Hawea musician Anna van Riel is celebrating a successful application to Creative NZ for funding, after securing $31,500 to create a video for her alter ego Waste Free Wanda.

Anna applied for the funding to create a high-quality pitch video for her 1980s children’s rock opera Waste Free Wanda, with the support of Katalyst Media’s Pedro Pimentel, also of Wanaka, who is set to film and create the final product for the project.

“Waste Free Wanda was created off the back of our local non-profit group Plastic Free Wanaka,” Anna said. “As a children’s performer I felt it was really important that tamariki had something that supported them in making positive shifts for our planet. Something they could bring their families along to, and feel like it was empowering for everyone”.

The 35-minute musical follows the story of a primary school aged child called Wanda, played by Anna in a one-woman performance. Upon discovering she is the lost heir of an ancient earth-keeping tribe, Wanda sets about righting her town, through sharing actions, catchy lyrics and simple swaps in daily life.

The show has so far toured the Queenstown Lakes district after its creation was funded as an initiative under the QLDC’s Waste Minimisation Fund.

Anna was also a recipient of the Otago Regional Councils ECO Fund, receiving part-funding for a full regional Otago tour, and received financial support from the Central Lakes Arts Society to create a collection of lyric videos in order to provide a singalong session for kids around waste reduction in the upcoming Plastic Free July event.

Anna said her efforts to generate performance opportunities for herself, “while aiming to align with my passion for caring for the environment, and delivering fun content to kids” was starting to pay off.

PHOTO: Supplied