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John Harris

Producer

As a school boy in Auckland, John Harris wrote short stories for the children's page of the newspaper, and acted in school plays. Although he was a keen movie fan, "back then there was no film or TV industry". Harris became a journalist instead, working at the Auckland Star and other papers. He also did time in rock and roll outfit The Bluestars.

In 1974 he joined the NZ Broadcasting Corporation, as a reporter for both television and radio. After local television was reinvented as two channels, Harris became chief reporter in South Pacific Television's Auckland newsroom.

Six years later he was part of the team that launched long-running regional news show Top Half, where he worked as a producer and longtime programme editor. He also spent time training new journalism arrivals at TVNZ.

In the late 80s, fresh from a work meeting where the tone ran towards the negative, he ran into Neil Roberts, a former TVNZ reporter whose new production company Communicado was on the rise. When Roberts asked "when are you going to come and work for me?", Harris' reply was "next week!". Roberts would teach him "the power of direct and simple storytelling"; fellow Communicado boss Robin Scholes, "the value of strategizing".

Harris joined his former Top Half colleague Colin McRae to direct magazine show That's Fairly Interesting, a show which Harris would produce for three seasons. A personal highlight was launching rescue and survival series Heroes, a show where re-enactments allowed him to rediscover his passion for drama.

In 1994, knowing "it was time to follow my dreams", Harris set up his own company Greenstone Pictures, where he would spent almost two decades  as managing director and head of development.

The original dream involved having some TV programmes commissioned, to help fund the movie he planned to write in his spare time. The movie has not yet happened; but a great many programmes have. In the process, Greenstone has won a reputation for its strong factual programming. There have also been occasional excursions into entertainment shows (The Tem Show) and children's programming (Amazing Extraordinary Friends).

Greenstone grew quickly from its beginnings at a dining room table, and Harris found himself handing over directing duties to others. "I enjoy the creative process," he says. "I'm more of a storyteller than a businessman, so the most sensible thing I ever did was build a good team around me".

"The aim is to have fun, make programmes you're proud of, and make a profit." Despite the inevitable challenge of managing fluctuating levels of work, for Harris it has "been a ball".

Harris rates the following series as key in Greenstone's evolution: long-running success The Zoo, fly-on-the-wall show Motorway Patrol, and award-winning Harris-produced series Epitaph, which told historical stories using documentary and reenactment. The latter series also saw two spin-off books.

Other Greenstone award-winners include a number of documentaries with impressively long titles, including Back from the Dead - The Saga of the Rose Noelle, Cave Creek - The Full Story of a National Tragedy, and To Hell and Back - Tanjas's Story, which sold to England's Channel Five.

In the late 90s, Harris began attending international television markets. Such visits allowed him to keep up with international trends and opportunities, and also "avoid being totally reliant on the New Zealand market". Greenstone also has offices in Sydney and Melbourne, where it makes two road-based reality shows for Australian networks.

In 2003, Greenstone made its first foray into drama, with Stephen Campbell's kidult tale Secret Agent Men. Campbell's superhero show The Amazing Extraordinary Friends followed, which ran for three seasons.

The company acquired Cream Media in late 2010; in November 2013 it was announced that Harris had sold Greenstone to Australian indie Cordell Jigsaw Zapruda (CJZ). Kiwi Richard Driver took over as new managing director of Greenstone in August 2014, Driver became chairman in 2017, with Rachel Antony as CEO. Although Harris stayed on with Greenstone as a consultant, he was devoting most of his time to drama projects. His plan: "to stay in New Zealand and make small movies with a big heart which will sell internationally".

Harris would love to see New Zealand broadcasters and funding organisations setting targets to spend more on drama, both on TV and the movie screen: "It's the only way we'll get better at drama, build a sustainable industry, and ensure there are more New Zealand stories told".

 

Sources include
John Harris
Greenstone
website. Accessed 23 May 2017
'John Harris - Interview' - Onfilm, May 2004