Tandem Studios has just completed the production of a long-term legacy project with Good Shepherd New Zealand. 

Good Shepherd New Zealand was established in 2012 to build on the work of the Good Shepherd Sisters who have been assisting women and girls experiencing disadvantage in New Zealand since 1886. When they approached Tandem in early 2019, the goal was to produce a video that reflected the legacy of the organisation and could be used to educate incoming staff.

Production

A full shoot day in Auckland was planned to capture the stories of three Sisters who have been part of Good Shepherd for many years. Sister Teresa Donworth and Sister Mary Feehan have worked with the organisation for 50 years and are dedicated to helping women who were refugees and migrants adjust to life in New Zealand. We were also hoping to include Sister Sharon Fitzgerald who ,   on the streets of Kings Cross – a ‘red light’ district in Sydney, in Centres for Teenage girls in Auckland, Wellington, and Lower Hutt and holding leadership roles in the Good Shepherd organisation, forming part of a team at a Spirituality Centre, assisting people through Spiritual Direction, Counselling and Supervision. Sister Sharon passed away on 22 April 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand from long-standing health issues and complications following surgery.

A major challenge our team faced during this project is sifting through the amount of content we gathered on filming day. “Both Sister Teresa and Sister Mary had so much to tell us about their time in the organisation, it was difficult to cut anything out when it came to editing because there was so much great content” says project producer Tania Green. 

The end product saw the creation of one mini-documentary style video that came to around 10 minutes in length. The video includes historical photos of Good Shepherd Sisters working with girls throughout the years, as well as interview footage with Sister Teresa and Sister Mary. 

You can view the whole video below: