New Zealand in TBI TV & Audio

Actor Michael Galvin is Shortland Street’s longest-serving actor, having played Dr Chris Warner on the soap for most of its 20 years.

During that time on the show, his character has survived four marriages, drug-dealing, an emergency tracheotomy, and earned the title ‘Dr Love’. Read More »

Angela Bloomfield made a splash on Shortland Street when she first joined the show as messed up teenager Rachel McKenna. Over her long stint on the 20-year-old series, her character has battled bulimia, survived a lightning strike and recovered from alcoholism. Read More »

Shortland Street producer Steven Zanoski’s first job in television was as a writer/reporter on the kids programme What Now? He went on to become a storyliner for Shortland Street and eventually the programme’s producer. Read More »

Actor Paul Ellis is best known for playing bad boy Fergus Kearney on Shortland Street. Since leaving the show, he has appeared in a number of New Zealand, US and UK television shows including Dreamteam, The Chosen, Mile High, Celebrity Treasure Island and Legend of the Seeker. Read More »

Actor Jeffrey Thomas has had a long and varied career in both TV and theatre. His best-known television role was as Inspector Brian Finn in the police series Shark in the Park. Thomas has also appeared in Mercy Peak, Shortland Street, Spartacus and Outrageous Fortune. Read More »

Actor Blair Strang shot to fame in New Zealand playing the likeable ambulance driver Rangi in Shortland Street. After six years, he quit the show and returned to law school. Since then, his acting career has been resurrected playing a range of characters. Read More »

Ken Blackburn is a British born actor and writer who emigrated to New Zealand as a child. In his long career, Blackburn has appeared in theatre and screen productions in New Zealand, Australia and Britain. Read More »

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Rima Te Wiata created a name for herself impersonating many famous New Zealanders in the comedy shows Laughinz, Issues, and More Issues. Her most famous parody was of newsreader Judy Bailey. Read More »

Nancy Brunning’s television debut was in the first episode of Shortland Street as series regular Nurse Jaki Manu. She turned in a memorable performance as gang girl Tania in What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, and played a fun loving lesbian in When Love Comes. Brunning has appeared in a number of TV projects including Mataku and Fish Skin Suit. As well as acting, she also directed the WWII-era short Journey to Ihipa. Read More »

Donogh Rees is an accomplished actress in theatre and on screen. Her feature film debut was playing the lead role in Constance. She won a Film and TV award for her portrayal of a woman with a head injury in the film Crush, and in 2012 will be seen playing Lady Capulet in an unorthodox film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Read More »

Actor Ian Hughes made a big impact on our screens playing the ‘sad clown’ Ant in the acclaimed TV series and movie Topless Women Talk About Their Lives. Read More »

Alison Bruce is an award-winning actress who has played a diverse range of film and TV characters. She has starred in New Zealand’s long-running soap Shortland Street and some of our biggest TV dramas such as Shark in the Park, Mercy Peak and the kidult comedy Being Eve. Read More »

Nick Ward is a prolific and award-winning screenwriter. He attracted notice with the hit feature film Stickmen, a Wellington lads-on-the-make tale that potted him the best script gong in the 2001 New Zealand Film and TV Awards.
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Selwyn Toogood is still remembered as Mr It’s in the Bag, despite a broadcasting career which ran more than 50 years. Karyn Hay is known as Miss Radio with Pictures, despite being reborn as a DJ and award-winning novelist. And Russell Smith will be forever associated with milk-mad vampire Count Homogenized, despite a long career acting on stage and screen. Read More »

Veteran actor Bruce Allpress has had a long career in theatre, film and television. His television credits include Close to Home, Hanlon, Shark in the Park, Duggan, The Cult, and the lead role in the series Jocko. His many film appearances include The Piano, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and, most recently, Rest for the Wicked. Read More »

Internationally successful Kiwi film producer Finola Dwyer began her career as an editor at the National Film Unit and then moved onto editing and producing at TVNZ. Dwyer migrated over to the film industry and worked as an editor and producer. Read More »

