The Box

It was the first film I'd directed, other than the 8mm stuff with the kids. We decided that every shot would be a crane shot. I don't know why we would decide that. It was a foolish decision ... anyway we shot it all off the crane, and it was a lot of fun but not a great film...

– Geoff Murphy recalls making The Box in his 2015 autobiography A Life on Film, page 72

He was amazing. He was pleasant, efficient and very fast. . . . We had got him at a good time. He had been in television about a year and had become thoroughly disenchanted with it. I had discovered another existentialist like myself. The world was absurd.

– Geoff Murphy on meeting collaborator and cinematographer Alun Bollinger, in his autobiography A Life in Film, page 71

What Geoff Murphy achieved through film was to challenge the status quo and to inspire a fresh vision of New Zealand culture and history through his compelling, comical and dramatic stories and characters. His films were remarkable when they were first made, and they continue to be treasures in our cultural canon. Geoff injected new life and direction into New Zealand cinema, and gave us new ways of seeing ourselves as a people.

– Massey University Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey gives filmmaker Geoff Murphy an Honouary Doctorate, Stuff, 15 May 2014

...EMI decided that The Acme Sausage Company must be the name of the band. Consequently, we received a bill addressed to 'The Acme Sausage Company'. From that point on, that became the name of any activity that this group of people carried out. It was the name of the band . . . It also became the name of the entity that worked out of 97 Aro Street and operated cranes and silent generators, and did special effects for films. . . . It wasn't a company. We tried to register it, but the Companies Office refused the name, saying it was too close to The Acme Meat Company, which was already registered.

– Geoff Murphy on the origins of The Acme Sausage Company from the name of a piece of music written on a box, in his book A Life on Film, page 73