May 16, 2023 • 38 mins
Today we talk to Amelia Dunbar, artist extraordinaire. Amelia operates both a rural entertainment business and works as an artist from her home in Windwhistle. Having made a decision very early in life that she wanted to remain living rurally, Amelia has been working as an actor/writer /producer of comedy duo The Bitches’ Box. The Bitches’ Box which has toured nationwide delivering comedy shows in our rural communities over the last decade.
The shows encourage rural communities to come together for a meal and a laugh and build connections in remote rural Aotearoa New Zealand. She is currently working on a feature length film based on the live shows which will bring The Bitches Box story to a wider audience.Amelia is also an artist and has been selling her beautiful works for over twenty years, under the name Amelia Guild Art.
We talk to Amelia about the Bitches’ Box, how she met her comedy partner Emma and her experience at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
You can read more about the Bitches’ Box here: https://www.bitchesbox.co.nz/
And you can listen to the episode here: https://linktr.ee/ruralwomennz
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to the Black Hills and Tractor Wheels podcast, where
we are sharing stories from a range of women from
around New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
For nearly a century, Rural Women New Zealand has been
dedicated to strengthening and supporting women and children to become
empowered members of their communities.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
We hope that by hearing these stories from inspiring women
all around the country, you'll feel inspired yourself.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
We're your hosts, Emma Higgins and Clan Williamson and would
love for you to join and subscribe to our podcast
so you don't miss our rural stories. Amazing Amelia, thank
you so much for joining us today on the Black
Hills and Tract Wheels podcast. This one is super exciting
for me for a couple of reasons. One that you
(00:51):
are our supreme winner for our ended i Ral Woman
Business Awards for twenty twenty two, and the second is
that you drove the entire high away to my hometown
and presented to my community, which was very very special.
So we'll talk a little bit about that later, but
thank you and welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Thank you so much for having me. It's very cool.
It's a bit awkward having to talk about myself, but hey, we.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
All need to do that from time to time.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
So my first question is we kind of ask you
to cast your mind back for a couple of years
to your upbringing, your childhood, what you learned, what you did,
how you grew, how you felt, and sort of paint
a wee bit of a picture and a story for
us of the young Amelia and how she grew up
(01:42):
to be an amazing actress living in a gorgeous place
in the South Island, married to a lovely man with
two small children.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Yep, oh okay, Oh my goodness, Well it's so fun.
I love that you said, only a couple of years ago,
cash your mind back. Yeah, yeah, it was just so young. Yeah.
So I grew up in whind was still where I
still where I live now. I mean, obviously I've had
time away in between, but yeah, gorgeous farm upbringing, I
(02:12):
feel when I think back, I mean, it was it
was a charmed existence really. You know. We went to
a little country school. I've got two older brothers. We
we you know, did a lot of horse riding while
I did. They didn't so much. You know, we've got
to work on the farm every holiday, so we got
to you know, get a good sense of or you know,
(02:34):
earning your own money, but also a decent kind of
work ethic instilled from quite a young age, I think,
and I just yeah, I mean wonderful community. I absolutely
love it here so close to the mountains, so I've
spent a lot of my life skiing, and then really
not too far to whip through to the coast or
(02:54):
to christ Church if you really want. So, yeah, I
absolutely loved it, and I think probably because it was
so good, and maybe because we got sent off to
boarding school a little bit young. We've all actually come home.
Well you always tell mom and dad that you sent
us the way too soon. So we're all back here.
So my brothers are also back working on their farm
(03:14):
on the farm Storry with their families as well. So
we've got tourism, farming and bee keeping all sort of
happening off the one land asset with your mum and
dad still here as well too. So yeah, it's pretty
wholesome love that.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
I actually really like the idea of these multiple yet
land uses.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I think that's really neat.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Tell me a little bit about the tourism part of it,
How does that work?
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Yeah, so I think that's I mean, it's obviously such
a huge issue for any landowners. They've got multiple children
suddenly going, oh my godness, we've got this single land asset.
How on earth do you sort it out in the future.
I mean, the fairest thing would probably just be slid
and move on. But everyone's got such a strong connection
to the to the place that you know, Mum and
(04:03):
Dad were always really open with us and very very fair.
I think because I was quite a stroppy, youngest, youngest
child and the younger girl. I wanted to be treated
like the boys. I wanted to go and get the
same jobs out on the farmers them. I didn't want
to stay home and do the ironing, and so he
was always dead specifically when he talked about the farm.
(04:26):
It was never that, you know, it went to one
in particular, and so I think, I mean, certainly, when
I decided at quite a young age that I wanted
to be an actress and an artist, that didn't really
fit with coming back to the land. But we've all
had a really strong connection to it. And so sorry,
I just winded back to your question about the tourism.
I can't it must have been about twenty five years ago.
(04:47):
Because it's a high country station, not all of the
land is really highly productive. About four and a half
thousand acres was ring fenced for a game hunting tourism operation.
And then my eldest brother, Simon, he came back ten
fifteen years ago to to sort of take that over
and really take it up a notch, and he's done
(05:09):
an incredible job. I mean, the last few years have
been brutal with no border openings, so that was pretty rough.
But we're setting me back into full swing at the moment,
and so that's one part of it. But we're also
doing We've actually recently got a fleet of Ubco bikes,
so we're doing the yeah, sort of tourism that way.
(05:30):
We've got a big, beautiful, big new boardroom that overlooks
the woolshead and sheetyards and so we can host conferences
and yeah, there's there's sort of a lot of different
things going on, which is cool.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
I feel a rural New Zealand board meeting coming at
High Pech Station that would be.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Okay. So we talked a little bit about your early childhood.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Now I'm really interested in how you got into this
creative acting phase, because I feel that you're both visual
art and creative acting based art great way of describing
it is a real part of you, and it has
(06:15):
been a part of you for a long time. And
I'm really interested in the process that I suppose happened,
in the evolution.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Of how that kind of came about.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I'm assuming that you were a really fun child learning
to act and sing and dance and do wonderful painting
and art.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
It's well, no, I can absolutely correct you on that.
I was shy, a really shy little kid. I mean
I used to get called smiles I think when I
was little because I just smiled and didn't say a lot.
And I was you know, I was terrified of talking class.
I mean, I still go read if people talk to me,
you know, in a public setting, it's ridiculous. I have
(06:53):
absolutely an idea what is in me that made me
certainly go down the performance side of things, I mean,
mums and artists, so that's a fairly logical, you know,
influence on on my direction on the visual art side
of things. And I had amazing tuition at school. It
was very very lucky Rangruru. We had amazing tutors and
(07:16):
facilities there which kind of nurtured things, but certainly on
the acting front, I don't know. I had a great
drama teacher at Win was sort of school, believe it
or not, all of twelve or fifteen of us in
the school. We had a local one of the local
sort of parents or grandparents actually, she came into a
bit of drama with us, NICKI Tripp and she was
(07:38):
just so fun and so cool, and it does it
really did sit with me. I think we did these
fun little Christmas concerts. I'm sure they were painful to
sit through for the parents, but we loved it. And
they were always kind of comedy based and silly and
play for and I think it there was that thing
of I mean, I hate talking as Amelia, but I'm
(07:59):
very happy to you know, learn some lines, embody another character,
and make people laugh. I mean, I love love making
people laugh. I mean, it's the most wonderful thing, you know,
when you do it just organically, but when you can
actually practice that and get your feedback right there from
a life performance, you're getting your feedback immediately. The joke
(08:20):
didn't work, we go back rewrite it, and you know,
that's where we've been so lucky with the Bitch's Box,
we've been able to kind of polish and hone on
the road. But then I guess, yeah, heading off to
Warning School, I was again like suddenly this tiny wee
fish in these big ponds, and I got really super
shy again and didn't put myself forward for much stuff.
