ScreenTalk in TBI TV & Audio

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 »

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 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 »

Will Hall fell into a screen career by accident after hanging out with filmmakers at Lincoln University – an unlikely scenario given his study towards a commerce degree. Since then, Hall has forged a career both in front of and behind the camera. Read More »

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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More than a decade ago Robbie Magasiva gave himself two choices – rugby or acting. Since then, Magasiva has made audiences laugh in Skitz, The Semisis and Sione’s Wedding, and has starred in numerous screen dramas including Shortland Street, Cover Story, Jackson’s Wharf, Doves of War and The Tattooist. Read More »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

Danielle Cormack began acting on stage, but in her mid-teens won a coveted role in the popular 80s soap Gloss. Growing up on screen led her to a one-year stint on Shortland Street, playing sweet and innocent nurse Alison Rayner. Read More »

Former Commonwealth Games athlete Kirk Torrance (Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairoa) struggled with asthma and school as a child, before realising his potential as an internationally competitive swimmer.

Following his exploits at home and abroad in the pool, Torrance graduated from Toi Whakaari and embarked on a successful career in film and television. Read More »

When people think of Ginette McDonald, they often think of one of New Zild’s most defiant and famed purveyers of Godzone English, Lyn of Tawa. But for McDonald, Lyn is only one part among many.

Alongside an acting career which began when she was still a teenager, Ginette McDonald has also worked as a producer, director and presenter.
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In this ScreenTalk interview Craig Parker talks about his acting career and his latest work, including the soon to be released TV series Spartacus. Read More »

When not riding the motorcycles he loves, Craig Hall performs in a wide variety of theatrical, film and TV roles.

Watch the NZ On Screen video interview. Read More »

Comedian Te Radar (aka Andrew Lumsden) has made his mark in stand-up comedy and documentaries, including Off the Radar.  In this interview he talks about the genesis of 'Te Radar' and the state of New Zealand comedy on TV. Read More »

The Cult star Sara Wiseman first got the acting bug while volunteering on the set of Peter Jackson’s feature film Heavenly Creatures. She began her career as a stuntwoman alongside Zoe Bell, but gained her first big acting break in the drama series Street Legal. Her best known role is Dr Nicky Sommerville on Mercy Peak.
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New Zealand inherited 15-year-old Jaquie Brown from England. Following a stint at Auckland’s 95bFM in her late teens, she soon became ensconced in the intriguing world of television.

Brown talks to James Coleman about her journey, including The Jaquie Brown Diaries. Read More »

Hori Ahipene is well known for playing both male and female characters in TV comedies and dramas - including Outrageous Fortune.

Watch the video interview with Ahipene.
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Ilona Rodgers has starred in a huge array of theatre, film and TV roles in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK.

Probably best known for playing Maxine Redfern in Gloss, some of Rodgers’ other screen credits include The Billy T James Show, Marlin Bay and the film Utu. Read More »

Director Gaylene Preston has been stretching NZ film in new directions since her early short films and her first feature, the genre and gender-bending Mr Wrong (1985).

Long devoted to 'communicating local stories to local audiences', Preston features in Deborah Shepard’s newly-released book Her Life’s Work: Conversations with Five New Zealand Women. Read More »

Englishman David Bellamy is a world famous botanist, author, broadcaster and conservationist. He came to prominence in New Zealand in the 1970s and 1980s with numerous natural history programmes.

His trademark beard, larger than life personality and ability to make science understandable made him a popular addition to family viewing time. Read More »

Taika Waititi (Te-Whanau-a-Apanui) discovered drama at secondary school. Having previously had aspirations for careers in deep sea diving, painting and hospitality, the lure of the entertainment industry lead him towards acting and a high school drama teacher - who he admits “changed my life”.

In this ScreenTalk interview he talks about his journey through film and TV since then. Read More »

For more than 20 years actor Peter Elliott’s career has spanned theatre, film, television and radio. His most notable screen credits include playing Rex on Gloss and Dr David Kearney on Shortland Street.

This year he won Best Supporting Actor for Until Proven Innocent, at the Qantas Film and Television Awards. Read More »

Tom Scott made his name for his portraits - both written and drawn - of politics and politicians, and for getting thrown out of the occasional press conference by Prime Minister Robert Muldoon. Scott has also had a diverse career in the screen industry.
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Musician, artist, writer and director Greg Page began his film career in Hamilton in the early 90s, making music videos for local bands.

Since then he has written and directed several short films, including claymations Decaff and The New Zealand Centenary of Cinema and his full length feature film The Locals. Read More »

Miranda Harcourt got her screen break playing the bitchy Gemma on iconic 80s soap Gloss. Since then the versatile Harcourt has hardly taken a break - directing, teaching, plus acting in prisons, tele-movie Clare, and feature film For Good, among many other titles.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Miranda Harcourt talks about: Read More »

Robyn Malcolm has played a diverse range of gritty characters, including her most recent award-winning TV role as Cheryl West in Outrageous Fortune. In this ScreenTalk interview Malcolm talks about her beginnings ‘in the chorus’ at school, finding her 'group' at university and discovering drama school.

“It’s been just a straight path since then, I’ve never questioned it." Read More »

Brendan Smyth is charged with getting more New Zealand music on the airwaves. As NZ Music Manager at NZ On Air, he leads a team that funds and promotes Kiwi music and music videos.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Smyth talks about the history and role of NZ On Air and how it chooses which music videos to fund. Read More »

Even as a schoolboy, Oliver Driver knew he wanted to be an actor. Since leaving school he has had a varied career in theatre, television and film.

"I didn't want to be just an actor, I wanted to be a creative and it's taken me a long time to come to the point where I can call myself an artist and not cringe about that." Read More »

The late Barry Barclay [Ngati Apa] was one of New Zealand’s most respected filmmakers.  Before his death in February 2008, Barclay was interviewed for ScreenTalk about his early days working as a cameraman and director with John O’Shea’s legendary production company Pacific Films. Read More »

Scriptwriter, playwright and columnist James Griffin has been writing for most of his life. Since becoming a scriptwriter in the 1980s Griffin has written many of New Zealand’s most well known and best loved TV shows, including Outrageous Fortune. In this ScreenTalk interview, James Griffin gets serious about Kiwi comedy. Read More »

Grip Annie Frear trained in television production at the ABC in Australia, and then returned to New Zealand and forged a distinguished film career working on such titles as E Tipu E Rea, Desperate Remedies, The Piano, Hinekaro Goes on a Picnic and Blows up Another Obelisk, and Peach. Read More »

Director, photographer and Axemen drummer Stuart Page is a prolific filmmaker and has made more than 40 music videos.

In 2009 he won Best Feature Documentary and Best Emerging filmmaker at the DocNZ International Film Festival for his film Shustak, a portrait of American photographer Laurence Shustak. Read More »