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The-Rise-and-Fall-of-Miss-New-Zealand He

The documentary is a light-hearted trip back in time talking to the various winners and recalling their experiences in the year that they reigned. We have four presenters who add their thoughts along the way along with four key members of the fashion industry who knew the winners when they won. The documentary is in production now and I’m busy writing the script and sorting out the order of filming and of course finding all the old footage and photos. With Covid I’m having to rethink some of the interviews and possibly get cameramen to film the girls in various countries as I have Elaine Miscall in Australia, Barbara McDowell in LA and Delyse Nottle in London, but I will wait and see how travel works out and soldier along with all the people I have here in New Zealand. I’m hoping that within six months I can get over to those countries and interview them all.

In regard to my three main presenters, they are all wonderful people who are friends of mine who have the humour I needed to keep the documentary ticking along with inserts in between the winners’ stories. I have Colin Mathura Jeffrey who I think is one of the funniest people we have in Auckland, and he will bring a lot to the documentary as he is a wealth of knowledge. Nathan Kake is a top Sydney makeup artist and his sister was Miss New Zealand in 1979 and he’s also a wonderful guy to have involved. Nikki Lovrich is another makeup artist who I do my regular monthly podcast with about all things 1980s. Finally, Petrina Clark is an actress and model that I interviewed in my last documentary who was so great behind the camera I said to her “you’ve got to be a presenter” so I’ve managed to call her in and she has agreed. The four together I think will give an amazing energy when commenting on the various clips and photos. I have Paula Ryan and Trelise Cooper to add their views peppered throughout the documentary ,and I am really excited to have  Di Goldsworthy . All of them have judged the contest and pageant many times and know the winners personally. Former model agent Angela Taylor and Miss NZ organiser from the 1990s Cheryl Whiting also give their views throughout.

As far as the Miss New Zealand contestants... I have selected and asked 13 who have all given the green light to be part of the documentary. I have Lorraine Downes , Delyse Nottle and Elaine Miscall who all did New Zealand proud  internationally. They will be fascinating to talk to and it will be great to hear their journey of how they got to achieve their success and proved that fairy tales really exist!  We also have Barbara McDowell who won Mrs World in 1987 and Sandy Dexter from 1982.  I also had to include Tracey Allan and her mother Lorraine who were named Miss Mother and Daughter New Zealand 1988, and jetted off to the world final in Guam that year and made the finals! Stand by for some stories from these two!  To complete the list I felt I had to have a few Miss New Zealands from the modern era so I have included Holly Michelle Cassidy from 2013 who competed in Russia for Miss Universe when Donald Trump ran the competition, and Jess Tyson from 2018 who went to Miss World. In my mind these two are the best winners from recent times and Jess made a real come back in 2018 by making it to the top six in Miss World and really put New Zealand back on the map that year.
To round off the 13 we also have Priyani Pukitapu 2011, Adele Kenny 1990 ,Sue Nicolson from 1974 , Lynda McManus from 1986 and Helen Crawfors who won the Miss Asia Pacific 1986 .

Winning the Miss New Zealand title in the 60s ,70s or 80s was the equivalent of being an Aall Black in terms of fame!  These winners were our version of Lady Di. The whole country knew them, they were famous and winning really launched their careers. I think the height of the competition was the mid-1980s when Lorraine captured the crown and the viewing numbers on TV were through the roof. In regard to the fall of the competition, in 1989 TVNZ stopped screening it and times had moved on. Reality TV was appearing and a new era was born. In terms of having success again for New Zealand, Jessica Tyson proved that this is totally possible. We live in a world now of YouTube and online viewing so things are very different to the heyday of the 80s when half the country would sit down on a Saturday night and watch the live show! 

This is the second documentary I’ve made. I did “The Model Diaries” two years ago, a documentary about eight fashion models from the 1980s, and I learnt as I went along. It was entered into the Film Festival in 2020 but unfortunately that didn’t happen due to COVID-19. I love the concept of talking to these winners and getting their story across. We won’t be covering any scandals from recent years in the filming as I think the public are more intrigued by the winners in their heyday and their positive stories. I have respect for all these winners and want them to know how the public held them in high regard. Seven of them are personal friends and I am really looking forward to meeting Elaine as I have heard so much about her.

In terms of a release date for the documentary I’m hoping to have all interviews done by the end of October and we will have a big screening at Event Cinemas with all proceeds going to The Olivia Newton John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre. It will then be entered into various film festivals next year and be available to watch online. This documentary is a lot easier for me than the last one as I have it all time planned out and I feel I can see the final result in my mind already. “The Model Diaries” sort of snow balled into a movie, whereas this one I feel has a strong story line. The public seem to love anything to do with Miss New Zealand and especially the history of it. I even had someone messaging me saying that Lorraine Downes came to her school in 1983 and bought her an ice cream when she was eight years old and talked to her which I think is amazing, so it’s all those little stories along the way that will make this fascinating and I hope the winners will see how special they were, and still are.


 

 

 

NEIL GUSSEY

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