Mark Beesley: bringing the 'Westies' out of the closet…

Interview – 2013

Director and producer Mark Beesley has worked on some of New Zealand's most high profile series, including Outrageous Fortune, Shortland Street, The Blue Rose and The Almighty Johnsons. Beesley also worked on the big American shows Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: Legendary Journeys. He also wrote and directed the 'Westie' feature film Savage Honeymoon, which some credit as an inspiration for Outrageous Fortune.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Beesley talks about:

Loving the discipline of making fast-paced drama on Shortland Street
Getting a job directing on Xena despite not knowing about CGI
Learning that the 'star' comes first on the set of Hercules
How Savage Honeymoon was inspired by an American cartoon
Working around almost constant rain on set
His thoughts on whether or not the film inspired another famous 'Westie' drama
The ground-breaking style of Outrageous Fortune
How The Almighty Johnsons has created a unique type of primetime drama

This video was first uploaded on 15 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 think it was lightning in a bottle. I think the planets aligned. The combination of people working on that show, creating the show, the casting, and the people at the network around that show, shepherding the show to air — that was a particular combination of people and personalities.
– Mark Beesley on the success of Outrageous Fortune

Mark's Full Profile