Development-the-Movie

Lynda writes: There are times when I've been elated with success or at my wits end struggling to get projects off the ground. Development is one of those projects that deserves to fly. It deserves all the elation of the success of achievement; not because it is a story about women struggling to create in this world, but because it is a universal story. I know this project may be up against big odds because it's about women, but I'm thrilled to be a member of the Development team because the struggle will be sweet and the journey will be worth it.

Lynda is a fourth-generation Chinese New Zealander. Born in London in 1965 she spent her early childhood in Papua New Guinea before completing her education in New Zealand. She studied creative writing with Albert Wendt and graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (1990) and a Diploma in Drama (1994). Lynda also graduated with an MA in scriptwriting at Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters (2006).

As a poet, filmmaker, playwright and actor, she has performed her work for over 15 years, producing various award-winning theatre pieces. Her poems have been published widely in journals and anthologies; her collection Honeypants (AUP, 1994) was shortlisted for the 1995 PEN Book Awards and New Zealand Book Awards. Lynda toured with Te Rakau Hua O Te Wao Tapu to prisons, marae and schools from 1995 to 1999, and has been a script co-ordinator and performer for dramas created by women in prison.

Co-writer and art director on Chinese Whispers (1996), a short fim with MAP Productions, and co-director on After (2003), a short film with Director Simon Raby, Lynda has also worked as a journalist for the television programme Asia Down Under (TVNZ Channel One). She is currently working on her feature film script Little Dragon with Shadow Films, which has development funding from the New Zealand Film Commission.