Neil Harraway: a passion for natural history filmmaking...

Interview – 2016

Producer/director Neil Harraway helped set up the Natural History Unit for TVNZ, which later became company NHNZ. Harraway worked there for three decades, making spectacular nature documentaries including Under the Ice, Emperors of Antarctica and Journeys Across Latitude 45 South. These days he runs a Dunedin wildlife tourism business.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Harraway talks about:

Being in at the start of the Natural History Unit at TVNZ
Facing pressure from network executives over the slow pace of filming
The birth of highly successful nature series Wild South
Spending three months filming in the "incredible" subantarctic Auckland Islands
The challenges of TV series Journeys Across Latitude 45 South
An unforgettable visit to the top of Tongariro for series Journeys in National Parks
How deep cold made for some hairy moments while filming Emperors of Antarctica
Close calls under the Antarctic sea ice, while making Under the Ice
Finding ways to film dolphins underwater for Dolphins of the Shadowland

This video was first uploaded on 29 August 2016, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview, Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside

The island was only a kilometre across: a hundred foot cliffs on the western side, the open side. A couple of times the waves were breaking over the cliff, and the spray was carrying the kilometre across the island. So a really rugged and atmospheric place — incredible place to be.
– Neill Harraway on spending three months on Enderby Island, while working on 1982 nature documentaries Sealion Summer and As It Wasn't In the Beginning

Neil's Full Profile