Fiona Jackson

Fiona Jackson grew up in Hamilton and Christchurch, before a move to the United States, where she did stunt work on Vincent Ward's What Dreams May Come and TV show Nash Bridges. After returning to New Zealand, Jackson mixed film studies with odd couple road movie Penny Black (2015) — which she produced, and co-wrote with director Joe Hitchcock. She also worked on spin-off short Lapwing. Her masters project was a documentary featuring Rocky Horror Show creator Richard O’Brien; her Doctor of Philosphy examined the career trajectories of filmmakers. These days Jackson teaches Film and Animation at Wintec in Hamilton.

Filmmaking is like everything I love, balled up into one big vocation: writing, painting, model building, photography, sewing, problem solving...There are opportunities to do everything. And I did. I learned so much, about filmmaking, about the people who shared the journey with me, and about myself. Fiona Jackson, on making movie Penny Black