YvonneMackay
- Director
Yvonne Mackay is a prolific director of New Zealand television, whose work has often focused on the arts and projects aimed at younger audiences. She made history as the director of The Silent One (1984), the first New Zealand feature film directed solely by a woman. These days Mackay runs Wellington company Production Shed TV.
Screenography
Biography
Yvonne Mackay's long directing career has seen her coaxing performances from giant turtles, animated lions, puppets, and a great many children — plus a fair few adults as well.
Mackay grew up in Christchurch, the daughter of a real estate agent and a policewoman (at a time when 'police' and 'woman' rarely went together). Alive to the power of storytelling from a young age, she began organising her friends to rehearse plays during school lunchtimes. She was also acting on radio and stage, and managed to score a job straight from high school, directing radio drama.
Awards
2020 New Zealand Television Awards
Nominated for Best Children's Programme (with David Brechin-Smith and Ranea Aperahama): He Paki Taonga i a Māui
2017 New Zealand Television Awards
Nominated for Best Director - Documentary or Factual: for Doubt: The Scott Watson Case
“I’m a great believer in the power of young people, especially young women, to overcome great odds even when no one else seems to believe in them. This is a trope I’ve kept throughout my career. ”
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