David White

Raised on a Hawke's Bay farm, David White has gone on to explore aspects of rural New Zealand in both documentary and drama. White studied producing at England's National Film and TV School. By then he'd already co-produced documentary Shihad: Beautiful Machine (2012). His own documentary Meat — which introduces audiences to three farmers and a hunter — had a successful cinema release in 2017. It is one of a number of projects in which White chronicles people who kill animals, so that others may eat them. After acting in one of his own films, White went on to write, direct and co-star in 2020 romantic comedy This Town.

...I didn't believe farming was bad and I was not a vegan. But I also knew from the many years working on farms that meat production was not all rainbows and unicorns ... I realised I wanted to create a film that was down the middle and that explored the nuances of meat production – moving the conversation beyond a simple matter of black and white. David White on his documentary Meat, in 2017 book Kai and Culture: Food Stories from Aotearoa