Marcia Russell: Behind the revolution...

Marcia Russell, OBE, was an award-winning journalist, TV writer and producer with a long career in New Zealand media. She began as host of the 1970s talk show Speakeasy, then moved into news and current affairs with TVNZ, and helped set up TV3 news in the late 1980s. She worked on notable documentary series such as Landmarks and The New Zealand Wars, and produced documentary series Revolution, chronicling the Lange Government's impact on New Zealand economy and society. She was awarded an OBE for services to journalism in 1996 and the Academy of Film and Television’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

In this ScreenTalk, Russell talks about:

• Being the first ‘live’ presenter on TV2 in the show Speakeasy
• How the show debuted future politician Jeanette Fitzsimons and TV cooking superstars Hudson and Halls
• Being a panelist on Beauty and the Beast and how it enabled her to be subversive
• Helping set up TV3 news and how the new Minister of Broadcasting pulled the rug from under them
• Having a slight falling out with Dame Cath Tizard on the doco Dame Cath Moves Up
• Her passion for history leading to her involvement in the series Revolution
• How James Belich resisted script changes in the award winning series The New Zealand Wars

This video was first uploaded on 27 September 2011, 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