Editor’s Letter – Winter 2022
There is an old-school definition of success, which is defined by individual achievement. You know what I mean; the bank account, the platinum card, club lounge travel, the mansion, the cars and even if you hit the double jackpot, the money and the fame. This is all cool, but I think that success is a nuanced concept. There is an even older-school concept of success that is less about the individual and more about others. And this can be a bit of a mind-bender after years of this quite mainstream connection between self-worth and how much you are worth, how many followers you have, where you live and all of those other metrics we seem to have attached to ourselves.
To find success and fulfillment out of the success of others is next-level ego mind-power stuff these days. But that is exactly what our cover star, Chelsea Winstanley ONZM is doing. Chelsea is an Academy Award-nominated producer who has lived the Hollywood life, she has moved amongst the stars – you know, the people with the money and the fame. She has what it takes to achieve those metrics of individual success any day of the week, but it would appear that she has a much bigger prize in mind.
Not only has Chelsea returned home to help get more Māori stories onto the big screen, but she is also building a business ecosystem to reshape the film industry for Māori and indigenous filmmakers who have often been sidelined from it. And when I say “industry”, I mean every part of it from production to distribution. And while Chelsea has a load of accolades for herself, the true reflection of her success probably won’t be in the recognition for her but for a new generation of filmmakers coming through that will walk the path she helped create.
