My Account
Local resident Shona McCullagh’s idea of time-out from her career at home in Leigh is flying to New York one week to talk to a producer about a musical feature film, visiting Wellington the next to see if her documentary film Haunting Douglas has won an award and waiting to hear if her short film Break has been submitted to the London Film Festival. One of New Zealand’s leading dancers, a choreographer, dance filmmaker and educator, Shona McCullagh tells local author Maria Gill how she manages her exciting career right in our neck of the woods.
How do you manage your career from Leigh?
Even though it takes time to commute to Auckland for different film projects I love living in Leigh. Rehearsal space is much easier to find here than in Auckland. I can work in the local hall or even take it outside to the countryside. For years it has been a spectacular juggling act, a bit like army maneuvers, to manage our careers, the children and commuting to Auckland and overseas. My partner John (Gibson) and I often say we should move to Auckland because that is where the work is. But we don’t want to lose our view of the sea and the kids are really settled here.
How has winning Creative New Zealand’s inaugural Senior Choreographic Fellowship helped your career?
The Fellowship has had a profound effect. It was the first time in 20 years as a professional dancer that I’ve had a full-time wage. It gives me an opportunity to explore things I wouldn’t normally have time to spend time on. For instance, I’ve just spent four intense weeks researching a software product called Isadora. It was developed in the United States by Troika Ranch and is designed to support interactive performance whereby the performer acts as a trigger for various media such as projection, light, or sound. I am hoping to design some installations for students in schools and I’m talking to an art gallery about a display.
When did you make the transition from dancer to film director?
When I was still dancing with Douglas Wright and creating my own work I was asked to do the choreography for a few commercials. Then I worked on Xena and Hercules. I enjoyed the synthesis of choreography, camera and bodies in a space. I then started doing my own work and made two films ‘Hurtle’ and ‘fly’, which both won several international awards.
What feature films have you worked on recently?
I worked on Perfect Creatures with Glenn Standring and starring Dougray Scott, Saffron Burrows and Leo Gregory. It involved movement coaching and helping to develop material for them. Then came The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with Andrew Adamson. I designed a huge sequence set in a palace. I finished working on King Kong with Peter Jackson in March which involved eight scenes that required a combination of full-on dance sequences and designing behavioral movements for characters in the film.
What are you doing now?
I’ve just finished my film Break. It was shot in the summer all around this district at Pakiri Forest, Oteha Valley Road and Whangateau Hall. It was lovely having a film crew working in the district. I’m flying up to Wellington next week to talk to the New Zealand School of Dance about a dance they want me to choreograph and I’ll work on that for the next couple of weeks.
What’s next?
John has his first feature film score to do, something he has been working towards for a long time. We’ve decided that I will be home more to support his career. But I am finding it is dangerous to plan for the future because these incredible opportunities keep coming up. There’s a musical in the pipeline and I’ve been asked to direct a film for television. There’s never a dull moment.
Postscript:
‘Haunting Douglas’, which Shona McCullagh co-produced with Leanne Pooley, won two awards: Achievement in Directing and Editing for a Documentary.