And it was one show in fourth form yet where
(08:45):
they sort of did an open audition kind of thing
and it was a comedy and I was like, ah, yeah,
I'll give it a go. And then I had amazing
directors and support there which really kind of nurtured things,
and on we went, and it was Yeah, I think
it certainly a surprised mum and dad that I was
that way and climbed in terms, you know, that that
(09:06):
was such a passion because they didn't necessarily come naturally.
I wasn't an out there kind of kid. But but yeah,
I really do love it. I do think actually being
a little bit more reserved can really help enacting. You're
an actor, you know, you probably observe a weet bit
more and you were on trying to sit back and
(09:27):
just sort of yeah, see the way other people are
and perform and that sort of thing. And then and
then use that and new characters later on.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
I feel like you just described my childhood because we
also had a drama teacher who was incredible. I was
not a teacher who was a parent of a friend exact,
and we did the same things the Christmas concerts, which
were terrible.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
What funny? Oh, you know in that very hall that you.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Then came and presented in you're and Emma visited? Are
so speaking of Butcher's Box and Emma? I want to
hear the story of how this all came about. So
how did you set this up? How did you meet
and decide to connect in with Emma, who the two
(10:14):
of you are just incredible together. And what does that
evolution look like over the years, because I know that
it's been quite a while now that you've had the
Bitch's Box and there's been different things. Is that the
right way to describe it over the years? So tell
us a bit about that story.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Okay, Well this I like to call this my sliding
doors moment. I so nearly didn't go this way and
it has been such a huge part of my life since.
So basically I was living in Auckland, I was painting,
which is kind of ticking along. I was starting to
get a little bit more recognition, and that front was good.
(10:52):
But I was really up there because I was doing
an acting class, amazing it acting class with Max Ciscente,
just to really try and get into the acting scene
out there. But I found it incredibly hard to crack, say,
the theater scene. It's sort of and you kind of
once you ran your sort of no One and you're fine,
but it's very hard to kind of get noticed and
(11:12):
get seen. And so I said to myself, right, the
next thing that comes along, I just I just have
to say yes to it, even if it's scary. I
just have to just to have yes moment. And then
I got this call from a friend who said they
were organizing an evening called Stranger Things, and it was
where they paired up strangers at twelve different strangers from
(11:35):
totally you know, varying creative persuasions. So there was a
trapeze artist, there was a filmmaker, there was the actor Emma,
there was the artist Amelia and you and the other
ridiculous thing. Emma was actually living in the UK at
the time. She'd been away for ten years and she
had won a trip through Marmite to come home. She'd
(11:56):
won a competition, so she was just back in music
for a couple of months and she got asked to
do it as well. We got paired up and it was, ah,
I mean, the rest is history. It was. It was
such a beautiful thing. It was a hilarious blind date
and kind of going, oh, so what are you into?
Shall we do a should we do a comedy thing?
I love comedy too, my god. I love the idea
of talking animals me too, Okay, And I'd just actually
(12:20):
seen the show Waiting for Godo down here in christ
Church with Saren McKellen, and I just really loved the
idea of not a lot happening. But it was if
you know the show, it's it's a brilliant, brilliant piece,
but nothing really, you know, the story doesn't massively progress.
And so that's kind of where the first ten minute
(12:40):
iteration of the Bitch's Box came from. So where were
we basically got on stage really sort of vamped up, looking,
you know, like a red light district, basically talking very
candidly about sex and urges and all these things. And
at the end of the ten minute we sort of
it was revealed that we're actually dogs on heat in
the bitch box, and so I was like, that was
kind of the punchline, but it was just a really
(13:04):
funny thing to explore, like what would a bitch think
about if she was loved in pitch box for all
those days? And what would you do a while away
at the time, And so, yeah, somebody after the show
said that was really fun. I think you should develop
it into a full length piece, which we did and
(13:25):
first time writing or devising for me. Emma had done
a little bit more. I mean, she's like a fourth
generation actor, so it's very much in her, in her bones,
that girl, and she's absolutely brilliant. But we, yeah, have
it's been a real learning journey the whole way through.
We've you know, we've written this piece together and then
(13:46):
we toured it. We were like, oh, the most logical
place to perform a rural dog comedy would be a woolshed, right, Okay, Yeah,
we'll get a in an audience of maybe thirty that
would be great, and we'll perform with Mel Parsons, who's
a really old friend of mine, the singer songwriter. We'll
do a double bill evening and then we were just
(14:07):
going away by the support we got. You know, the
first show we did was in wind Whistles, so we
definitely had the backing of the home crowd, but we
had I think we sold out about one hundred and fifty.
Oh my gosh, this is terrifying. And then we did
it just hilarious naivety and ambition in that first time.
We booked a twenty date tour for our first ever
(14:28):
tour all around the South Islands, and then we did
the North after that, so it was five shows a week,
incredibly grueling. My poor husband then boyfriend was the roadie,
the MC, the barm and he had to drive us
and listen to us, kind of bending back and forward
between every show, going oh we need to change this joke,
(14:50):
or that one's not quite landing, or it was yeah,
it's a real time. But anyway, I didn't scare him
off too much, but he certainly never came on the
road again.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
I love this and actually one of the things I
found really neat so I heard the story of the
first tour. So my parents went to that first North
Island tour and we they told me about it. It
was creation, all the things and then obviously made this
connection with you through Real Women New Zealand and then
(15:21):
found out that you were coming back to my hometown
with your new show. So tell me about how the
I suppose just how do you develop these themes because
the second theme is all about circus dogs, and.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
How the third one? Sorry, yes, but how did it
then developed?
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Were so Emma and I The way we kind of
work is, I'm sure lots of different writers have different
styles and things, but we'll kind of get together and
really often will come with characters that we want to
play with, but also just really trying to delve into
all the corners of dog. So it's like, you know,
you want to look at all the different drivers that
(16:07):
a dog hits, so it's like, you know, food, sex, play,
and then all the different jobs and the different sort
of owners that come with those dogs and sort of
profile the owner I suppose through the dog. So yeah,
the first one is very much based on the farm.
So it was the two bitches and then the there
was the house dog. There was the old retired pig dog,
(16:30):
beaten up pig dog. He was a glorious he dribbled everywhere,
and then there was these two Jack Russell what we
call the diesel dogs. You know, I don't know if
you have an experience of this, but growing up, I'd
always would always be, you know, the tractor driver would
always have, you know, a little dog in the cab
within or you know, the diesel dog. It's always like
on the motorbiker. It's in the front seat of the
(16:50):
ute with his little grubby paws up on the dish,
that sort of thing. And so they had these two
little narrators of the first show. They went through to
the second show and so that was some of a
bitch and then their story was about the day they
got taken off to town, which was really thrilling and
exciting to begin with, and then they got to meet
all these amazing heightened town dogs, you know, these very
(17:14):
full on characters. But then they actually spoiler alert, they
got there. They were newted that day, so there was
a trauma wrapped up in that one. But that was
the second show and then the third show. Yeah, as
you said, we went really left field with this one,
and we had some freedom camping X circus dogs from Switzerland,
(17:38):
really really terrible accents. But yeah, again we just were
like we just played around for ages with these improvising
different characters and different things, and sort of landed on
that and then had to find a sort of a
central place I guess where you could then meet other dogs,
(17:58):
and so it wound up being the the petrol station
or you know, the local garage where the Freedom camping
wagon had broken down, and so that's why these dogs
are there, and then they got to meet all the
dogs that passed through the gas station.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
It's such a you depict such classic scenes like I
remember that being the real feedback from the original one
that my parents attended, and it is just everybody relates.
