Grant Buist

Background

Grant Buist was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1973.

Education

He is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington"s Theatre and Film Department, and he also studied graphic design at Massey University.

Career

He is notable for his comic strips and, whose characters have been reproduced in many forms of cultural production including newspapers, murals, short films and theatre productions. He is currently living on the Kapiti Coast. Buist writes the comic strip (a satire on latte sipping cafe values.

As well on as contemporary political and social developments in Wellington and beyond) which was published in the weekly Wellington City newspaper The Capital Times until it closed in April 2013. hit the 500th episode in May 2012.

A compilation book of strips was published in 2009. From July 2013 the cartoon series began appearing in the monthly Wellington magazine FishHead.

Buist also produced the cult New Zealand alt comic strip from 1993 to 2003. By the time that it ended, was appearing in almost all New Zealand student newspapers, including Salient and Craccum, giving the strip the widest national distribution that a New Zealand underground comix had ever received.

In celebration of, Victoria University of Wellington erected a Mural, and the walls of one of the library lifts was covered in a collage.

In 2006, was turned into a series of short films for the Wellington information kiosks. In 2007 BATS Theatre staged -based musical Fitz Bunny: Lust for Glory (FB:L4G), which set a box office record for Young & Hungry festival, BATS Theatre"s celebration of young talent. An updated and refocussed version of the satirical play was produced in Auckland in 2010, which was considered one of the top five plays of the year by national newspaper The New Zealand Herald.

Herald critic Paul Simei-Barton said about the 2010 production "Fitz Bunny: Lust for Glory is in a league of its own and invents a new genre that might be called camp cartoon cabaret.

Playwright and cartoonist Grant Buist presents a fully fledged musical complete with live band, great songs and wild dance routines."

In 2007 he was the graphic designer for Salient. He has also animated music videos for cult New Zealand bands The Shirleys and OdESSA. In the short time, between 2008 and 2010, Grant established an account on Pixton where he created a three panel comic entitled Desert Funnies.

The comic series was about two friendly cacti in the desert, it relied on visual gags and humor that ranged from light to almost metaphorical and poetic standards. The series reached 211 issues.

Grant has also participated in several art exhibitions.

Achievements

• MUVIMAC 2001 - Best Actor, Best Soundtrack, Best Film for Get DIVA 2001 -Best Kiss & Best Animation for Get MUVIMAC 2002 - Best Actor, Best Animation & Best Soundtrack for The Soundtrack MUVIMAC 2003 - Best Credits for "Palmerston North Vampire" Wellington Fringe Festival Special Competition 2004 - 2nd place for Oranges Will Bring Us Together Eric 2006 - Best Webcomic in New Zealand Comics foreign