The Sweet Team

Festival Producer: Sums Selvarajan

Sums Selvarajan is an arts administrator with a law degree and experience in theatre production management, stage management, administration, PR and project management.

She currently freelances for various arts organisations, including as Assistant Producer at Indian Ink Theatre Company and Production/Stage Manager at The Oryza Foundation for Asian Performing Arts, and is a director at arts and tech consultancy WhySquare Limited.

Previous roles include Senior Executive, PR & Projects at an international trade events company, General Manager for a Malaysian youth theatre company, School Administrator for The Performing Arts School of New Zealand and Administrative Coordinator for The Documentary New Zealand Trust.

Sums was part of the original team that established Short+Sweet Auckland in 2010 and served as Production/Stage Manager for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 festivals. She is very proud to step into the role of Festival Producer for Short+Sweet Auckland 2013 seasons of Song, Dance and Theatre.

Festival Artistic Director-At-Large – Jonathan Hodge

Jonathan has worked as an actor, director and producer in Auckland for the last decade. He trained at Unitec has also studied Meisner with Michael Saccente. After graduation he formed Catalyst Theatre Company and was an actor, playwright, producer or director for all of the companies 6 plays. He has been on stage for for ATC, Silo, Fortune Theatre and various other independent companies. He also has a variety of Screen credits including Shortland Street, Legend of the Seeker, Jake (feature) and many TVCs.

Jonathan has had an integral role in the artistic management and development of the Short+Sweet Theatre Festival since its inception in NZ in 2010. He has run auditions for hundred of actors, mentored and supported many directors and programmed the festival.

As a director Jonathan has directed both musicals and theatre. He has specific experience with the ten-minute form having directed plays in three of the four festivals and having offered support to emerging directors in others.

He currently holds the position of Company Manager at New Zealand Opera and retains the title of Festival Artistic Director-At-Large where he oversees the overall artistic presentation of the Short+Sweet Festival Auckland and is a director of Short+Sweet New Zealand Limited.

Artistic Coordinator: Theatre – Ahi Karunaharan

Ahi Karunaharan is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington and Toi Whakaari, New Zealand School of Drama and has been working as an actor, writer, tutor, pianist and director. He has performed both nationally and internationally and continues to develop his craft through collaboration with various companies and artist from across the globe. As a tutor Ahi has been working with Youth Theatre companies such as Youth Theatre works and Prayas Youth Theatre to develop emerging actor’s skills and craft.

Ahi is also an associate producer for Tawata Productions and has stage managed and production managed on the New Zealand International Festival of Arts season of ‘Tu’ by Hone Kouka, The multi award winning ‘I,George Nepia’ ,‘Sunset Road’ by Miria George and the ‘The Prospect’ and The Matariki Development Festival.

Ahi has worked with a diverse and dynamic range of practitioners and Multi Award winning independent production companies such as Prayas Theatre, The Chapman Tripp award winning Mates and Lovers for Fabulous Arts Aotearoa New Zealand and Pirates Vs Ninjas for Gypsy Wife Productions and has also collaborated various organizations such as Banana Boat, Pasifica Playwrights Forum, Pillai Productions, Subcontinental Artist Guild and Playmarket.

Ahi is the founder of Agaram Productions, which curated and produced the first ever South Asian Writers Festival as well as produce and direct the critically acclaimed production of ‘Mumbai Monologues’ for the Auckland Pride Festival. In 2014, Ahi will be further developing his new play ‘Tea’, along with a development season of 2 new works and an Auckland season of ‘The Mourning After’.

Ahi is very happy to join the Short+Sweet family and is looking forward to being in the driving seat of his first Short+Sweet Theatre season!

Artistic Coordinator: Song – Robbie Ellis

Robbie Ellis is a composer, improviser, musician for theatre, broadcaster, and Artistic Co-ordinator for Short+Sweet Song 2014. Recent musical theatre writing credits include “At Least We Have Our Jobs” with Francesca Emms (Radio New Zealand Drama, 2013) and “Promise & Promiscuity” with Penny Ashton (2013 Auckland Fringe Festival). His piece “Annie & Joshua”, co-written with Thomas Sainsbury, won the Judges’ Award in Short+Sweet Song 2013.