So if you're in a rural area, you relate to
the local gas station with the cattle truck going past,
and you know this and that, and then you get
the odd sort of posh person with their dog and
(18:36):
you know, yeah, it is fantastic. What I am interested in,
just slightly change in subject, is you have two very
creative outlets, So you have your art and you have
your performance I suppose, and that the show kind of
and being on the road and things like that. How
do the two of these balance and how does that
(18:57):
actually fit in as well with your family? And I
imagine it can be quite chaotic at times. How does
that how does that come together for you?
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Yeah, No, you're absolutely right. I think that's actually the
perfect balance for me, because you know, the performance is
very you know, it's very outward, it's very kind of extroverted.
I suppose you know, you're always meeting people. It's it's
it's busy and it's full on, whereas the art is
such a a haven and a sort of a solitary
(19:28):
place where I can just go and listen to a
podcast and create, and I feel like it's it's sort
of it's almost like it's less considered, it's more organic,
like if I'm yeah, it just sort of if I'm
in the right zone, it just sort of comes out
and it feels really fulfilling and sort of peaceful. Actually
found a really brought it home for me over lockdown
(19:52):
because I couldn't get that sort of quiet time and
a wee bit of reboot for Amelia time because the
kids were home and Tom was an essential essential worker
as a beekeeper, so I was I found that after
six weeks of not actually getting that reprieve of just
a little bit of quiet time in the studio, I was,
you know, really brought it home to me that I
(20:14):
do need that sort of that balance and that sort
of decompression, you know, chill time. So I feel incredibly
lucky that the two things I love doing and the
two things that I earned from are actually incredibly complimentary.
Because when I've been in the studio for months on
the end, I'm like just a little itch to get
back on the stage, and then vice versa. When I'm
(20:37):
at the end of a tour, I'm like, oh, I
can't wait to just get back and chill at home.
But I mean, the biggest one really is family life,
and I've been very lucky that I can be a
very present mum. My way one Rollo has he's just
gone to school, so I finally got a bit more
space in my days. But for a while there it
was maybe one or two days a week max where
(20:59):
I could actually my own stuff. But you know, I
was really fortunate to have him around, or both of
them around, you know, when they were little. So it's
all a juggle as a mum, isn't it. But it's
also I've decided this year it's a bit more about
you know, actually doing those putting myself first time actually
(21:19):
put scheduling in some regular exercise, which I think is
is really nice and it's just I'm a better human
for it, really, But it also means that the creative
stuff can kind of come out more easily. Sometimes it
can feel a bit forced if you're like, right, we've
got oh, I've got half a day and I have
to get this done. It's just like, oh, I can
(21:40):
feel quite hard. But yeah, it's feeling pretty good. Twenty
twenty three so far.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Yeah, I love it. And I've heard as well that you.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Are potentially going to explore the big screen in some way, yes,
and that you may also be wanting smithsiftant with it
from a financial perspective. I'm interested in what this might
look like because we've actually talked about it a little
bit of off air. But tell me a bit about
(22:12):
the next project here and what you're sort of wanting
to achieve with it, because I think it's just bloody awesome.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Yeah. Well, we're so lucky, but we got we're working
with rialto they've actually asked, you know, to partner with
us to create a fature film of the Bitch's Box.
So this past year, Emma and I have been learning
rapidly how to write a screenplay. It's quite different than there,
(22:39):
I'll have you know. And again that process has felt
like wading through a treacle at times, but then ultimately
really rewarding, where I think we're a fifth draft. We
just completed last weekend, and I'm pretty sure we're nearly there.
They might be some tweaks and changes, but I think
this is this is it, and we're actually looking to
(23:00):
shoot in August, so it's very much underway. But we still, yeah,
we do have a financial shortfall that we get to meet,
but we know that, we know that we can get there,
and we will get there. It's a bit of a
random one to sort of go to companies and say, look,
would you like to invest in the film when they're
not sort of used to being approached by that. But
(23:21):
I about that sort of thing, but I think we
feel so strongly that it is a really necessary thing
for the rural community a to sort of to see
themselves represented in an authentic but lighthearted and fun and
silly way. You know, it's not country Calendar, which is
(23:42):
beautiful and I love it, and it's not you know,
it's obviously there really isn't any other fictional rural stuff
out there, and so, and we don't certainly don't want
it to be a caricaturer of rural New Zealand. We
want these characters to feel sort of recognizable, but albeit
via dogs. So, but we also know that the communities
(24:04):
that have supported us over the past decade are always
so so supportive and amazing and hungry for more, you know,
So we do want to take the film back to
those communities and sort of recreate those Wallsheed shows. But
we can obviously get to so many more people at
the same time when there's when it's on screen and
(24:24):
it's not just us turning up in the flesh. So yeah,
we know that it's having a laugh is pretty needed
right now in the rural sector. So we know it's
just something that's worthwhile doing.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
And I remember you saying somewhere that you set out
to have a community minded show to give rural people
a reason to get together. And I remember when you
finished your show out at Kenihako, which is where I'm from,
and my mum actually helped organize it, and she said
at the end, please don't go home, come and connect
(24:59):
with the rest of your community, and it's such a
powerful thing to bring people together, have a laugh, often,
have some food, a couple of drinks, and then facilitate
those conversations that we know everybody needs to have, those
those connection points and it's so important for rural people
to get off the farm, and you're creating an opportunity
(25:20):
for that, which is fantastic.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Well, yeah, we were kind of we sort of did
it by accident, I guess, because we're like, we want
to take our show on the road, but then it
just became so apparent that it's just so needed. And yeah,
I mean that's what's been the most amazing and rewarding
thing about it is just the kind of the event,
the space that creates for all these other connections to happen,
(25:45):
and yeah, checking in with each other and especially in
these tougher times.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Absolutely, I'm going to pivot slightly now and ask a
little bit about this connection with a woman because obviously we.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Now have you into our fold and we will not
let you go.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
So can you tell our listeners a little bit about
your Real Woman Business Awards experience, because it's something that
seems to have been able to give our businesses, our
rural businesses led and developed by women, more of a
platform and also a way to celebrate success.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Yeah, well it was amazing. I actually probably I didn't
quite realize what I was in for, as you probably
saw in my incredibly poorly rehearsed speech, but I was
not prepared. But it was It was just incredible to
see the kind of caliber of you know, things happening
(26:53):
out there, of what women are doing in the rural sector,
but just so so much energy and so much diversity
in you know, what they're doing and the way they're
you know, making stuff happen in these corners of New Zealand.
It was it was super inspiring, and that's why I
really was absolutely gobsmacked that I somehow got that would
(27:16):
but it was very very cool. I yeah, I absolutely
love the experience.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
I've got another interesting question, because I love that you
mentioned earlier your whole family has come back to the
farm and after perhaps a little bit of time away,
and I'm sort of a bit interested in the differences
between when you grew up in Windwhistle and as a
child and what life is like for your children in
(27:43):
the same place, and sort of how that's evolved over time.