Vivacious actor Nicole Whippy has created some memorable characters on our television screens. She debuted playing a warrior queen on Xena and then appeared in the film Vertical Limit. She made a splash on the drama Jackson’s Wharf before appearing in a slew of TV series such as Mercy Peak, Being Eve, The Strip and Outrageous Fortune. Read More »

Actor Theresa Healey first appeared on screen entertaining a generation of kids on Play School. She became a household name playing the popular character Carmen on Shortland Street for five years. Since then she has been in a range of New Zealand TV dramas including Marlin Bay, Mercy Peak and Go Girls. She has starred in the films Jubilee and Savage Honeymoon. Read More »

Actor Jim Moriarty cut his teeth on the early dramas Pukemanu and Close to Home, then went on to appear in a number of other TV projects such as Inside Straight and City Life. As well as acting, Moriarty has directed in television and theatre, and works with at risk Maori youth. Read More »

Kate Elliott began her life on screen after attending an audition at school. Since winning that role in House of Sticks – Elliott has starred in many of New Zealand’s major television productions including Street Legal, The Insiders Guide to Love, The Cult and Shortland Street. Read More »

Tom Finlayson is a producer, director and writer who has an impressive track record in New Zealand television. He began his TV career as a reporter on Town and Around, but quickly moved on to news producing, and eventually TV drama production. Read More »

If you’ve ever wondered about what’s behind The Big Idea, here’s our take on it, in under a minute . . .

If words are more your thing, read more here.

Veteran broadcaster and journalist Ian Johnstone helped pioneer current affairs programming in New Zealand by hosting and reporting on the shows Compass and Close Up in the 1960s. Johnstone was the first host of the regional magazine programme Town and Around and went on to co-host Tonight at Nine after the debut of South Pacific Television. Read More »

Peter Meteherangi Tikao Burger (Ngai Tahu, Rangitane) can thank a childhood lisp for his busy career as a screen director today. Having been sent to speech lessons, he found himself in the wrong class, and discovered the joys of performance in a drama class at a young and impressionable age. Read More »

Martin Devlin’s first screen appearance involved playing a policeman in a film shot in Taranaki – he can’t remember the name of it, but is fairly sure it wasn’t a box office hit. Following success as a radio broadcaster, Devlin made his first foray into television on a rugby panel for Sky TV.
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Carol Hirschfeld attributes some of her career path to her father, “a big newspaper man”. As a sub-editor at Eyewitness News in the late 80s, Hirschfeld was convinced she preferred to work behind the camera, with no interest at all in appearing in front of it. Read More »

Actor Paul Gittins is best known for his portrayal of Dr Michael McKenna, the original clinic director, on the long-running soap opera Shortland Street. He has also acted in a number of feature films, including Other Halves, The End of the Golden Weather, and The Whole of the Moon. Read More »

Tandi Wright spent some of her childhood in the dressing room at Avalon TV Studios – waiting for her actor parents to finish work on Close to Home. But rather than encouraging her to follow suit, Wright insists they were always “realistic about how nearly impossible it is to make a career out of acting”. She agrees – but seems to have pulled off the “impossible” anyway. Read More »

Marcia Russell is an award-winning journalist and TV writer/producer with a long career in New Zealand media. Her first television role was as host of the 1970s talk show Speakeasy. Russell moved on to news and current affairs roles with TVNZ, and helped set up the fledgling TV3 News department in the late 1980s. Read More »

Keith Quinn is part of the fabric of Kiwi TV and sporting history. On hand to commentate and write about many of our key sports moments – rugby and otherwise – over almost four decades, Quinn called his first rugby match for TV in 1973, and is part of the 2011 Rugby World Cup team for Maori Television. Read More »

Acclaimed Director of Photography Leon Narbey has had a hand in many of New Zealand’s best known films. He directed the feature film, Illustrious Energy, in 1987, and has been the DOP on other major film projects such as Desperate Remedies; The Price of Milk; and the smash hit Whale Rider. Read More »

Actor Phillip Gordon began his television acting career playing bad boy Hugh Clifford on the long-running soap Close to Home. He then played small roles in many New Zealand films, before winning the lead role in the TV series Inside Straight. Read More »

In this ScreenTalk interview Tony Holden talks about commissioning at TVNZ, directing comedy, working with Billy T James and the emotions behind producing Billy, the tele-movie.

