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HelenaBrooks

  • Director
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Born in London, and raised across Australasia, Helena Brooks went on to complete a Master of Arts in Directing and Screenwriting at Auckland University. Her long list of commercials includes work for director Ridley Scott. Brooks' short film Nothing Special — a comical tale of a young man struggling to escape an overzealous mother — was nominated for best short at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. In 2017 she directed episodes of hit shows 800 Words and The Brokenwood Mysteries, followed by psychological thriller The Bad Seed. Brooks is also developing a movie with her Nothing Special partner Jaquie Brown. 

Screenography

2019 Director Television
2019 Director Series
2018 Director Television
2015 - 2018 Director Series
2015 - 2018 Director Series

Awards

2005 Cannes Film Festival
In Competition: for Nothing Special

2005 Cinema des Antipodes (Festival of Australasian Films, France)
Best Short Film: for Nothing Special

“When I'm working hard, my idea of paradise is doing nothing. When I'm doing nothing, my idea of paradise is working. It's a problem I know.”

Helena Brooks, in a 2008 interview with website Mindfood