Because I think there'll be some things that sort of
will never change, but there'll be some things that are
quite different.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
To when you were you were young.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Yeah, it's funny. I mean, I think that was probably
the biggest draw for coming home was just we'd had
such a wonderful childhood and I think, wouldn't that be
the most amazing thing to give our kids, you know,
this amazing chance to grow up on the land in
a really lovely, warm, supportive community. It's certainly I think
(28:18):
when people come to Winist School or to win So,
they think it probably does have a bit of a
nostalgic feel of like how it used to be. It's
very because there's only two classrooms twenty six kids, I think,
and you know, they all play across the age groups
and they will work together, and it's and parents have
(28:38):
a really large involvement, which I know as soon as
you go on to bigger schools that can suddenly you
don't and you're not so involved. Like I've got to
go and take a cross country training next week, so
I'm slightly worried I might have to go for a
training run myself. But but you know, just there is
that amazing connection between the different generations as well, you know,
(29:01):
like the grandparents involved. We have to do big fundraising
events just to keep the school going, you know, to
keep the second teachers and that sort of thing employed,
and so there's a huge amount of If everyone kind
of mucking in and it's such a key part of
a little rural community, the school, you know it, it
suddenly makes it an attractive place for people to come
(29:23):
and work if they've got families. You know, you'd be
It would be such a loss if we lost it,
because there is really nothing else. There's a garage and
that's it. So I think I wouldn't. It doesn't feel
overly different to me in a funny way. So when
I was there, it still feels that same warm, supportive,
(29:45):
fun that very rural little school in place to learn,
which is really neat.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
I think, you know, some things never change those values,
and in the sense of mucking in and doing things.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Together, which is a it's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
One of the other things I'm curious about for you,
given that you've had a lot of different projects, you've
been away from a real setting, You've had some success
with this sort of new project that's never really been
done before you've experienced success with your art, What is
the most fulfilling or proudest moment you've had in your life?
Speaker 4 (30:23):
And why, oh that's a big one in a creative sense, I.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Think, so yeah, I'm interested.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
Oh my goodness, I suppose there's been a lot. I
think there's there's always been ambition, obviously, because we've kind of,
you know, I've just kind of kept doing my thing,
and so I've always felt that I could do it.
But then anytime it's been recognized, either you know, in
a painting sale or in an award or a positive review,
(30:55):
it always kind of, you know, catches me off guard
and oh my god, yes, wow, really are you sure?
And you get this sort of impostera syndrome creeping in.
But probably one that really sticks out actually was when
we took the show to Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The incredible, dynamic, intense,
crazy month that is Edinburgh Fringe and we so you
(31:19):
perform every single day, and when you're not performing, you're
out there sort of spooking shows. You're trying to get
people to come along. And when you're not doing that,
before you show, you're seeing shows. So there's entertainment going
from sort of ten in the morning till three or
four the next morning. So there's just so much amazingness
on offer all the time. And so we'd been going
(31:42):
pretty hard on all fronts and we've been getting some
good numbers through the door, but we weren't quite selling
out yet. Anyway, I'd gone home because I'd just come
down for this horrible, nasty virus and I was exhausted
and just felt crook and and I just I don't know,
feeling away but homesick. And it was all about And anyway,
(32:04):
we woke up the next morning to a five star
review in The Times and it was you know, it
was someone who doesn't often come and review the French shows,
but it was Libby Purvs, one of the main theater
reviewers so normally you know, reviewing down in London and
those sorts of things, and she gave us by star.
She was clearly a dog lover, which really landed. She
(32:28):
played into our hands. But it was just this moment
of oh my goodness, and we're on the front of
the paper and everything. We you know, woke up to
this really unexpected high from feeling kind of you know,
it felt crashingly low the night before, So that will
always sit with me as a as a pretty special
moment that suddenly our funny, super specific rural comedy from
(32:49):
New Zealand had actually been really warmly received in the UK.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
Yes, and deservedly post up on Life, I love it.
I think, yeah, it's it is such a unique thing,
and I'm interested in probably beyond the film which we've
talked about, and perhaps another tour of your current show.
What's the What does the future look like for you
creatively in both spaces because there will be some changes
(33:20):
over time, and obviously COVID will have had a bit
of an impact as well on both the creative process
and the performance in both arts.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
What does that look like for you in the next
felve months?
Speaker 4 (33:32):
Yeah, well, we certainly do. We the film, funnily enough,
has come before we thought, if you know what I mean,
we actually were planning a TV show and we got
this film opportunity. So sure, okay that we still have
you know, scripts and plans for a for more of
(33:54):
a kind of sketch comedy TV show of the dog
characters and things, and we have lofty ambitions that that
will go. You know, it could be sort of franchised perhaps,
you know the way the office was and you know
picked up around the world. You know, everyone can play
dogs global takeover that kind of thing. So certainly we
will keep pushing that. I mean, Emma and I are
(34:16):
very very lucky in that we work well together and
you know, I really complimentary kind of comedy and performers,
I guess. But also she's one of my dearest, dearest
best friends, and so I can't see the working relationship
ending really, which is pretty cool. And then you're with
(34:36):
my art. It's a funny one. I feel like I
haven't properly sort of set with it for ages to
really push it, and I think that that is definitely
there on the horizon for me. So but it's one
of those things. I'm like, I can paint forever, and
I don't feel like I have to crack on and
do it now, whereas I do. There's sort of a
momentum with the Butcher's Box that we want to keep
(34:58):
on with it and you know, keep creating while there
is an interest. But then certainly with my art, I'm like,
I will always do that. You know, it's always going
to be a creative outlet. That fills me with joy,
and so I'll just do it all the day.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
I die amazing, amazing, I am.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
One thing that just comes to mind, actually, is how
do we and our listeners support you, because both of
what you're doing is quite well, it's creative, but so
it's different, and it's sort of you know, you're selling
something like a product, and you go follow the face
page and buy our thing.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
You're very unique in both.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
Accounts, So how do we support your co propper basically?
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Thank you? Well, yeah, absolutely, I mean I guess yeah,
as you say. Instagram and Facebook, Amelia Guild is my
handle on that and so anything that I'm doing will
be updated there, and it certainly helps. The more people
that know, the more people that can share and spread
the word. But yeah, the Bitch's Box, which I know
(36:02):
is a problematic title in itself, but we will keep
forging on as long as we can. The company's office
didn't like that, so we have a different for that.
But we I think it's just we do need to
be quite you know, front footed. We probably aren't in
the rural community. We don't sort of share and push
(36:23):
it out there as much as because I don't know,
I feel like we tend to sort of you want
to sit back and let things speak for themselves. But
anytime you can get the word out there of what
we're doing or follow, like, comment, subscribe. No we don't
have a YouTube channel, sorry, but when we have the movie,
please come, please come along and just yeah, enjoy the
(36:49):
thing that we've made, but also enjoy your community and
catching up with your neighbors. And yeah, hopefully we create
a reason for you guys to do that.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
I love it. When do you think the movie might
be hitting screens? Rightly?
Speaker 4 (37:04):
Certainly plan to have it out this year, at the
other end of this year. So, I mean, there's a
few things that need to come together, but that is
absolutely the intention by let's say early summer.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Love it, Love it. Amelia.
Speaker 3 (37:22):
Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.
I liked you immediately when I saw your red boots
on the Business Awards evening, and I like you even
more the more time I spend with you. It's just
a real privilege to talk through your life and your
creative pursuits and actually just explore some of these really funny,
fun little stories that have made up your success. So
(37:46):
thank you for being an inspiration in a space that's
quite unknown really and probably not put forward maybe enough
in the community, but I just yeah, having a bit
of laugh and enjoy is just fantastic.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
Thanks so much, and it's so it's so appreciated to
be sort of recognized for the things you know that
I love doing and to yeah, for spreading the word.