He also discusses the future of TV, and says content is key.  “No matter what way you receive it people will always want the programme, the idea, the story, the characters - it’s content.” Read More »

An initiative of the Arts Regional Trust Te Taumata Toi-a-iwi (ART) in partnership with The Big Idea, Survive & Thrive is a public forum, expo and series of workshops for people working in the creative sector.

There's nothing like being there - but here's some highlights from Survive & Thrive 2011. Read More »

Judy Callingham has had a long and varied television career as a reporter, presenter and writer for many NZ classics.

In this ScreenTalk interview Callingham reflects on her career and how she became a writer because she was "appalling" as an actress. Read More »

In this ScreenTalk interview Bill Ralston talks about his long, varied, and sometimes controversial career in the New Zealand media. Read More »

Veteran broadcaster Brian Edwards is an Irish import who made a big impact on New Zealand current affairs television.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Edwards talks about his career and the state of current affairs today. Read More »

Joanna Paul‘s screen career has seen her both in front of and behind the camera, and undertaking some of the most challenging Maori screen projects in New Zealand, including Aroha, the country’s first TV series in Te Reo, and the launch of Maori Television. Read More »

Cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh is the eye behind some of the most iconic images in New Zealand film.

Since shooting The Piano, Dryburgh has been working overseas (he shot Bridget Jones’ Diary, and the Martin Scorsese-directed pilot of Boardwalk Empire), returning only to film In My Father’s Den in 2004. Read More »

New Zealander of the Year 2011 Sir Paul Callaghan's video address to creative entrepreneurs at Survive & Thrive: Fuelling the Business of Creativity, held in Auckland on July 14 2011. Read More »

Award-winning documentary maker John Bates is a Scotsman who has lived in New Zealand for more than 40 years.

In this ScreenTalk interview Bates talks about his documentaries, abstract art and the making of 50 Years of New Zealand Television. Read More »

At the age of 15 actor and singer Stephanie Tauevihi debuted on TV as a reporter on the youth current affairs show InFocus. She then gained nationwide fame playing Donna Heka on Shortland Street for seven years.

Tauevihi has been in two feature films: Rest for the Wicked and Russian Snark. Read More »

Producer/director Gary Scott has spent time in the newsroom, the museum, and on location. Trained as an historian and journalist, Scott has been producing with Wellington company Gibson Group for a decade and also helps the company develop multi-media experiences for museums. Read More »

To celebrate The Big Idea's visual art focus this month, NZ On Screen has selected ten clips from across our history of visual arts on screen. Painters, sculptors, photographers, public parks and controversial Te Papa exhibits all feature. Read More »

Costume designer Barbara Darragh is the creator of Xena’s iconic outfit, Billy T James’ look as the Tainuia Kid in Came a Hot Friday, and has won awards for her work on the feature films The End of the Golden Weather and River Queen. Read More »

With more than 30 years experience in the television industry, Michael Stedman has done just about everything behind the cameras.

He has held senior positions at television networks in New Zealand and Australia, and is currently the Managing Director at Natural History New Zealand. Read More »

Actor, musician and comedian Madeleine Sami has been on our TV screens since the age of 18 when she debuted on Pio! and Shortland Street. Since then she has appeared in a number of TV shows including The Insiders Guide to Happiness, The Jaquie Brown Diaries, Diplomatic Immunity and Super City – a programme of her own creation in which she played five roles. Read More »

Temuera Morrison is best known for one of New Zealand’s most graphic film performances: Jake Heke in Once Were Warriors.  Before the Warriors films, Morrison played Dr Hone Ropata in Shortland Street. He has appeared in a range of TV productions and Hollywood films including the Star Wars franchise. His latest film Tracker was released in 2011. Read More »

Thedownlowconcept is an Auckland based production company run by Ryan Hutchings, Jarrod Holt and Nigel McCulloch. Read More »

Stacey Daniels Morrison began her television career as a part-timer on What Now?, presenting a cooking segment each week while still at high school. Read More »

