A bug's life pays off

Bugman Ruud Kleinpaste introduces viewers to the weird and wonderful in the bug world.

Film production company Natural History New Zealand (NHNZ) is doing big things on the world stage. Working out of its Dunedin base, NHNZ has become the second-biggest producer of natural history documentaries in the world.

Owned by American giant Fox Television Productions for eight years, it has produced more documentaries on Antarctica than any other company.

Although few of its programmes are shown in New Zealand, NHNZ shows are popular overseas. In the United States, insect documentary Buggin' with Rudd out-rates Australia's Crocodile Hunter.

Among NHNZ shows to screen here last year were The Curse of the Elephant Man, The Most Extreme, and a series counting down the top 10 animals in categories such as speed, survivors and fighters.

They were all evidence that New Zealand nature documentaries have come a long way in nearly 30 years since the first seed was planted.

In 1976, news reporter Neil Harraway and cameraman Bob Brown went to Fiordland for a week aiming to film the elusive takahe.

For six days it rained, but on the seventh the shy and endangered bird appeared, and what is touted as New Zealand's first natural history footage was shot.

From that footage NHNZ began life, first as a division of Television New Zealand, although this initial arrangement proved restrictive.

"TVNZ was a real millstone to growth and to reaching the potential I believed this company to be capable of," managing director Michael Stedman said.

In 1991, Fox began buying parts of NHNZ. By 1998 it had bought 80 per cent, effectively owning it, and giving it a new lease on life. Fox now owns all of NHNZ.

"Fox basically let us get on with growing the company," Stedman said.

Under TVNZ, it produced between seven and 10 hours of programming a year and employed around 35 staff.

Under Fox, it has increased production to about 70 hours a year, employs up to 150 people and exports shows to 180 countries.

That is not because of any huge cash injection from Fox, Stedman pointed out.

"It is all driven by our ability to market our product. There is not one cent of subsidy in there, and not one cent from Fox.

"The potential [for growth] was there - but there was the handbrake of the board of TVNZ."

The Fox takeover has had no effect on NHNZ's identity as a New Zealand company, Stedman said.

"It is easier for us to gain access to many of the broadcasters because we are from New Zealand, which has a good reputation internationally. People like New Zealanders, so there is an upside to being based here."

Despite many successes - more then 200 international awards, and two prestigious Emmys - Stedman is humble about the company's achievements.

He did not mind it did not get much recognition from home, as that was not what was important.

"A television production company is just like a manufacturer. We just get on and do what we do as best we can. We don't fire out endless pieces of self-puffing material.

"Our operation is based and funded on our ability internationally - we don't make a cent out of New Zealand."

Most NHNZ documentaries can be seen on Sky's Discovery Channel but TVNZ and TV3 don't screen a lot "because they don't think the audience is interested".

NHNZ has given films to regional stations, proof that it is not in it solely for the money.

Working out of Dunedin was not restrictive as the company operated internationally, so it did not matter where it was based, Stedman said.

"We are able to attract a lot of people here because they come for the lifestyle, whereas Auckland has all the disadvantages of a big city, and none of the sorts of advantages we have. We're a company that Dunedin is proud of."

NHNZ shows its appreciation to the community by supporting a postgraduate diploma in natural history film-making and communication at Otago University. It also offers a six-month internship to one graduate a year.

Buggin' with Rudd is one of its biggest projects this year.

In it, Rudd "the bugman" Kleinpaste, who featured on Maggie's Garden Show, introduces viewers to "weird, amazing and downright nasty bugs."

Kleinpaste, a well-respected scientist and a talkback host on radio station Newstalk ZB, shows viewers how resourceful bugs are through entertaining stunts and impressive graphics.

The series, being produced under contract for Animal Planet, is 13 one-hour episodes, filmed all over the world, a huge task for any company.

Locations included Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and Namibia, but this was no problem for a company used to filming in remote locations and co-ordinating staff all over the world.

Researchers and production staff are based in Dunedin.

A team of around 25 is working on the project and all footage used will be original.

TVNZ had bought the rights to the pilot episode, but it is not yet known whether it plans to screen it.

Stedman is excited about the show, declaring it "the best series of its type. It is very contemporary and is very, very engaging."

NHNZ has around 70 programmes and documentaries in production, but judging by past trends, it is unlikely many of them will be hitting free to air screens in the near future.

Natural history New Zealand quick facts

* The company produces more than 70 hours of television a year.

* Documentaries screen in nearly 200 countries.

* When managing director Michael Stedman took control in 1991 he tripled production in only 18 months.

* Collaborates with many other television production companies, such as Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and the National Geographic Channel.

* 1976 founding member Neil Harraway is still there - he is director of production.

* Operates out of former Army barracks on Dowling St, Dunedin.

* After last year's Boxing

Day tsunami, the unit managed

to research, film and edit a documentary telling the tales of survivors, which screened on January 31.

* Fox Television Productions began buying NHNZ from TVNZ in 1991.

* The company has won more than 200 international awards, including Emmys in 1999 and 2000.

* It employs more than 140 people.

- NZPA