So thank you.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Right, So, if you've enjoyed this chat and the others
that we've held were fantastic real women, then please support
us by joining the fold.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Just see through our website Rural womanz dot in zed
or check out the show notes, sign up and be
part of shaping future generations for women in rural New Zealand.
Welcome to the Black Hills and Tractor Wheels podcast, where
we are sharing stories from a range of women from
around New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
For nearly a century, Rural Women New Zealand has been
dedicated to strengthening and supporting women and children to become
empowered members of their communities.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
We hope that by hearing these stories from inspiring women
all around the country, you'll feel inspired yourself.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
We're your hosts, Emma Higgins and Clan Williamson and would
love for you to join and subscribe to our podcast
so you don't miss our rural stories. Amazing Amelia, thank
you so much for joining us today on the Black
Hills and Tract Wheels podcast. This one is super exciting
for me for a couple of reasons. One that you
(00:51):
are our supreme winner for our ended i Ral Woman
Business Awards for twenty twenty two, and the second is
that you drove the entire high away to my hometown
and presented to my community, which was very very special.
So we'll talk a little bit about that later, but
thank you and welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Thank you so much for having me. It's very cool.
It's a bit awkward having to talk about myself, but hey, we.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
All need to do that from time to time.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
So my first question is we kind of ask you
to cast your mind back for a couple of years
to your upbringing, your childhood, what you learned, what you did,
how you grew, how you felt, and sort of paint
a wee bit of a picture and a story for
us of the young Amelia and how she grew up
(01:42):
to be an amazing actress living in a gorgeous place
in the South Island, married to a lovely man with
two small children.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Yep, oh okay, Oh my goodness, Well it's so fun.
I love that you said, only a couple of years ago,
cash your mind back. Yeah, yeah, it was just so young. Yeah.
So I grew up in whind was still where I
still where I live now. I mean, obviously I've had
time away in between, but yeah, gorgeous farm upbringing, I
(02:12):
feel when I think back, I mean, it was it
was a charmed existence really. You know. We went to
a little country school. I've got two older brothers. We
we you know, did a lot of horse riding while
I did. They didn't so much. You know, we've got
to work on the farm every holiday, so we got
to you know, get a good sense of or you know,
(02:34):
earning your own money, but also a decent kind of
work ethic instilled from quite a young age, I think,
and I just yeah, I mean wonderful community. I absolutely
love it here so close to the mountains, so I've
spent a lot of my life skiing, and then really
not too far to whip through to the coast or
(02:54):
to christ Church if you really want. So, yeah, I
absolutely loved it, and I think probably because it was
so good, and maybe because we got sent off to
boarding school a little bit young. We've all actually come home.
Well you always tell mom and dad that you sent
us the way too soon. So we're all back here.
So my brothers are also back working on their farm
(03:14):
on the farm Storry with their families as well. So
we've got tourism, farming and bee keeping all sort of
happening off the one land asset with your mum and
dad still here as well too. So yeah, it's pretty
wholesome love that.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
I actually really like the idea of these multiple yet
land uses.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I think that's really neat.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Tell me a little bit about the tourism part of it,
How does that work?
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Yeah, so I think that's I mean, it's obviously such
a huge issue for any landowners. They've got multiple children
suddenly going, oh my godness, we've got this single land asset.
How on earth do you sort it out in the future.
I mean, the fairest thing would probably just be slid
and move on. But everyone's got such a strong connection
to the to the place that you know, Mum and
(04:03):
Dad were always really open with us and very very fair.
I think because I was quite a stroppy, youngest, youngest
child and the younger girl. I wanted to be treated
like the boys. I wanted to go and get the
same jobs out on the farmers them. I didn't want
to stay home and do the ironing, and so he
was always dead specifically when he talked about the farm.
(04:26):
It was never that, you know, it went to one
in particular, and so I think, I mean, certainly, when
I decided at quite a young age that I wanted
to be an actress and an artist, that didn't really
fit with coming back to the land. But we've all
had a really strong connection to it. And so sorry,
I just winded back to your question about the tourism.
I can't it must have been about twenty five years ago.
(04:47):
Because it's a high country station, not all of the
land is really highly productive. About four and a half
thousand acres was ring fenced for a game hunting tourism operation.
And then my eldest brother, Simon, he came back ten
fifteen years ago to to sort of take that over
and really take it up a notch, and he's done
(05:09):
an incredible job. I mean, the last few years have
been brutal with no border openings, so that was pretty rough.
But we're setting me back into full swing at the moment,
and so that's one part of it. But we're also
doing We've actually recently got a fleet of Ubco bikes,
so we're doing the yeah, sort of tourism that way.
(05:30):
We've got a big, beautiful, big new boardroom that overlooks
the woolshead and sheetyards and so we can host conferences
and yeah, there's there's sort of a lot of different
things going on, which is cool.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
I feel a rural New Zealand board meeting coming at
High Pech Station that would be.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Okay. So we talked a little bit about your early childhood.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Now I'm really interested in how you got into this
creative acting phase, because I feel that you're both visual
art and creative acting based art great way of describing
it is a real part of you, and it has
(06:15):
been a part of you for a long time. And
I'm really interested in the process that I suppose happened,
in the evolution.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Of how that kind of came about.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I'm assuming that you were a really fun child learning
to act and sing and dance and do wonderful painting
and art.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
It's well, no, I can absolutely correct you on that.
I was shy, a really shy little kid. I mean
I used to get called smiles I think when I
was little because I just smiled and didn't say a lot.
And I was you know, I was terrified of talking class.
I mean, I still go read if people talk to me,
you know, in a public setting, it's ridiculous. I have
(06:53):
absolutely an idea what is in me that made me
certainly go down the performance side of things, I mean,
mums and artists, so that's a fairly logical, you know,
influence on on my direction on the visual art side
of things. And I had amazing tuition at school. It
was very very lucky Rangruru. We had amazing tutors and
(07:16):
facilities there which kind of nurtured things, but certainly on
the acting front, I don't know. I had a great
drama teacher at Win was sort of school, believe it
or not, all of twelve or fifteen of us in
the school. We had a local one of the local
sort of parents or grandparents actually, she came into a
bit of drama with us, NICKI Tripp and she was
(07:38):
just so fun and so cool, and it does it
really did sit with me. I think we did these
fun little Christmas concerts. I'm sure they were painful to
sit through for the parents, but we loved it. And
they were always kind of comedy based and silly and
play for and I think it there was that thing
of I mean, I hate talking as Amelia, but I'm
(07:59):
very happy to you know, learn some lines, embody another character,
and make people laugh. I mean, I love love making
people laugh. I mean, it's the most wonderful thing, you know,
when you do it just organically, but when you can
actually practice that and get your feedback right there from
a life performance, you're getting your feedback immediately. The joke
(08:20):
didn't work, we go back rewrite it, and you know,
that's where we've been so lucky with the Bitch's Box,
we've been able to kind of polish and hone on
the road. But then I guess, yeah, heading off to
Warning School, I was again like suddenly this tiny wee
fish in these big ponds, and I got really super
shy again and didn't put myself forward for much stuff.
