Interview with Joe Murdie

Joe Murdie is a seasoned DP and camera operator based in Wānaka, known for his captivating compositions, creative lighting, and deep connection. Recently he oversaw the OB production of the NZ Winter Games and the FIS World Cup. Check out our interview with him and his short doco “snow signal” about the behind the scenes of producing a large scale multi camera production against the elements on the side of a mountain.


What led you to pursuing filmmaking and video production?

From a young kid I pretty much always had a camera in my hand. I've always been pretty obsessed with image capture, I used to shoot so much that I never even did anything with, it was the process of the capture that interested me more so than the finished result.

When I was a teenager I bought a second-hand camcorder for $50 and started shooting skateboarding videos of mates and cutting them on dual VHS recorders. In my 20s I was shooting music videos on a Canon 7D and later a 5D, cutting on an AVID suite I brought off an editor mate, and that somehow progressed to shooting TV Series and News content for TVNZ, Māori TV and others - shooting throughout NZ, AUS, USA and ASIA.

So for a long time it wasn't really even an intentional decision, it was just one thing leading to another and me following my passion of capturing images. I would say it wasn't really until 2016 when I set up what is now Bunker Street Film Co - and we began to produce our own films and shows and run a production company - that I made a conscious decision to pursue the film industry as a career.

What's the good, the bad and the ugly of working in the NZ industry?

Geez. Big question-how long do we have?

I think it depends on what part of the industry you're working in. It's quite segregated now between news, scripted, factual, reality, and commercial, and they all face different issues and have different positives.

New Zealand is a small place population-wise, and for the film industry, that can be both good and bad. We punch above our weight and get sh*t done, and we're known for that. We have world-class technicians, world-class locations, and world-class equipment-all available here. But we do rely on international productions to keep that going. We're not producing enough local content to sustain the industry without international productions coming over. And the local content we do produce doesn't carry the same budgets as the international productions either (for many reasons).

I think we have a bit of a lack of support for regional, 'new and emerging' above-the-line Writers, Producers, and Directors - who want to create New Zealand stories for the screen. There aren't great pathways or support systems still. I guess it's safer to bet on people who are already known. Funding is a real problem – budgets are shrinking even though demand is higher than ever.

The positive of our size is that even though we produce major content for the world here, everyone still knows each other, and sets are fun. It's an exciting industry, and most of the people involved in it are passionate and want to be there. It's a creative industry, and things like pressure and stress are not conducive to creativity.

What sorts of things do you do to bring in new business and attract clients from NZ and abroad?

We've all done a stack of things over the years, but in reality, this is still very much a 'word of mouth' industry. Relationships are the key to success in the film industry, not just here in Aotearoa but worldwide. You get work because of the work you have done and the people you have worked with. From my experience, at least, there are no shortcuts.

New Zealand attracts international clients because of its landscape and its seasonality. We have a unique and diverse landscape in close proximity, and opposing seasons to the northern hemisphere. This means that when Coca-Cola wants to shoot a snowy Christmas commercial in August or September so they can release it in time for the US Christmas, they come here.

How did you get involved with the Winter Games and the FIS World Cup?

I started working with Winter Games NZ about seven years ago as a camera operator. The amazing Sophie Luther brought me into the team as a local operator for the Cardrona events, and I've been involved every year since.

In 2023 when the Junior World Cup was coming to NZ as part of the Games, a new requirement for live coverage emerged. Knowing that the 2024 World Cup was also coming and would need to be live broadcast, Winter Games NZ decided to explore the idea of purchasing their own in-house OB system to cover future events.

I've worked a bit in the OB space, both as a camera operator and a tech, so they approached me about the role of Technical Director and asked me to design and build their kit.

We had to get pretty creative with the system design. It needed to be highly portable, as we work on the side of a mountain covered in snow, but it also had to be capable of producing a world-class live broadcast with replays, graphics, VTs, and more. It required camera comms and two-way signal across 3 km of challenging terrain, and it also needed a way to quickly turn around VNRs for local and international news.

You can check out Snow Signal, the behind-the-scenes documentary I produced from the 2024 World Cups, to see a bit of what we get up to there.

What sort of unique challenges does shooting on a mountain present?

A lot! Haha. Weather and scale are the biggest challenges in my opinion.

No matter if it's for live coverage like WGNZ, a commercial, or a film or show, weather is always a huge consideration for mountain filming. Temperatures can drop to -10°C-or even lower with wind chill. Conditions can change in minutes, turning from sunny to a blizzard. Snow and ice build up on everything.

The scale is also hard to grasp. You might be looking at where you need to get to, but it can take you half a day to get there on foot.

Were there any particular crazy moments you had on this project?

I think the craziest thing about the 2024 Winter Games was that we would have mental weather overnight and up until about 8am… then it would be nice! So we would be on the hill at 4am in 100km winds and snow trying to run fibre cables, and then come 8am when everyone else arrived it was a mint day haha.

Are there any small/cheap pieces of kit that you use all the time to get out of tight spaces?

Not really in the live space. But for scripted work I use an Aputure MC a lot for a small catch light and I love the little FILMOG FM01 for quick and easy haze in small spaces.

Are there any brands in particular that you lean toward when purchasing gear for these types of projects?

For the live stuff Black Magic Design is a no brainer. It's affordable, high quality and they cover the whole signal chain. What we do for WGNZ wouldn't be possible without the stuff Black Magic have released over the last few years.

How was the experience dealing with Rubber Monkey?

Always awesome! The team is super helpful and the site is great, if it says it's in-stock and ships today, then it does. They are fast and reliable which in the film world is super important. It's great to be able to call up and talk over things too, a lot of what I need isn't exactly 'off the shelf' but the RM team listen and understand what I'm trying to achieve and help to find solutions to some interesting problems!

What's next for the future?

A few exciting things are lined up for 2025

My first release of the year is a new music video for the talented band Powder Chutes. It's for their single Vendetta and, in their words, features "teenage frenemies in small-town 1986 as the setting for an epic battle against manipulation and weaponized indoctrination." The video drops on January 15th on their YouTube channel.

In February, we're broadcasting the new NST Bike for RedBull TV, up on Mt Dewar, which is going to be huge! If you haven't already, check out Natural Selection Tour and follow them for info on that.

I've also been busy writing a scripted feature, so there's a lot more to come on that front, and Planet 13 is still doing its thing in the festival circuit but should be ready for public release mid '25.

Beyond that, it'll be much of the same-some documentaries, some commercial work, and plenty of days on set making cool sh*t with cool people.

Check out more of Joe’s work!