals.
Equator: Power of an Ocean won the medal in the Nature and Wildlife section of the Television Programming and Promotion
Awards.
The win was not NHNZ’s only victory of the night with Buggin with Ruud awarded a Silver Medal and Death Valley a
finalist, both also in the Nature and Wildlife section.
Managing Director of NHNZ Michael Stedman describes the New York Festival wins for Equator, Buggin with Ruud and Death
Valley as “a wonderful and well-earned reward for the talented and hard working crews.”
“What links these three productions is a dedication to painstaking research, a shared vision from pre to post production
and crews who are prepared to put in weeks in the field often in extreme conditions. Our teams always attempt to find
that difficult balance between information and entertainment, and I believe these films have found that balance.
“In addition, the win for Buggin with Ruud is testament to the communication and presentation skills of Ruud Kleinpaste.
He is, without doubt, one of the most accomplished presenters of nature television in the world.”
Power of an Ocean is an episode of the six-part Equator series, a co-production between NHNZ and NHK. The episode
explores the environmental forces, and the unique wildlife of the Galapagos archipelago and Palmyra Atoll in the
Pacific.
Executive Producer for Equator Peter Hayden says his team are ecstatic with the victory.
“This was a long and logistically very complex project. But we always knew we were making something special and we’re
delighted the judges thought the same.”
NHNZ is one of the world’s leading producers of factual programming embracing the genres of nature, health, science,
adventure, and people. With over 70 programmes currently in production, its crews work in locations around the world to
produce a diversity of films for international broadcasters including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery
Health, National Geographic Channel, France 5, NHK in Japan and NDR in Germany. Based in Dunedin, New Zealand, the
company is wholly owned by Fox Television Studios.
ENDS