And it was one show in fourth form yet where
(08:45):
they sort of did an open audition kind of thing
and it was a comedy and I was like, ah, yeah,
I'll give it a go. And then I had amazing
directors and support there which really kind of nurtured things,
and on we went, and it was Yeah, I think
it certainly a surprised mum and dad that I was
that way and climbed in terms, you know, that that
(09:06):
was such a passion because they didn't necessarily come naturally.
I wasn't an out there kind of kid. But but yeah,
I really do love it. I do think actually being
a little bit more reserved can really help enacting. You're
an actor, you know, you probably observe a weet bit
more and you were on trying to sit back and
(09:27):
just sort of yeah, see the way other people are
and perform and that sort of thing. And then and
then use that and new characters later on.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
I feel like you just described my childhood because we
also had a drama teacher who was incredible. I was
not a teacher who was a parent of a friend exact,
and we did the same things the Christmas concerts, which
were terrible.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
What funny? Oh, you know in that very hall that you.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Then came and presented in you're and Emma visited? Are
so speaking of Butcher's Box and Emma? I want to
hear the story of how this all came about. So
how did you set this up? How did you meet
and decide to connect in with Emma, who the two
(10:14):
of you are just incredible together. And what does that
evolution look like over the years, because I know that
it's been quite a while now that you've had the
Bitch's Box and there's been different things. Is that the
right way to describe it over the years? So tell
us a bit about that story.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Okay, Well this I like to call this my sliding
doors moment. I so nearly didn't go this way and
it has been such a huge part of my life since.
So basically I was living in Auckland, I was painting,
which is kind of ticking along. I was starting to
get a little bit more recognition, and that front was good.
(10:52):
But I was really up there because I was doing
an acting class, amazing it acting class with Max Ciscente,
just to really try and get into the acting scene
out there. But I found it incredibly hard to crack, say,
the theater scene. It's sort of and you kind of
once you ran your sort of no One and you're fine,
but it's very hard to kind of get noticed and
(11:12):
get seen. And so I said to myself, right, the
next thing that comes along, I just I just have
to say yes to it, even if it's scary. I
just have to just to have yes moment. And then
I got this call from a friend who said they
were organizing an evening called Stranger Things, and it was
where they paired up strangers at twelve different strangers from
(11:35):
totally you know, varying creative persuasions. So there was a
trapeze artist, there was a filmmaker, there was the actor Emma,
there was the artist Amelia and you and the other
ridiculous thing. Emma was actually living in the UK at
the time. She'd been away for ten years and she
had won a trip through Marmite to come home. She'd
(11:56):
won a competition, so she was just back in music
for a couple of months and she got asked to
do it as well. We got paired up and it was, ah,
I mean, the rest is history. It was. It was
such a beautiful thing. It was a hilarious blind date
and kind of going, oh, so what are you into?
Shall we do a should we do a comedy thing?
I love comedy too, my god. I love the idea
of talking animals me too, Okay, And I'd just actually
(12:20):
seen the show Waiting for Godo down here in christ
Church with Saren McKellen, and I just really loved the
idea of not a lot happening. But it was if
you know the show, it's it's a brilliant, brilliant piece,
but nothing really, you know, the story doesn't massively progress.
And so that's kind of where the first ten minute
(12:40):
iteration of the Bitch's Box came from. So where were
we basically got on stage really sort of vamped up, looking,
you know, like a red light district, basically talking very
candidly about sex and urges and all these things. And
at the end of the ten minute we sort of
it was revealed that we're actually dogs on heat in
the bitch box, and so I was like, that was
kind of the punchline, but it was just a really
(13:04):
funny thing to explore, like what would a bitch think
about if she was loved in pitch box for all
those days? And what would you do a while away
at the time, And so, yeah, somebody after the show
said that was really fun. I think you should develop
it into a full length piece, which we did and
(13:25):
first time writing or devising for me. Emma had done
a little bit more. I mean, she's like a fourth
generation actor, so it's very much in her, in her bones,
that girl, and she's absolutely brilliant. But we, yeah, have
it's been a real learning journey the whole way through.
We've you know, we've written this piece together and then
(13:46):
we toured it. We were like, oh, the most logical
place to perform a rural dog comedy would be a woolshed, right, Okay, Yeah,
we'll get a in an audience of maybe thirty that
would be great, and we'll perform with Mel Parsons, who's
a really old friend of mine, the singer songwriter. We'll
do a double bill evening and then we were just
(14:07):
going away by the support we got. You know, the
first show we did was in wind Whistles, so we
definitely had the backing of the home crowd, but we
had I think we sold out about one hundred and fifty.
Oh my gosh, this is terrifying. And then we did
it just hilarious naivety and ambition in that first time.
We booked a twenty date tour for our first ever
(14:28):
tour all around the South Islands, and then we did
the North after that, so it was five shows a week,
incredibly grueling. My poor husband then boyfriend was the roadie,
the MC, the barm and he had to drive us
and listen to us, kind of bending back and forward
between every show, going oh we need to change this joke,
(14:50):
or that one's not quite landing, or it was yeah,
it's a real time. But anyway, I didn't scare him
off too much, but he certainly never came on the
road again.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
I love this and actually one of the things I
found really neat so I heard the story of the
first tour. So my parents went to that first North
Island tour and we they told me about it. It
was creation, all the things and then obviously made this
connection with you through Real Women New Zealand and then
(15:21):
found out that you were coming back to my hometown
with your new show. So tell me about how the
I suppose just how do you develop these themes because
the second theme is all about circus dogs, and.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
How the third one? Sorry, yes, but how did it
then developed?
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Were so Emma and I The way we kind of
work is, I'm sure lots of different writers have different
styles and things, but we'll kind of get together and
really often will come with characters that we want to
play with, but also just really trying to delve into
all the corners of dog. So it's like, you know,
you want to look at all the different drivers that
(16:07):
a dog hits, so it's like, you know, food, sex, play,
and then all the different jobs and the different sort
of owners that come with those dogs and sort of
profile the owner I suppose through the dog. So yeah,
the first one is very much based on the farm.
So it was the two bitches and then the there
was the house dog. There was the old retired pig dog,
(16:30):
beaten up pig dog. He was a glorious he dribbled everywhere,
and then there was these two Jack Russell what we
call the diesel dogs. You know, I don't know if
you have an experience of this, but growing up, I'd
always would always be, you know, the tractor driver would
always have, you know, a little dog in the cab
within or you know, the diesel dog. It's always like
on the motorbiker. It's in the front seat of the
(16:50):
ute with his little grubby paws up on the dish,
that sort of thing. And so they had these two
little narrators of the first show. They went through to
the second show and so that was some of a
bitch and then their story was about the day they
got taken off to town, which was really thrilling and
exciting to begin with, and then they got to meet
all these amazing heightened town dogs, you know, these very
(17:14):
full on characters. But then they actually spoiler alert, they
got there. They were newted that day, so there was
a trauma wrapped up in that one. But that was
the second show and then the third show. Yeah, as
you said, we went really left field with this one,
and we had some freedom camping X circus dogs from Switzerland,
(17:38):
really really terrible accents. But yeah, again we just were
like we just played around for ages with these improvising
different characters and different things, and sort of landed on
that and then had to find a sort of a
central place I guess where you could then meet other dogs,
(17:58):
and so it wound up being the the petrol station
or you know, the local garage where the Freedom camping
wagon had broken down, and so that's why these dogs
are there, and then they got to meet all the
dogs that passed through the gas station.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
It's such a you depict such classic scenes like I
remember that being the real feedback from the original one
that my parents attended, and it is just everybody relates.
