Derek Wooster: Major player in mainstream and Māori broadcasting...

Interview – 2013

In over 30 years as a producer and director with TVNZ, Derek Wooster made a huge contribution to both mainstream and Māori broadcasting. Among his many projects, Wooster created and produced Marae – the country’s longest running Māori current affairs programme. Other notable achievements include producing the tangihanga of Dame Whina Cooper and the Māori Queen.

Deek Wooster died on 5 July 2022. In this ScreenTalk from 2013, Wooster talked about:

How directing Radio Times gave him an overall understanding of TV production
Trying to get out of directing Miss Universe NZ
Learning to be fair to competitors on Mastermind
Having a strong emotional reaction during the live broadcast of Te Māori
Being worried about the reaction to the set design
Setting up long-running Māori current affairs show Marae
Courting controversy by launching sitcom Radio Wha Waho
How the tangihanga of the Māori Queen was one of the highlights of his career
Feeling privileged to have had the opportunity to tell people’s stories

This video was first uploaded on 22 July 2013, 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

I couldn't actually see the monitors in the OB van because I was crying.
– Derek Wooster on an emotional moment while capturing the return to Aotearoa of landmark exhibition Te Māori