Kiwi music video director Connor Pritchard gutted after $10k worth of camera gear stolen

Connor Pritchard moved to Auckland to pursue his directing dreams - but now he's lost five years' worth of gear to thieves. Photo / Oscar Keys

A young music video director is "gutted" after losing over $10,000 worth of camera gear when his van was burgled on Sunday.

Connor Pritchard, 21, has directed music videos for some pretty big names, from Six60 to Melodownz - but now his five-year collection of filming gear has all been stolen.

Pritchard had left work at around 6.30pm last Sunday from a K Road car park where he parks his van every day.

"I drove home and then back to the same car park in the morning, then opened the van to see all of my stuff is gone," he told the Herald.

Nothing was smashed, but a closer look at the passenger side of the van showed signs someone had jimmied the door open with a screwdriver, Pritchard said.

"I was mind-blown. They'd taken a lot of stuff, everything I'd been collecting over the past five years."

The items missing include film cameras, a recorder, lapel mics, a 4k camera, hard drives, batteries and even a pair of blue Nike Air Max sneakers.

Pritchard moved to Auckland from Napier three years ago after leaving school to get his start in the industry.

"I came here to pursue this dream and start reaching out to artists and it's gutting to have all of that just taken away," he shared.

Pritchard, who works independently as ConnorFilms, admitted that like a lot of other young people he didn't have insurance for his gear. But it wasn't long before the music community rallied around him to help out.

He was "blown away" when rapper Raiza Biza stepped in to help out and created a Givealittle page for him. Over $4000 had been donated at the time of writing.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Raiza Biza (@raizabiza)

"He's a long-time collaborator and now a really good friend of mine," Pritchard said. "He's the first artist who let me film a video for him."

And he said the support from the Auckland music industry has been "amazing". It's a tight-knit industry that has seen him build relationships with countless artists, from JESSB to Troy Kingi, Sons of Zion, and SACHI.

"It's cool to see that people are always there to back you."

Raiza Biza shared on the Givealittle page that "the NZ music scene would be a very different place without him [Connor].

"If you have ever watched a ConnorFilms video, or worked with him, or even just witnessed his contribution to the scene, help us help him."

Meanwhile, it's pretty hard to go back to work without gear, Pritchard said.

"It's pretty upsetting. Some of it can be replaced, but not the old film cameras, like the really old Super 8 film cameras I have.

"You can always hire gear but it still sucks."

Pritchard has gone to pawn shops and Cash Converters in the area to see if any of his gear has turned up, filed a police report and asked for CCTV footage from the Wilson car park, but hasn't yet heard anything.

If anyone has any information relating to the incident, they should call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.