So if you're in a rural area, you relate to
the local gas station with the cattle truck going past,
and you know this and that, and then you get
the odd sort of posh person with their dog and
(18:36):
you know, yeah, it is fantastic. What I am interested in,
just slightly change in subject, is you have two very
creative outlets, So you have your art and you have
your performance I suppose, and that the show kind of
and being on the road and things like that. How
do the two of these balance and how does that
(18:57):
actually fit in as well with your family? And I
imagine it can be quite chaotic at times. How does
that how does that come together for you?
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Yeah, No, you're absolutely right. I think that's actually the
perfect balance for me, because you know, the performance is
very you know, it's very outward, it's very kind of extroverted.
I suppose you know, you're always meeting people. It's it's
it's busy and it's full on, whereas the art is
such a a haven and a sort of a solitary
(19:28):
place where I can just go and listen to a
podcast and create, and I feel like it's it's sort
of it's almost like it's less considered, it's more organic,
like if I'm yeah, it just sort of if I'm
in the right zone, it just sort of comes out
and it feels really fulfilling and sort of peaceful. Actually
found a really brought it home for me over lockdown
(19:52):
because I couldn't get that sort of quiet time and
a wee bit of reboot for Amelia time because the
kids were home and Tom was an essential essential worker
as a beekeeper, so I was I found that after
six weeks of not actually getting that reprieve of just
a little bit of quiet time in the studio, I was,
you know, really brought it home to me that I
(20:14):
do need that sort of that balance and that sort
of decompression, you know, chill time. So I feel incredibly
lucky that the two things I love doing and the
two things that I earned from are actually incredibly complimentary.
Because when I've been in the studio for months on
the end, I'm like just a little itch to get
back on the stage, and then vice versa. When I'm
(20:37):
at the end of a tour, I'm like, oh, I
can't wait to just get back and chill at home.
But I mean, the biggest one really is family life,
and I've been very lucky that I can be a
very present mum. My way one Rollo has he's just
gone to school, so I finally got a bit more
space in my days. But for a while there it
was maybe one or two days a week max where
(20:59):
I could actually my own stuff. But you know, I
was really fortunate to have him around, or both of
them around, you know, when they were little. So it's
all a juggle as a mum, isn't it. But it's
also I've decided this year it's a bit more about
you know, actually doing those putting myself first time actually
(21:19):
put scheduling in some regular exercise, which I think is
is really nice and it's just I'm a better human
for it, really, But it also means that the creative
stuff can kind of come out more easily. Sometimes it
can feel a bit forced if you're like, right, we've
got oh, I've got half a day and I have
to get this done. It's just like, oh, I can
(21:40):
feel quite hard. But yeah, it's feeling pretty good. Twenty
twenty three so far.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
Yeah, I love it. And I've heard as well that you.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Are potentially going to explore the big screen in some way, yes,
and that you may also be wanting smithsiftant with it
from a financial perspective. I'm interested in what this might
look like because we've actually talked about it a little
bit of off air. But tell me a bit about
(22:12):
the next project here and what you're sort of wanting
to achieve with it, because I think it's just bloody awesome.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Yeah. Well, we're so lucky, but we got we're working
with rialto they've actually asked, you know, to partner with
us to create a fature film of the Bitch's Box.
So this past year, Emma and I have been learning
rapidly how to write a screenplay. It's quite different than there,
(22:39):
I'll have you know. And again that process has felt
like wading through a treacle at times, but then ultimately
really rewarding, where I think we're a fifth draft. We
just completed last weekend, and I'm pretty sure we're nearly there.
They might be some tweaks and changes, but I think
this is this is it, and we're actually looking to
(23:00):
shoot in August, so it's very much underway. But we still, yeah,
we do have a financial shortfall that we get to meet,
but we know that, we know that we can get there,
and we will get there. It's a bit of a
random one to sort of go to companies and say, look,
would you like to invest in the film when they're
not sort of used to being approached by that. But
(23:21):
I about that sort of thing, but I think we
feel so strongly that it is a really necessary thing
for the rural community a to sort of to see
themselves represented in an authentic but lighthearted and fun and
silly way. You know, it's not country Calendar, which is
(23:42):
beautiful and I love it, and it's not you know,
it's obviously there really isn't any other fictional rural stuff
out there, and so, and we don't certainly don't want
it to be a caricaturer of rural New Zealand. We
want these characters to feel sort of recognizable, but albeit
via dogs. So, but we also know that the communities
(24:04):
that have supported us over the past decade are always
so so supportive and amazing and hungry for more, you know,
So we do want to take the film back to
those communities and sort of recreate those Wallsheed shows. But
we can obviously get to so many more people at
the same time when there's when it's on screen and
(24:24):
it's not just us turning up in the flesh. So yeah,
we know that it's having a laugh is pretty needed
right now in the rural sector. So we know it's
just something that's worthwhile doing.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
And I remember you saying somewhere that you set out
to have a community minded show to give rural people
a reason to get together. And I remember when you
finished your show out at Kenihako, which is where I'm from,
and my mum actually helped organize it, and she said
at the end, please don't go home, come and connect
(24:59):
with the rest of your community, and it's such a
powerful thing to bring people together, have a laugh, often,
have some food, a couple of drinks, and then facilitate
those conversations that we know everybody needs to have, those
those connection points and it's so important for rural people
to get off the farm, and you're creating an opportunity
(25:20):
for that, which is fantastic.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Well, yeah, we were kind of we sort of did
it by accident, I guess, because we're like, we want
to take our show on the road, but then it
just became so apparent that it's just so needed. And yeah,
I mean that's what's been the most amazing and rewarding
thing about it is just the kind of the event,
the space that creates for all these other connections to happen,
(25:45):
and yeah, checking in with each other and especially in
these tougher times.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Absolutely, I'm going to pivot slightly now and ask a
little bit about this connection with a woman because obviously we.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Now have you into our fold and we will not
let you go.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
So can you tell our listeners a little bit about
your Real Woman Business Awards experience, because it's something that
seems to have been able to give our businesses, our
rural businesses led and developed by women, more of a
platform and also a way to celebrate success.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Yeah, well it was amazing. I actually probably I didn't
quite realize what I was in for, as you probably
saw in my incredibly poorly rehearsed speech, but I was
not prepared. But it was It was just incredible to
see the kind of caliber of you know, things happening
(26:53):
out there, of what women are doing in the rural sector,
but just so so much energy and so much diversity
in you know, what they're doing and the way they're
you know, making stuff happen in these corners of New Zealand.
It was it was super inspiring, and that's why I
really was absolutely gobsmacked that I somehow got that would
(27:16):
but it was very very cool. I yeah, I absolutely
love the experience.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
I've got another interesting question, because I love that you
mentioned earlier your whole family has come back to the
farm and after perhaps a little bit of time away,
and I'm sort of a bit interested in the differences
between when you grew up in Windwhistle and as a
child and what life is like for your children in
(27:43):
the same place, and sort of how that's evolved over time.