Geoff Murphy is the trumpet-player who got New Zealand yelling in the movie aisles. After boning up on filmmaking on the Blerta bus, Murphy turned out a triple punch of local classics: 1981 blockbuster Goodbye Pork Pie, historical epic Utu and last man on earth tale The Quiet Earth. Read More »

John Harris is the owner of one of New Zealand’s biggest production companies - Greenstone Pictures. He began his television career at TVNZ working in news and current affairs and helped launch Top Half. Read More »

Rachel Jean has produced and directed more than 40 documentaries, made award-winning drama and film, and set up and run production company Isola Productions. Jean has recently moved from producing and directing to the role of Head of Drama and Comedy at TV3 and C4. Read More »

Drama producer Chris Hampson has worked in film and television for nearly 30 years.

During that time, he has seen many commissioners, programmers, policies and Governments come and go, while negotiating the sometimes treacherous landscape of TV and film production. Read More »

Don Blakeney, former Executive Director of the New Zealand Film Commission, talks about the early days of NZ Film in this special ScreenTalk interview with veteran producer and industry colleague John Barnett. Read More »

Frank Torley is a Kiwi television legend. Forever known as that Country Calendar guy – he has variously narrated, directed, produced, and reported for the show, for more than 40 years. But Torley hasn’t always been Mr Rural. Read More »

Director David Blyth has created some of New Zealand’s most graphic and challenging movies dealing with horror, sexuality, and the sub-conscious mind. His career began as an assistant director on the film Solo, but it was his first feature Angel Mine which showed his interests in pushing the boundaries of film making. Read More »

Shane Cortese made a name for himself on stage in London’s West End before coming home to New Zealand to begin a career in television. Since his return, Cortese has played TV roles across the spectrum of characters, including the evil Dominic Thompson in Shortland Street, and more recently Hayden Peters in Outrageous Fortune. Read More »

Playwright and screenwriter Roger Hall has made a significant contribution to New Zealand’s television and theatre landscape.

In this ScreenTalk interview he talks about his career. Read More »

Pio Terei is an actor, singer and comedian, who has been been involved in a wide range of TV shows such as: Issues, Pete and Pio, Big Night In and Tangaroa with Pio. He also had a small role in the feature film No. 2 and a dramatic role in Mataku. In 2009 Terei began hosting iconic quiz show It’s in the Bag for Maori Television. Read More »

Aussie import Gavin Strawhan is a screen writer who has had a hand in many of our recent TV drama successes. After assisting with the set up of Shortland Street, Strawhan then teamed with writing colleague Rachel Lang to create the drama series Jackson’s Wharf, Mercy Peak, Lawless, and This is Not My Life. Read More »

Life 2.0 is one of the films featured in 'On the Edge' - a new section of programming at this year’s Documentary Edge Festival that includes a selection of daring, provocative and sometimes controversial documentaries that are on the cusp of filmmaking.

The Festival is on in Auckland (February 17– March 6) and Wellington (March 10 – 27). Read More »

David Fane failed comedy at drama school. But since leaving Toi Whakaari, Fane has delighted audiences with his comic performances in Skitz, The Semisis, Tongan Ninja, bro’Town, Sione’s Wedding, Outrageous Fortune, Eagle vs Shark and Radiradirah. Read More »

Jodie Rimmer grew up in a sporty family whose dinner time conversations were more likely to be about the latest rugby or netball news than the finer aspects of television performance or character arc. Read More »

Susan Wood is one of New Zealand’s most experienced TV news and current affairs presenters. Beginning in print journalism, Wood soon moved to TVNZ news where she stayed for more than 20 years. Read More »

Film and television writer/director Michael Bennett has been involved with some of New Zealand’s favourite TV dramas, including Street Legal, Mercy Peak and Outrageous Fortune. He has written and directed two acclaimed short films – Cow and Kerosene Creek, and penned the feature film Jubilee.
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Katie Wolfe made her small screen acting debut fresh from drama school in the early 90s playing Ginni Galloway in Marlin Bay, alongside Andy Anderson, Kevin Smith and Ilona Rodgers. Many acting roles later, Wolfe moved into television and film directing.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Wolfe reveals:

• What it was like acting in Marlin Bay in the 90s Read More »

Rachel Gardner has worked in the media since 1991, and at the forefront of NZ television production for the past decade.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Gardner talks about how she started out in the film and TV industry. Read More »

Actor and writer Tim Balme has played an integral part in the NZ film and television scene for longer than he chooses to remember - and has portrayed good guys, bad guys, the guy next door, dopey guys, clever guys and almost every other guy in between.

