Leanne Pooley

Leanne Pooley was born and raised in Winnepeg, Canada. She emigrated to New Zealand in the 1980s. Her first experience of directing documentaries was on TVNZ's First Hand series in the early 90s, which saw young filmmakers set loose with video cameras.

After relocating to Britain, Pooley worked for the BBC, Channel 4, and London Weekend Television. She directed documentaries which screened in more than 100 countries, covering everything from in-laws to genetics to papal elections. Six-part series Deadline went behind the scenes of a regional news channel. Another doco, Eyewitness - Pond & River, was part of an Emmy Award-winning series co-produced by the BBC and North America's PBS.

In 1997 Pooley returned to New Zealand, and set up Spacific Films. Her first Spacific production was Relative Guilt, made for TV3, which was named Best Documentary at the 1999 Qantas Media Awards. Pooley's documentary examines the abuse experienced by the family of convicted murderer David Tamihere. She followed it by producing Kiwi Buddha, about the Southern Hemisphere's first Buddhist High Lama, and docu-drama The Man Who Has Everything, this time for NHNZ.

Haunting Douglas (2003), her film about dancer Douglas Wright, brought wide acclaim. Variety reviewer Ronnie Scheib called the film "expertly crafted", arguing that it "savvily incorporates conflicting agendas: He was only interested in showcasing his art, she was intent on uncovering his bio." It was a finalist in the Golden Gate Awards at the San Francisco Film Festival, and won Best Documentary at Sydney's Reel Dance Awards in 2004.

Pooley won more attention with The Promise, about euthanasia advocate, Leslie Martin. The Promise won the Best Documentary award at the 2006 New Zealand Screen Awards. Try Revolution (2006), the story of how the 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand impacted on South Africa, was a finalist for Best Director and Best Documentary the following year.

In 2007 she directed Being Billy Apple, a documentary about the eponymous conceptual artist, made as part of TV One's NZ Festival series. 

Her 2009 documentary Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls won wide release in New Zealand cinemas, a run of positive reviews, and a number of awards, including best feature under $1 million at the Qantas Film and TV Awards. The documentary used the life story of Kiwi comedy and country music icons Lynda and Jools Topp to chronicle 25 years of cultural change. Untouchable Girls' $1.85 million gross catapulted it into the top ten list for Kiwi films on their own soil. In October 2009 Pooley took the film to the Toronto Film Festival, where her parents were among the audience; releases in Australia and the United States have since followed.

Pooley's next production sees her directing and co-writing dramatised documentary Ice Captain (aka Shackleton's Captain), based on Ernest Shackleton's 1914 expedition which saw his ship trapped in the ice of the Antarctic. Craig Parker stars as Frank Worsley, the Kiwi sailor who successfully navigated a rescue mission across 800 miles of ocean.

In November 2011 Pooley was named as a New Zealand Arts Laureate, including a $50,000 grant to further her artistic endeavours.

Active in industry affairs, Pooley is on the executive of the NZ Directors Guild, and has served as a judge for the International Emmy Awards.


Sources include
Spacific Films website. Accessed 31 January 2012
Sarah Barnett, 'Leanne Pooley' (Interview) - Listener, 2 September 2006 (Issue 3460)
Ronnie Scheib, 'Haunting Douglas' (Review) - Variety, 20 February 2004