Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
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He mahi tinihanga kē te take i tīmatangia ai a Alex Miller i tana kamupene ataata me te pāpaoho.
"I tīmatangia ai taku mahi tahi me taku matua tāne, e tūkeka ana i tō mātou īara he whakaari kau te mahi nō mātou e noho rāhui ana i te wā o te māuiui korona i te tau e rua mano e rua tekau.
He rikoata noa e tūhono atu ai mātou ki ngā hoa me te whānau ki runga puka mata, ka kī mai rātou he hangareka ngā mahi, nā reira i kawengia tonungia ngā mahi".
I arohaina tēnei tūmomo mahi e Alex nā runga i te tukanga o te mahi, ka whakaoti tana umanga nui hai pūhanga metarahi e taea ai e ia tēnei ara te takahi. "Tae mai ki ahau te koroingo ki te wherawhera i tēnei karanga nui nōku, ara, ko te waihanga ataata, kāua ko te mahi engari te wairua kē".
I whānau mai ki runga o Te Pukeroa i tangatangia i ngā whaitua o Te Rotorua. Mai i Ohinemutu ki te pāmu o Peka huri noa ki Pukehāngi .
Kai Te Koutu a Alex e mahi ana, e noho ana. Ko ōna mātua, ko Mike me Moana Miller ōna pou amo, engari anō tana whakamihi ki tētehi mātanga nui o te ao pāpaoho ko Mike Jonothan me tētehi ringatohu nui ko Rawiri Tapiata. Ko ōna pikitūranga tēnei tokorua tangata.
He mātakitaki tangata me te whai haere i ngā mahi ki runga o You Tube i mārama ai a Alex ki te whakarākei i ōna pukenga – he ahakoa he nui ki mua ko ngā hua kai muri i a ia inaianei e kimokimo ana.
"Nōku ake te whakaaro ki te whakatū pākihi, tōnu āhua nei. Nō mātou ko taku whānau e moemoeā ana i te rūma hāneanea, he kapo whakaaro miriona tāra noa whoi anō, ko te Local Gecko Productions i hua mai i te wā e tau ai te rāhuitanga māuiui korona tuatahi, ka rewa ake hoki te wāhanga pūrei whutupōro me te hiahia hoki o ēra atu o ngā hākinakina engari he uaua nā ngā ture māuiui korona e mea nei kia kotahi rau tangata noa iho ki ngā huinga -ā-waho.
E murakehu ana me taku kitehanga he raruraru nui ka pā mai. Ka whia kē rau tangata ka mokemoke ai i te korenga mātakitaki i ngā kēmu whutupōro ia Hatarei, ka puta mai te whakaaro me pēwhea nā te pāhotanga mataora, nā reira te pūtawenga mai o te whakaaro pākihi nei"
E rua tekau mā rima ngā tau o Alex. He Ngai Te Arawa, he Tūwharetoa, he Ngāti Maru, he Ngāti Tamaterā ōna kāwai rangatira.
"Ka nui te muri aroha o ōku mātua ki te awhina tangata, mātua ko taku matua tāne, he tangata matira me te pāwhara ika hoki he ahakoa ngā tini kaupapa o te pā taunaha. He take whakahonohono ai i a mātou ki te kāinga kia mau tonu i a mātou tō mātou ūkaipōtanga".
Tāria te wā ka takahia te ara o te reo, hei tā Alex he mōhio nōna e hikuwaru ana tana wairua i te korenga o tana reo taketake.
He ahakoa e whia kē ngā taima kua whakarewangia a Alex ki te whakamānawatanga , hai tāna ehara i te mea nui ki a ia.
"Nā ōku tūpuna e whai take ai ahau ki tēnei tūnga. Kua kore noa atu te titiro ki muri ki te ao o ngā tūpuna ki te kimi whakautu me pēwhea e ora ai te taiao o naianei e mea ana ahau, tino kino rawa atu hoki aua taima te wā o te tāmitanga kino rawa atu i ēnei rā. Nōku kē te whakaaro kai te titiro ki te onamata e tātou he nanao atu ki ngā kaupapa rangatira, ara pēnei me te tiakitanga me te manaakitanga o te taiao, kua warewarengia enei e tēnei whakatupuranga me ngā pākihi hoki – mā te whakatuitui i ēnei tūāhuatanga ki ngā mahi o ia rā e tika ai te koke whakamua".
Kai te whāia e Local Gecko Productions te whakaaro o te kaitiakitanga, ara ko te mana o te mokomoko. Ko ngā momo mokomoko, kotahi rau e rua tekau mā ono katoa kua rāhuingia i Aotearoa nei nā te mea kai te heke te nama o ēnei tupua.
"E tika ana te pepeha, he ahakoa he iti, he pounamu e whakarite nei ki te mokomoko itiiti he mea nui ki a mātou te mana o te mokomoko". Hai tā Alex me i kore ai ōna mātua te whakaaro mōna kua kore ai a Local Gecko. Engari ko te pae tawhiti, e muramura ana, e ngangahu ana!
"Kai te rata katoa mai te hāpori ki a mātou mahi me a mātou kawenga whakaaro, nō reira ko te tumanako ka whakawhanakengia tēnei puna aroha ki a rangatira ai tā mātou pākihi i runga anō i te aroha ki te mahi, he mahi ataata, he whakapāoho, he hopu whakaahua he whakarere torona me te whakaahua matihiko".
