Ashley’s feeling Useful
From the first time stepping into the Useful Media office I felt at home. My interview happened on a cold, rainy, Wellington day, and the first thing Ruth and Ness did was offer me a hot cup of tea. Immediately, I felt comfortable and knew how much I wanted to work with them.
Useful have been so supportive, comforting, and have pushed my interest in film festivals and documentaries ten-fold. Seeing how these two wāhine manage the beasts of running a national film competition, producing a documentary TV series, and picking up extra film projects between them has been an awesome learning experience. The two of them make this big bad industry look much more approachable when you just take it one step at a time.
Ashley (left) and Sophie (right) modelling for the 48Hours Merch shoot
When I started at Useful, my first day consisted of planning a merch photoshoot with former intern, now part time worker, Sophie, and from there I was tossed into the depths of making social media content, creating assets for the 48Hours marketing, and shipping off exciting spot prizes to the numerous supporters of the competition. As fast and exciting as it was, I was able to see how important extra hands are in the lead up to the shoot weekend.
The Shoot Weekend Launch Event for the Vista Foundation 48Hours - 2025
I felt very lucky to be able to see the roots of the competition and how everything had been planned and accounted for. Seeing their massive spreadsheets and checklists made me appreciate the colossal effort that the festival involves.
In my time at Useful I also gained a deeper understanding of proper marketing and branding, and how to make your media all look cohesive. One aspect I enjoyed the most was editing together engaging videos for the 48Hours social media accounts. It was a great experience to work from Ness’s video briefs, and then seeing how I could elevate the clips with sound effects, music, and graphics.
The Across Aotearoa Regional Finals Set - Filmed at Empire FIlms
When I wasn’t helping with 48Hours, I was assisting in post-production on a feature length documentary under Ruth’s guidance. My role involved attentively looking through the film and ensuring the lower thirds titles were all correct. This small role proved to be very important as the main post-production team were working to a tight deadline. It was really encouraging to have helped out where they needed a fresh pair of eyes. Seeing the behind the scenes of a feature documentary in post-production revealed the hours of work, iterations, and back-and-forth communication that pushes the wheelhouse forwards.
David, Ness and Ashley - Wellington Finals of the Vista Foundation 48Hours, Embassy Theatre.
Overall my time at Useful Media has been very fulfilling and useful for my future career. I have learned valuable skills around what it means to work amidst a film festival while juggling countless other film projects. I learned that the absolute key to keeping all of these wheels turning is clear and consistent communication. Being at Useful, I have collected many tools for my filmmaking kete, and I feel confident to go forward into the future knowing I can pop in for a nice tea and chat.
The Vista Foundation 48Hours - Wellington Regional Finals 2025
