Maori told it's time to be creative

Actor Cliff Curtis says the time is ripe for Maori to go further than the traditional asset-rich "three Fs - fishing, farming and forestry" - and take a punt on the creative industry.

Curtis spoke at the Maori economic development summit Hui Taumata in Wellington yesterday about the future of the Maori creative industry.

He later said that since the last hui Maori had put their energy and resources into survival.

"We were just sort of holding on, trying to get the assets there and build a base.

"Most work was in the three Fs where those assets are held - fishing, farming and forestry - which is hugely important, but now we have an opportunity to develop our cultural capital as well."

He wants more Maori to put management talents into entertainment and the creative Fs - film, fashion and food.

"A lot of professionals are going into where they get paid well and there's an established industry.

"We need some willing to come into a high-risk field and take that on. We need the entertainment-field equivalent of [former Waitangi Fisheries Commission chairman] Shane Jones to think, 'Oh, the creative sector. Why not?' "

Despite the success of Once Were Warriors and Whale Rider, he said it was still just as hard to sell a Maori idea overseas.

"Yes, they were both genuine, and both accepted. But they were 10 years apart so you can't argue it's a trend. But we need to play on that point of difference we have."

He said worldwide markets had reacted well to Maori stories, as long as they were told in a genuine way.

"Let's talk about Two Cars, One Night - something that is really culturally specific about the way we behave, perceive and communicate.

"Half the language the kids use in that short film, the average audience wouldn't even understand, the vernacular is so foreign to them.

"So you know you're not getting a fake. And it worked."