Speaker: Eliorah Malifa

PLEASE NOTE: This is a hybrid event and will take place in-person as well as on Zoom

Current global screen industry practices continuously take from the Pacific in a manner that is not mutually beneficial (Pendakur, 1990). Between 2015 and 2020, a number of blockbuster Hollywood productions were shot in the Pacific (Adrift, 2018; Jurassic World, 2015; Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, 2018; Jurassic World: Dominion, 2022). Offshore television projects are slowly becoming commonplace in the region. With the exception of Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia and Hawaii, there is not enough local skilled crew in Pacific countries to supplement these productions. This thesis draws on the knowledge of practitioners and stakeholders to Pacific screen, to envisage potential infrastructure for a regional screen industry. This infrastructure will be modelled to rebalance current global screen structures, and create mutual benefit to the global north and south of screen. In this instance the south is representative of the Pacific. This research aims to make a fundamental contribution to scholarship around screen, as a sector of the creative and cultural industries in the Pacific. Regional dialogue on creative and cultural policy, has stalled with the last Regional Cultural Framework reporting published in 2018. Movement on the Cinema Pasifika report has not continued since 2016, with the postponement of the Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC) 2021 Hawaii, at which official meetings of the Council of Pacific Arts and Culture (CPAC) would usually take place. This thesis will reinvigorate and focus these conversations, towards an industry whose stakeholders are actively seeking regional connections, creating ad hoc capacity building opportunities, cultivating career longevity; and innovating channels for cultural maintenance.