The first issue of the Wellington Film Institute's Monthly Film Bulletin appeared in June 1946, when the Society was not quite a year old. The first president, Gordon Mirams, kicked things off By Way Of Introduction. It was prepared by an editorial panel, headed by Cecil Holmes, consisting of three members of the Executive Committee, and not until some months later was an Editor officially appointed. From the first issue, the Bulletin was duplicated from typescript on folded foolscap, and for the first six years it was usually 12 pages in length. When one issue dropped to 8 pages, the Editor apologized and made amends by issuing a 16-page number the following month.

The 4th issue of the Monthly Film Bulletin October 1946 contained the first Annual Report, by president Gordon Mirams, and notice of the first New Zealand screening of Battleship Potemkin, a print of which had recently arrived in the country. It was to be screened at the conclusion of the first Annual General Meeting.

In June 1947 is was reported that the most notable outcome of a committee meeting on 9 May, members of the Wellington Film Instutute changed the name of the organisation to the Wellington Film Society. All New Zealand film societies had been advised to adopt a uniform nomenclature so that the NZ Film Instutute had the exclusive use of the word 'Institute'.

When only six issues had appeared, the Society's minutes reveal that a resolution was carried "That in the interests of posterity a copy of the Bulletin be sent to the Dunedin Public Library for inclusion in the McNab collection." Posterity need not worry; copies were also sent to the General Assembly Library.

In the issue of the Monthly Film Bulletin August 1948 the editor, John O'Shea, wrote a long article about the problems of getting Continental films onto Wellington's commercial screens. The Monthly Film Bulletin March 1949 reported on the third Annual General Meeting, which included the first comment on the banning of the NZ Film Institute's copy of The Blue Angel.

The editor of the Bulletin at this time, John O'Shea, introduced each edition with a column he called 'At Random...', a selection of pars gleaned from the film world around him. The May 1950 issue contained this gem: 'A bed in the foyer of the Embassy Theatre could be called a high point in the campaign of sex eduction being conducted in connection with the film Secrets of Life. We would not think that the foyer is the best place for the recuperation of patrons shocked into unconsciousness by the revelations of natural processes being distributed by Hygienic Films. Moreover, only one bed for the swooning patrons of a theatre that holds at least 1,500 might conceivebly lead to evils the film is designed to prevent.'

A couple of months later, in the Monthly Film Bulletin July 1950, the magazine reported on the Auckland Film Society's part in the New Zealand release of the Ealing comedy Hue and Cry. At the end of 1950, John O'Shea stepped down as editor of the Bulletin, to be replaced by Denny Garrett.

In July 1951 it was reported that as a result of discussion at the Society's Annual General Meeting in February, a Social Evening would be held on Thursday 9 August\, in the English Speaking Union Rooms, Grey Street. The guest of the evening was to be Mr Michael Forlong, of the NZ National Film Unit. It was announced that he would be bringing with him a new film that had not yet been released. It was hoped that there would be plenty of discussion with someone so well qualified to lead it. The Monthly Film Bulletin August 1951 reported on Mr Forlong's talk and details of the film. Michael Forlong's talk prompted a letter to the editor of the Monthly Film Bulletin September 1951. Mr. Forlong responded the following month. See Monthly Film Bulletin October 1951.

The Monthly Film Bulletin April 1952 contained two important reports - that of the Wellington Film Society's Annual General Meeting, and also on the workings of the NZ Film Institute from a Wellington point of view. In June 1952 the Society announced that it had acquired a permanent address. Up to then, the private home addresses of committee members had be published in the Monthly Bulletin. The new address given was P O Box 1584, Wellington. [The same address is used by the Wellington Film Society to this day.] In future, members were asked, to address all correspondence to that address. Correspondence on membership, or on subscriptions, should be addressed to the Treasurer. All other correspondence to be addressed to the Secretary.

Besides its main purpose of announcing the Society's meetings and giving programme notes of the films to be screened, early issues of the Bulletin contained reviews of current commercial films, often contributed by members of the Society's Reviewing Panel. Very often there were letters to the Editor, disagreeing with reviewers' opinions or commenting on the Society's activities. In time, the film reviews ceased to appear. The monthly interval between issues, and the lack of press showings, usually meant that the reviews were not published until well after the films had finished their season, so that they were only of post-mortem value.

For six issues in 1953, the Bulletin appeared with a rotaprinted cover, and was entitled Films of the Month. A Special Announcement: Special Screening, introducing the first New Zealand screening of The Blue Angel, and the circumstances of it's release, and the introduction of a new censorship category, was contained in Films of the Month June 1953 . In Films of the Month July 1953 there was comment on the City Council's decision to acquire the Paramount Cinema.

Films of the Month October 1953 opened with a long article titled: High, Wide and Handsome. This was a look at what the Hollywood movie studios were doing to counter the effect television was having on cinema attendances.