He has composed for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the Royal New Zealand Ballet; and he works with improv theatre companies up and down the country including ConArtists, Wellington Improvisation Troupe and the Court Jesters. Robbie also performs stand-up comedy, produces the monthly impromptu songwriting gig “Song Sale”, and can be heard as a presenter on Radio New Zealand Concert.

Co-Artistic Coordinator: Dance – Lydia Zanetti

Lydia Zanetti is a choreographer, dancer, producer, stage manager, lighting designer and publicist. She is a graduate of Unitec’s Contemporary Dance programme and DANZ in association with University of Auckland’s Producing Project.

Always more drawn to the choreographic and hybrid elements of her training, she graduated and put together the show I HEART that toured Auckland and Dunedin Fringe Festivals. From there she went on to choreograph and produce for Joan of Hearts and The LIVE Series (through the Producing Project). In mid-2013, Zanetti ran a 3 day development period to begin the creation of a new work looking at togetherness, and ‘I’ separation from ‘others’ to premiere in late 2014, furthering on from her other explorations in works such as Part of the Landscape, Love Lydia, Lydia Love and untitled for Insert Life Here. She also recently made a work on youth contemporary dance company Pointy Dog (who she has also been teaching) for You Dance 2014.

As a producer, Zanetti has assisted on the inaugural season of New Zealand Dance Company’s Language of Living, production managed for the Auckland Arts Festival as well as leading a number of different productions under Sweaty Heart Productions. In recent years she has worked as dance co-coordinator for Short+Sweet Dance Festival 2013/14, stage manager for Tempo Dance Festival 2012/13, lighting designer/operator for a number of different Basement seasons and publicist for Elephant Publicity. She was most recently seen onstage dancing for Natalie Maria Clark in her successful season of Apt Y Idos at the Loft, Q Theatre.

Co-Artistic Coordinator: Dance – Jessie McCall

Jessie is a freelance dancer, choreographer, teacher, producer and filmmaker living in Auckland. She graduated UNITEC with a Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts majoring in Contemporary Dance, and studied contemporary technique and choreography at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the USA. She has choreographed and performed in various festivals including Short & Sweet, Tempo, NZ Fringe, The Producing Project, and received a Tempo Dance Festival award for choreography in 2010. As a performer she has danced in work by artists including Katie Burton, Kelly Nash, Michael Parmenter, Shona McCullagh, Malia Johnston & Sarah Foster-Sproull. Jessie is the founder of All You Can Eat Productions and current Artistic Director of Pointy Dog Dance Co. She particularly enjoys glitter, marshmallows, depressing documentaries and 80s music.

Jessie is stoked to be joining the Short+Sweet team this year as the diversity of the artists involved grants a rich opportunity to curate cohesive and engaging evenings of dance. She is excited to assist Auckland dance artists of all sorts to make the most of the platform that Short+Sweet offers to both emerging and established artists, and work alongside the great teams across dance, theatre and song.

Associate Producer: Yee Yang ‘Square’ Lee

Square is a creative entrepreneur with qualifications in Law, Arts Management, Theatre, Film and as a Chartered Secretary. He freelances as an arts manager, producer, director, designer, web developer and consultant for a diverse range of arts and not-for-profit clients through his consultancy WhySquare Limited.

Having recently stepped down from a 7-month assignment as Acting General Manager for The New Zealand Dance Company, he is currently Founding Trustee & General Manager of The Oryza Foundation for Asian Performing Arts, Trustee of the Asia New Zealand Film Foundation Trust and an Organising Committee Member of the Auckland Performing Arts Forum. He has a special interest in governance in the not-for-profit sector and completed his Masters with a thesis investigating the state and standard of governance in the New Zealand arts sector.

Square was involved in the establishment of Short+Sweet Auckland in 2010 and is very pleased to reprise his role as Associate Producer for Short+Sweet New Zealand in 2013.

Lighting Designer & Operator: Michael Craven

Since graduating from the UNITEC School of Performing and Screen Arts in 2007, Michael has enjoyed a busy career as a lighting designer and multi operator. Highlights include working with The Dust Palace as their resident designer on various touring productions as well as a brief stint in the movie business working as the main unit operator for ‘The Warrior’s Way”, a joint Hollywood/Korean production. After spending nearly three years as the technical manager of TAPAC, and a return to freelance designing. Michael is back at UNITEC as staff, this time inspiring the next generation of technical students to greatness.