Nā te māuiui korona i mātau ai a Alex ki te mana nui o te pāhotanga mataora. Koia tētehi o ngā painga o te māuiui korona, nā te mea e tapu katoa ana te ao e kore e taea e tātou te puta ki te taiao, ka piki ake te hiahia o te tangata ki tēnei tūāhuatanga hei whakakōtahi anō i a tātou.
Ko te taha koretake o te māuiui korona, ka tini hoki ngā kaupapa i whakakorengia nā reira i mātua whakahuri hoki tā mātou pākihi ki a pōteretere ai i ngā ngarungaru o te wā. He tauhou tonu a Alex ki tēnei āhuatanga nā reira e noho puku tonu nei ia, taihoa kia pakeketia ka tukuna e ia ētehi kupu awhina ki te hunga rangatahi.
"Whoi anō — anei tāku iti.
"Nā te mea kua wāia kē ōku matimati ki te mahi, kai te tino mōhio ahau, ki te puta mai tētehi tomonga e āmaimai ana te puku, e hoa mā, karawhiua! Rukua ngā wai uriuri !"
—Na Raimona Inia i whakamaoritia.
What started as a bit of fun for Alex Miller has become his full-time videography and broadcasting business.
"I started by creating videos with my dad, filming ourselves doing stupid little skits in our backyard when we were in lockdown in March of 2020, the first nationwide lockdown. We just filmed for friends and family on our Facebook pages and they thought they were hilarious, so we kept creating more of them."
Alex fell in love with the creative process of filmmaking, and gave up his initial chosen career of civil engineer to explore this new-found passion of video making.
"I wanted to continue this new passion I found and explore it ."
Born on Pukeroa Hill and raised around Rotorua from Ohinemutu to Peka Farm to Pukehangi, Alex now lives and works at Koutu.
Alex's biggest support comes from his parents, Mike and Moana Miller, but he also thanks mentors like national film maker and producer Mike Jonothan and director Rawiri Tapiata for their guidance.
He learned skills from mimicking others online and watching tutorials on YouTube, although it took a long time and wasn't easy.
"The idea for the business came from me (kind of). The story is, is that me and my parents were sitting in the living room, thinking out loud on potential multi-million dollar business ideas.
"We were dreaming basically.
"But the idea for Local Gecko Productions came about as, during that time we had just come out of lockdown and the sports season for rugby and many other sports was trying to come back but there were very heavy restrictions, only 100 people allowed at outdoor event etc.
"I recognised that that could be a problem, a lot of people could miss out on watching a classic rugby game at their local rugby club on a Saturday, so we thought what if you could live stream it to everyone so they could watch that game in the comfort of there living room.
"I thought about it and if there were many people who did that in New Zealand and I realised there weren't many people who I could think of who did that. So we explored it and tried to see what we could do and from there our business was born." Alex, 25, and his whanau are proud of their connections to marae in Te Arawa, Tuwharetoa and Ngati Maru, Ngati Tamatera.
"My parents love helping out with the different kaupapa especially dad, he loves going fishing and smoking up trout for different occasions at the pā. It's also a way we can give back as often we are off working around the motu and we cannot get to the marae to help in the kitchen."
One day soon, Alex says, he will embark on his reo journey as he always felt a part of himself is missing because he does not have the reo.
Although he has been nominated for awards in the past, Alex says they are not what defines him.
"I am definitely here because of the foresight of my tupuna, koroua and kuia. I don't think we are looking back to the past for the answers for environmental changes, forests and wildlife was exploited worse during colonisation and those periods than now.
"What I think we are looking to the past for those drivers, kaupapa and ideals about the environment that were more present then than they are now. I believe that a lot of businesses and organisations today are looking at incorporating a lot more Māori ideals and kauapapa towards how they deal with environmental issues. "Things like kaitiakitanga, whakawhanaungatanga and aroha for our land and the very old protocols that our tupuna adhered to back in the day are starting to be explored and recognised now."
Local Gecko Productions has adopted a kaitiaki, the mokomoko or gecko. All 126 species in New Zealand are protected because of declining numbers.
"This tiny little native is a symbol of renewal and rebirth as was taught to us and we carry the Gecko name with pride."
Alex says that without his parents Local Gecko would not exist.
As for the future, Alex believes it is bright.
"People are loving what we are able to do and being able to see the journey we are currently on, so my hope is we will be able to grow as a business and be able to do more of what we love — filming, broadcasting, photography, drone operations and digital media design."
The necessity for live streaming only became apparent to Alex because of Covid and its impact on our social lives.
The good of Covid was that because events or projects could not run with many people in attendance, live streaming and capturing those events became a necessity and that drove up demand.
At the other end of the scale events were cancelled as well so they lost a lot of work too. Covid meant the company had to change tack and adjust.
Alex doesn't think he is in any place to offer advice to rangatahi because he's not successful or experienced enough.
"All I can say, based on my experience, would be if you see something that you could do and you really love doing it, or you are given a chance and you don't know if you should take it? Take the opportunity and have a go!
"Take the leap of faith."
Sixteen new iwi-led affordable rental homes have been officially opened.