MichaelBennett
- Director
- Writer
Starring one cow and two elderly guitarists, Michael Bennett's first short film Cow was invited to screen at the Cannes Film Festival. Since then he has written and/or directed a wide range of projects, from children's television (Kaitangata Twitch) to award-winning looks at Māori architecture (Whare Māori) and injustice. His big screen work includes ensemble feature Matariki, and the script for Cliff Curtis movie Jubilee.
Screenography
Biography
Michael Bennett has argued that for writing and directing are two words for the same thing. And Bennett would know — he has done plenty of both.
His first paid writing gig was "tough as hell" — as part of the team trying to provide a laugh every eight seconds, on the 1993 debut season of sketch comedy show Skitz. The following year his script for short film Michelle’s Third Novel screened before the first American festival screening of Pulp Fiction. Bennett went on to write episodes of big city dramas City Life and Cover Story (he was nominated in the 1997 NZ Television Awards the later), before adapting Nepi Solomon's small town novel Jubilee into a movie, around the turn of the millennium. The comedic drama stars Cliff Curtis stepping up to run the local school jubilee.
Awards
2019 Huawei Mate30 Pro New Zealand Television Awards
Best Director: Drama: for In Dark Places
Best Feature Drama (shared with Jane Holland, Chloe Smith, Kelly Martin and Chris Bailey): for In Dark Places
“In my head, writing and directing are two words for the same thing. As a writer every scene I work on plays as a movie projected inside my head. As a director I love the power of the image, but the most beautiful and perfect image is just pretty candyfloss if it’s not serving the story and the development of the characters.”
More information
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