Jane Campion: "Let's Really Say 'This is Enough'"

Steven Joyce (Minister of Many Things), Jane Campion, Maggie Barry (Minister for Arts & Culture), James Cameron, Peter Jackson, Jon Landau

New Zealand has a heavyweight Screen Advisory Board, appointed by the government just over a year ago: Jane Campion, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, James Cameron, Jon Landau, Andrew Adamson.

The board was appointed to help the New Zealand screen sector create the skills and connections to be able to generate their own intellectual property, compete internationally, attract overseas finance and to assist the New Zealand Film Commission, Film New Zealand, and the New Zealand screen sector to market and promote the New Zealand screen industry overseas. A huge ask. But something these imaginative, generous and enterprising board members can deliver on.

Last September, Dave Gibson, CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission, announced that the board members would each follow particular interests

Sir Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh have identified early talent and connections as theirs. James Cameron and Jon Landau are keen to help with US connections and a push we hope to make into Los Angeles next year. Jane Campion is interested in gender equality.

At the press conference that followed the board's meeting this week, where according to one report Jane Campion confirmed that one of her goals was encouraging more women to become filmmakers, she restated her interest in gender equality in strong terms (watch her here, about 46 seconds in)–

It's kind of completely disgusting and teeth-clenchingly irritating that [only 9% of New Zealand films are directed by women]. But that's not just New Zealand, it's a worldwide issue. And my challenge to this group, the board, is "Let's be the first. Let's really say 'This is enough'."

The board has ideas that include offering – presumably paid – internships and collaborating with film schools. And Sir Peter Jackson (when o when will we be able to refer to 'Dame Jane Campion'?) described New Zealand as an untapped mine of fantastic stories–

The history, the culture here is just unbelievable, so rather than see another cowboy movie or another Chicago gangster movie or another Elizabeth I film from other people's cultures how do we get really great looking films that are telling our stories?

I fervently hope that each of the board's members – and those politicians – strongly support Jane Campion. I hope each has said 'Yes! This is enough! Let's engage with diverse women writers and directors, with all of the talent pool, because that makes it more likely we'll compete successfully at an international level. It makes sense'. I hope too that each board member has explicitly acknowledged that women are 50% of those New Zealanders with access to an untapped mine of fantastic stories, many of them about women. I hope each member has myriad new ideas about how to welcome and support women's participation in every initiative they propose.

I dream that the board members remembered New Zealand's human rights obligations, so they added 'Regardless of our other concerns, we have to find ways to distribute taxpayer funds equitably. Shall we try the British Film Institute's'three ticks' policy?' And that when they heard this, Steven Joyce and Maggie Barry gave them a standing ovation.

Hoping and dreaming. Sending Jane Campion much gratitude and every good wish, for everything, including the next series of Top of the Lake.