Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti
2 hours ago
EIT Screen Production graduate loves being behind the camera.
A passion for screen production, nurtured and developed at EIT, has seen graduate Rāmari Fox take to the big screen, and live out her dream behind the camera.
The 26-year-old was one of the first graduates of EIT’s Bachelor of Creative Practice (Screen Production) in 2020. Prior to the degree, she completed a Diploma in Screen Production (Level 5).
Rāmari (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine) was born in Ruatoria, spent eight years in Brisbane and moved to Wellington in 2015 to study makeup artistry. But the birth of her son Vincent at the end of 2015 meant she had to cut her course short.
Having worked on the fringes of the screen production sector, it wasn’t until Vincent was two-years-old that she decided to take the plunge and enrol at EIT’s Hawke’s Bay Campus in Taradale.
The decision, she says, is the best she could have made.
“With this EIT course, you have three years, and you get to learn every single part of the creative process. You get to learn what you love doing and what you don’t like doing which I think is really beneficial, especially coming into the industry where you have to be multifaceted.”
During the course of her degree, she says the campus became her “second home”. And while studying as a mother isn’t easy, she says being motivated and doing something she loves made it all worthwhile.
Being able to collaborate and work with like-minded people was “awesome” and “made it a lot easier to push through the hard stuff”.
An internship at Auckland-based Māori production company Pango Productions opened the doors for full-time employment.
Since starting at the company officially last year, she has climbed up the ranks and is now Production Manager. During her time at the company, she has worked on a number of projects including a game show, dating show, documentary, and TVNZ’s weekly Sunday show Marae.
Even though she’s a successful Production Manager, she still loves being behind the camera.
“I love having my hands on the camera and being able to manipulate everything. I think that’s one of the things that’s so great, but also so scary about the job is that everything relies on you.
“You are the one that’s capturing everything. The talent in front of you could be great and the light could be great, and the sound could be great, but if you are not on and if you’re not great, then it’s all for nothing.”
Her ultimate goal is to be the “boss” and produce her own content.
“I currently work in TV, but I would love to jump across to film and scripted content and see how much of a difference that is and how I can change and adapt myself and grow to fit those needs.”
She credits her success to the “wealth of knowledge” she was able to learn in the programme, and the tutors who went above and beyond.
“I couldn’t recommend studying at EIT more. You get to try everything, and that variety of skill is vital for a career in the industry.”
Lecturer Tessa Tylee says: “It is so wonderful to see Ramari working in the screen industry and doing so well. Over the three years she was at EIT we watched her grow and through trying different things discover the talents she had. Ramari took up every opportunity we threw at her and she became a central figure in our EIT Screen Production whānau and always will be part of us.”