Films of the Month March 1955 reported on that year's lively Annual General Meeting of the Wellington Film Society.

In June 1955, the title, Sequence, was adopted - and continued until the format ceased at the end of 1990. The June issue contained a passionate plea by the president for regular film revews in the two daily papers.

In the March 1956 issue of Sequence, there were reports on annual general meetings of both the Wellington Film Society and the New Zealand Film Institute. Likewise, the March 1957 issue of Sequence covered reports of both meetings the following year.  In June 1957 there was a report on Children's Films screening in Wellington. The following month, July 1957 , Sequence had some comment about how cinemas were projecting older films now that 'wide-screen' presentation had been established.

Sequence, of March 1959, reported on two life members elected at the Annual General Meeting.

In Sequence March 1960 members were advised that those members who had paid their subscription for the current year would find their membership cards enclosed with that current issue. Then added: "Under statutory regulations gazetted last December, Film Societies are now legally permitted to operate, ending the uneasy gentlemen's agreement which had been in force for many years. Visitors to Film Society screenings are now strictly limited, and each visitor must be introduced by a member. The Wellington Film Society must abide by the regulations, and in future will insist that members show their membership cards at the door."

A "new look" was introduced in March 1963, when a cover featuring a still from the month's film was used for the first time. Also the executive committee for 1963 was listed and the President had a look at "The Year Ahead". Of note were the Secretary and Treasurer who came onto the committee for their first full year. [They later married and remained on the committee together up to 1980. The treasurer then continued for a further five years or so.] This edition also noted the passing of film reviewer "Jno" of the Listener, revealing him to have been an active member of the Wellington Film Society.

In the 1960's the Film Society had a very active Film Discussion Group. In May 1963 it reported on the discussion of Last Year At Marienbad. The issue of March 1964 introduced the 1964 committee and reported on the annual general meeting. In March 1967, Sequence commemorated the death of its founder Gordon Mirams.  

1969 was the beginning of a new era for the film society movement in New Zealand. It started in Wellington. The June 1969 issue of Sequence marked it without comment in listing the executive for the year. The newcomer was Lindsay Shelton, who would go on to become president, grow the film society to unprecedented membership levels, inaugurate the Wellington Film Festival and later as marketing manager of the New Zealand Film Commission, sell NZ films to the world. 

By 1971, Lindsay Shelton had become president, and his programming influence had become apparent in the urgent need to add extra screening capacity, as outlined in the March 1971 issue of Sequence, of which he had taken over the editorship. Under his influence the campaign to update the censorship regulations moved up a gear. From the April 1971 issue, Sequence began printing censorship information on a monthly basis. The first list was of a highlighted selection, but by 1974 the full list of monthly censorship decisions were listed and continued until 1988.

The committee for 1973 included some new members, as listed in the April 1973 issue of Sequence. New member, David Lindsay, took over as editor of Sequence and the magazine moved to a metric A5 size and printed offset, a method which allowed the introduction of illustrations and graphics to brighten up the pages. After some experimentation with coloured paper for covers, a printed-colour was introduced in 1978. A standard issue of Sequence around this time was 24 pages.

In 1985 an editorial panel took over and settled on an A4 size. It lasted one year in this format. In 1986, under a new editor it returned to an A5 size in black and white and remained in that format until the end of 1990.

In 1991, due to the Film Society membership falling below 1000, the committeee, after enormous debate, ceased publication of Sequence, and replaced it with Cinephile, a A4 publication which simply published details of the films being screened and their screening details. This has continued to the present day, with its frequency reduced to three issues a year.

The 1990 committee which decided that Sequence could not continue said that "a succession of distinguished editors has produced an authoritative and highly regarded journal which will be missed by many."

Editors of Sequence (and its predecessors) include:

Cecil Holmes, leading an Editorial Panel (1946)

John O'Shea (1947-1950)

Denny Garrett (1951-1954)

Miss Gill Heming (1955-August 1956) Sequence first issue June 1955

Max Riske and Ron Ritchie (September and October 1956)

Laurie Lee (November 1956-1970)

Lindsay Shelton (1971-1972)

DavidLindsay (1973-1984) Sequence list and content guide 1974 - 1984

Lawrence McDonald, Peter Cooke, Bill Gosden, Geoff Lealand and others (1985)

Peter Cooke (1986-1988)

Andrew Llewellyn (1989-1990)

Over the years the Bulletin has published many articles about directors, schools of film, national trends, or particular films - sometimes original contributions from members, sometimes unashamedly cribbed from the writings of others. It is some indication of the value of these articles that many of them have been reprinted in the bulletins of other film societies, in New Zealand and overseas. The earliest known instance in 1947 is referred to in John O'Shea's review of the 1980 JapaneseFilmFestival.

In the 1973-1984 period Sequence carried FilmReviews of many of New Zealand's then-new evolving film industry.