Rachel Lang: creating beloved TV characters...

Interview – 2010

Rachel Lang has been a driving force behind some of New Zealand’s most popular television dramas. Beginning as a story editor on 1980s shows Shark in the Park and Open House, she moved on to Shortland Street as a storyliner and executive producer. Lang collaborated with writer Gavin Strawhan to create South Pacific Pictures dramas Jackson’s Wharf and Go Girls, and teamed with James Griffin for the enormously successful Outrageous Fortune, and The Almighty Johnsons.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Lang talks about:

Enjoying her first acting role, and learning to march in The Marching Girls
How Shortland Street changed the face of New Zealand television drama
How the soap gave voice to the Kiwi accent
Loving creating Mercy Peak with its subtle approach to drama
How initial despondency over network responses to the show led to major improvements
How a spark of creativity in the shower led to Outrageous Fortune
Wanting to make the show rude enough that people "had" to watch it
How Sex in the City influenced the home-grown show Go Girls
Why This is Not My Life was one of the most difficult projects she’s worked on
The need for a writer to be involved in the process of casting parts

This video was first uploaded on 13 September 2010, 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 idea of it was that it would be large and comedic, and not take itself too seriously . . . I really wanted to bust through that kind of cultural cringe where people didn't feel like they had to watch New Zealand drama because it was good for you, but just because it was going to be fun.
– Rachel Lang on drawing audiences to watch Outrageous Fortune

Rachel's Full Profile