Winner prepared for creative future
EIT student and Manini-tua Scholarship winner Ramari Fox has been offered a job already. Ra¯ mari Fox (Nga¯ ti Kahungunu, Nga¯ ti Porou) has the best possible connections to start a career in film, but she certainly had to jump some hurdles to be where she is now.
Ra¯ mari’s grandfather, broadcaster Derek Fox, along with many other family members, are working in the industry in some form or another. Ra¯ mari, however, had initially no intention to follow suit.
Ra¯ mari was born in Ruatoria, spent eight years in Brisbane and moved to Wellington in 2015 to study makeup artistry. When she fell pregnant with her son Vincent (now 4) she had to cut her course short and go back to the drawing board. In 2018 Ra¯ mari moved to Hawke’s Bay and started a Bachelor of Creative Practice, Screen Production, at EIT.
“I always had an interest and a talent for photography and film but I never really saw myself in this industry. Now, of course, I’m very glad that I took the plunge.”
Ra¯ mari was recently awarded the Manini-tua Scholarship, a significant new scholarship between Nga¯ ti Porou and EIT. The scholarship aims to support Nga¯ ti Porou iwi members studying in areas of strategic significance to the iwi.
EIT screen production programme coordinator Tessa Tylee speaks highly of her talented student.
“Ra¯ mari is a natural and inspirational leader. She constantly pushes herself and cares about everybody around her. And she excelled at her internship which was a great stepping stone for her career.”
In their last year, students have to complete an internship and Ra¯ mari chose to work at Pango, a small production house in Auckland.
“It was an amazing experience. I was involved in everything, from joining network meetings to assisting with their productions.”
After the one-month internship Ra¯ mari was offered a job.
“I would be really keen to move to Auckland but I just want to complete my degree first and then decide on the next steps. Having to accommodate the needs of my son, I don’t have the same flexibility as other people but we make it work. At the moment, Vincent goes to O¯ ta¯ tara Children’s Centre at EIT which is super practical.”
Ra¯ mari says the degree teaches her all the nitty-gritty aspects of screen production – from script writing to camera work, sound capture and editing. Her dream avenue is directing and producing and there is no doubt that Ra¯ mari is ready to hit the ground running.