Lately, Balme has diversified his portfolio and is currently Head of Development at South Pacific Pictures. Read More »

Some of Antony Starr’s first roles in front of the camera were on Shortland Street, where he played three different characters. But in contrast to playing brothers Van and Jethro West in Outrageous Fortune, these first roles were played one at a time not all at once. In the intervening years, Starr has breathed life into scripts from many of NZ’s most popular film and television productions. Read More »

Though not a household name himself, Tony Williams has directed some of the most iconic TV commercials in New Zealand. These include: The Great Crunchie Train Robbery, Dear John, SPOT and the infamous Bugger commercials. Read More »

Peter Hayden has one of the best known faces and voices in New Zealand, having presented and voiced hundreds of nature documentaries on television. His many documentary series include the hugely successful Wild South and Latitude 45. Read More »

Janice Finn is a television writer/producer who has also spent time in front of the camera. Her acting roles have included parts in Close to Home, and The Strip. Finn produced the high camp 80s soap Gloss and 90s drama Marlin Bay, and has written extensively for Shortland Street. Read More »

Actor Joel Tobeck has played a range of ‘off-centre’ roles from a drug addict to a ‘bastard in a wheelchair’.

He has appeared in many TV shows including Shortland Street, Lawless, Mercy Peak, Hercules, Xena and This is Not My Life. Tobeck’s film credits include Topless Women Talk About Their Lives, Little Fish and Eagle vs Shark. Read More »

Producer Philip Smith comes from a family of entrepreneurs, so it’s always been in his nature to pursue opportunities. Currently working as head of the production company he created, Great Southern Television, Smith also had an eventful career in journalism before moving into producing. Read More »

Kevin Milne is one of New Zealand’s most popular TV presenters after more than 20 years on Fair Go. In that time he has won settlements worth millions of dollars.

In September 2010 Milne announced he would be leaving Fair Go at the end of the year. Read More »

Ian Mune is a multi-talented and award-winning veteran of the New Zealand film and TV industry. He has been involved in a huge range of projects as an actor, writer and director. Three of the five films Mune has directed have won awards for New Zealand film of the year. Read More »

Award-winning singer and actor Annie Whittle has tried most things in the entertainment business and has been successful at all of them. Read More »

Rocker Ray Columbus, OBE, has been a headline act since 1961 when he appeared on Time Out for Talent at the age of 18.

Since then, he has performed on or hosted a huge range of music and light entertainment TV shows including: Club Columbus, C’Mon, Happen Inn, Personality Squares and That’s Country. Read More »

Rachel Lang has been one of the driving forces behind some of New Zealand’s most popular telev Read More »

Jason Stutter – director of Ronald Hugh Morrieson adaptation Predicament – has a talent for going for the jugular, yet doing it in style.

In Stutter’s movies, the camera plunges headfirst into haunted hospitals, dodgy smalltown dealings, and fight scenes with Pacific Island Ninjas whose parents were unexpectedly half-gobbled by fish. Read More »

Producer Grahame McLean was one of the pioneers of the New Zealand feature film industry. In his long career, he was worked in many roles – props manager, assistant director, production manager, line producer, director, scriptwriter and producer. Read More »

Funny man actor Peter Rowley is best known for his appearances in a slew of TV comedy shows including A Week of It, McPhail and Gadsby, The Billy T James Show, the self-titled Pete and Pio, with Pio Terei, and Letter to Blanchy.
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From appearing alongside Lucy Lawless and baby ‘Stanley’ in the 90s ASB Bank ads, to headlining the hit Aussie drama Packed to the Rafters, actor Erik Thomson has built a solid career and a loyal fan base. Read More »

Jay Laga’aia is an in demand actor on both sides of the Tasman, having appeared in a number of popular film and TV roles in both New Zealand (Heroes, Gloss, Marlin Bay, Xena and Street Legal), and Australia (Home and Away, Water Rats, Bed of Roses).