Because I think there'll be some things that sort of
will never change, but there'll be some things that are
quite different.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
To when you were you were young.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Yeah, it's funny. I mean, I think that was probably
the biggest draw for coming home was just we'd had
such a wonderful childhood and I think, wouldn't that be
the most amazing thing to give our kids, you know,
this amazing chance to grow up on the land in
a really lovely, warm, supportive community. It's certainly I think
(28:18):
when people come to Winist School or to win So,
they think it probably does have a bit of a
nostalgic feel of like how it used to be. It's
very because there's only two classrooms twenty six kids, I think,
and you know, they all play across the age groups
and they will work together, and it's and parents have
(28:38):
a really large involvement, which I know as soon as
you go on to bigger schools that can suddenly you
don't and you're not so involved. Like I've got to
go and take a cross country training next week, so
I'm slightly worried I might have to go for a
training run myself. But but you know, just there is
that amazing connection between the different generations as well, you know,
(29:01):
like the grandparents involved. We have to do big fundraising
events just to keep the school going, you know, to
keep the second teachers and that sort of thing employed,
and so there's a huge amount of If everyone kind
of mucking in and it's such a key part of
a little rural community, the school, you know it, it
suddenly makes it an attractive place for people to come
(29:23):
and work if they've got families. You know, you'd be
It would be such a loss if we lost it,
because there is really nothing else. There's a garage and
that's it. So I think I wouldn't. It doesn't feel
overly different to me in a funny way. So when
I was there, it still feels that same warm, supportive,
(29:45):
fun that very rural little school in place to learn,
which is really neat.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
I think, you know, some things never change those values,
and in the sense of mucking in and doing things.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Together, which is a it's pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
One of the other things I'm curious about for you,
given that you've had a lot of different projects, you've
been away from a real setting, You've had some success
with this sort of new project that's never really been
done before you've experienced success with your art, What is
the most fulfilling or proudest moment you've had in your life?
Speaker 4 (30:23):
And why, oh that's a big one in a creative sense, I.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Think, so yeah, I'm interested.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
Oh my goodness, I suppose there's been a lot. I
think there's there's always been ambition, obviously, because we've kind of,
you know, I've just kind of kept doing my thing,
and so I've always felt that I could do it.
But then anytime it's been recognized, either you know, in
a painting sale or in an award or a positive review,
(30:55):
it always kind of, you know, catches me off guard
and oh my god, yes, wow, really are you sure?
And you get this sort of impostera syndrome creeping in.
But probably one that really sticks out actually was when
we took the show to Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The incredible, dynamic, intense,
crazy month that is Edinburgh Fringe and we so you
(31:19):
perform every single day, and when you're not performing, you're
out there sort of spooking shows. You're trying to get
people to come along. And when you're not doing that,
before you show, you're seeing shows. So there's entertainment going
from sort of ten in the morning till three or
four the next morning. So there's just so much amazingness
on offer all the time. And so we'd been going
(31:42):
pretty hard on all fronts and we've been getting some
good numbers through the door, but we weren't quite selling
out yet. Anyway, I'd gone home because I'd just come
down for this horrible, nasty virus and I was exhausted
and just felt crook and and I just I don't know,
feeling away but homesick. And it was all about And anyway,
(32:04):
we woke up the next morning to a five star
review in The Times and it was you know, it
was someone who doesn't often come and review the French shows,
but it was Libby Purvs, one of the main theater
reviewers so normally you know, reviewing down in London and
those sorts of things, and she gave us by star.
She was clearly a dog lover, which really landed. She
(32:28):
played into our hands. But it was just this moment
of oh my goodness, and we're on the front of
the paper and everything. We you know, woke up to
this really unexpected high from feeling kind of you know,
it felt crashingly low the night before, So that will
always sit with me as a as a pretty special
moment that suddenly our funny, super specific rural comedy from
(32:49):
New Zealand had actually been really warmly received in the UK.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
Yes, and deservedly post up on Life, I love it.
I think, yeah, it's it is such a unique thing,
and I'm interested in probably beyond the film which we've
talked about, and perhaps another tour of your current show.
What's the What does the future look like for you
creatively in both spaces because there will be some changes
(33:20):
over time, and obviously COVID will have had a bit
of an impact as well on both the creative process
and the performance in both arts.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
What does that look like for you in the next
felve months?
Speaker 4 (33:32):
Yeah, well, we certainly do. We the film, funnily enough,
has come before we thought, if you know what I mean,
we actually were planning a TV show and we got
this film opportunity. So sure, okay that we still have
you know, scripts and plans for a for more of
(33:54):
a kind of sketch comedy TV show of the dog
characters and things, and we have lofty ambitions that that
will go. You know, it could be sort of franchised perhaps,
you know the way the office was and you know
picked up around the world. You know, everyone can play
dogs global takeover that kind of thing. So certainly we
will keep pushing that. I mean, Emma and I are
(34:16):
very very lucky in that we work well together and
you know, I really complimentary kind of comedy and performers,
I guess. But also she's one of my dearest, dearest
best friends, and so I can't see the working relationship
ending really, which is pretty cool. And then you're with
(34:36):
my art. It's a funny one. I feel like I
haven't properly sort of set with it for ages to
really push it, and I think that that is definitely
there on the horizon for me. So but it's one
of those things. I'm like, I can paint forever, and
I don't feel like I have to crack on and
do it now, whereas I do. There's sort of a
momentum with the Butcher's Box that we want to keep
(34:58):
on with it and you know, keep creating while there
is an interest. But then certainly with my art, I'm like,
I will always do that. You know, it's always going
to be a creative outlet. That fills me with joy,
and so I'll just do it all the day.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
I die amazing, amazing, I am.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
One thing that just comes to mind, actually, is how
do we and our listeners support you, because both of
what you're doing is quite well, it's creative, but so
it's different, and it's sort of you know, you're selling
something like a product, and you go follow the face
page and buy our thing.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
You're very unique in both.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
Accounts, So how do we support your co propper basically?
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Thank you? Well, yeah, absolutely, I mean I guess yeah,
as you say. Instagram and Facebook, Amelia Guild is my
handle on that and so anything that I'm doing will
be updated there, and it certainly helps. The more people
that know, the more people that can share and spread
the word. But yeah, the Bitch's Box, which I know
(36:02):
is a problematic title in itself, but we will keep
forging on as long as we can. The company's office
didn't like that, so we have a different for that.
But we I think it's just we do need to
be quite you know, front footed. We probably aren't in
the rural community. We don't sort of share and push
(36:23):
it out there as much as because I don't know,
I feel like we tend to sort of you want
to sit back and let things speak for themselves. But
anytime you can get the word out there of what
we're doing or follow, like, comment, subscribe. No we don't
have a YouTube channel, sorry, but when we have the movie,
please come, please come along and just yeah, enjoy the
(36:49):
thing that we've made, but also enjoy your community and
catching up with your neighbors. And yeah, hopefully we create
a reason for you guys to do that.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
I love it. When do you think the movie might
be hitting screens? Rightly?
Speaker 4 (37:04):
Certainly plan to have it out this year, at the
other end of this year. So, I mean, there's a
few things that need to come together, but that is
absolutely the intention by let's say early summer.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Love it, Love it. Amelia.
Speaker 3 (37:22):
Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.
I liked you immediately when I saw your red boots
on the Business Awards evening, and I like you even
more the more time I spend with you. It's just
a real privilege to talk through your life and your
creative pursuits and actually just explore some of these really funny,
fun little stories that have made up your success. So
(37:46):
thank you for being an inspiration in a space that's
quite unknown really and probably not put forward maybe enough
in the community, but I just yeah, having a bit
of laugh and enjoy is just fantastic.
Speaker 4 (38:02):
Thanks so much, and it's so it's so appreciated to
be sort of recognized for the things you know that
I love doing and to yeah, for spreading the word.
So thank you.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Right, So, if you've enjoyed this chat and the others
that we've held were fantastic real women, then please support
us by joining the fold.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Just see through our website Rural womanz dot in zed
or check out the show notes, sign up and be
part of shaping future generations for women in rural New Zealand.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.