Chris Dudman: On the mixed blessing of early success...

Chris Dudman is an award-winning filmmaker with credits in New Zealand and the UK. His short film Blackwater Summer was nominated for a Student Academy Award. Dudman has gone on to direct both documentary (New Zealand at War, The Day that Changed My Life, Zoo) and drama (Oscar Kightley police show Harry, short film Choice Night). Dudman also directs TV commercials, including the popular Pukeko ads for Genesis Energy.

In this ScreenTalk, Dudman talks about:

• How a child's grief is the topic of his short film Blackwater Summer
• Feeling surprise and pressure after the film won awards 
• Creating early reality documentary Zoo 
• The challenges of filming in restricted areas for Protecting the Border
• Directing almost ‘silent’ film The Graffiti of Mr Tupaia
• Working with the film's talented lead actor Rawiri Paratene
• The challenges of filming intimate scenes for short film Choice Night 
• Directing Oscar Kightley police drama Harry
• The compelling interviews that led to quake documentary The Day that Changed My Life
• Working with real birds while making the Pukeko ads for Genesis Energy

This video was first uploaded on 22 June 2015, 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