He says his most memorable achievement was having an action toy created in his likeness after appearing as Captain Typho in Star Wars. Read More »

TV producer Claudette Hauiti (Ngati Porou, Ngapuhi) began her career as a sports journalist on radio before moving to television news. In later years, her production company Front of the Box has made ground-breaking Maori series such as Eye to Eye and Takatapui, as well as the award-winning documentaries Gang Girls and Children of the Revolution. Read More »

Actor Roy Billing has become “an overnight sensation in my early 60s” playing ‘Aussie Bob’ Trimbole in the hit Australasian TV drama Underbelly.

But before that he had a successful 30 year acting career in both Australia (Rabbit Proof Fence, The Dish and Siam Sunset) and New Zealand (Under the Mountain, Inside Straight, Gliding On and Skin and Bone). Read More »

From reporting to scriptwriting and acting, Keith Aberdein has been a part of some of New Zealand’s biggest television and film moments. His screen career began as a journalist on Town and Around and Compass. Aberdein has scripted major TV shows such as Pukemanu, Section 7, Moynihan, Close to Home, and the colonial epic The Governor. Read More »

Rawiri Paratene (Nga Puhi) was the first Maori student to graduate from Toi Whakaari - New Zealand Drama School, and has since made an indelible mark on the NZ screenscape - from hosting Play School to his role as Koro in Whale Rider. Read More »

Whai Ngata (Ngati Porou, Whanau a Apanui) has had a long and distinguished career in print, radio and television.

In this ScreenTalk interview he talks about the importance of Maori programming and reflects on highlights from his career, including the huge impact the Te Maori exhibition had in the US. Read More »

Jam TV is a boutique production company owned and run by Melanie Rakena  and Jane Andrews. The duo met while working at TVNZ and formed the company to make Intrepid Journeys, the long-running TV ONE show that takes local celebrities out of their comfort zones and into challenging locations around the globe. Read More »

Richard Driver began his showbiz career in a punk band, calling himself Johnny Abort. He then moved on to the popular Kiwi rock bands Pop Mechanix and Hip Singles. Driver made his TV presenting debut replacing Karyn Hay on Radio with Pictures and hosted the show for three years. Read More »

Tammy Davis (Ngati Rangi, Atihaunui a Paparangi) grew up in Raetihi, and studied acting at Northland Polytechnic before landing his first major role (alongside fellow graduate Clint Eruera) as Mookie in the feature film What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? Read More »

Robin Scholes’ first taste of onscreen story-telling was in London in 1968, and involved using a Steenbeck flatbed editing suite to help friends edit protest footage of coalminers into agitprop films.

Since then, Scholes has attended New York Film School as a Fulbright scholar, and produced several feature films and hundreds of hours of televsion. Read More »

George Henare is acting royalty in New Zealand with a huge body of work in theatre, television and movies spanning more than three decades. Read More »

With husband Jason Gunn, Janine Morrell-Gunn set up Whitebait TV and has subsequently produced a myriad of children’s TV shows such as Bumble, Wannabes, and the re-launched What Now?. Read More »

Despite starring in Kiwi classic Goodbye Pork Pie, playing “a good true blue basic Kiwi joker” in new film Home by Christmas, and playing a former All Black, Tony Barry marks a rare Australian entry in the ScreenTalk canon. Read More »

Born in Westport, Jeremy Corbett is a middle-aged 6’2” Leo who likes potatoes, grass, cordless drills and guitars. His broadcasting career began at student radio station Radio Massey, while studying for a BA in English and Computer Science.

Since then, Corbett has developed a successful career in radio and television including his recent role as host of the comedy show 7 Days. Read More »

His favourite music videos include Joy Division’s Atmosphere and Tall Dwarfs’ Turning Brown and Torn in Two. And Brent Hansen has seen a lot of music videos. From producing famously eclectic Kiwi music show Radio with Pictures to rising up through the ranks to become head of MTV Europe, Brent Hansen has been a major player in putting music on screen. Read More »