Roger Donaldson
Roger Donaldson is notable for spearheading the New Zealand film renaissance with Sleeping Dogs (1977). He has been busy directing in Hollywood for much of the period since. Donaldson's first Kiwi story since acclaimed drama Smash Palace (1981) was Burt Munro biopic The World’s Fastest Indian (2005) — the most successful New Zealand film on home soil until the arrival of Taika Waititi's Boy in 2010.
Morton Wilson
Morton Wilson began composing for film while playing in band Schtung. Hagen and fellow band member Andrew Hagen went on to provide music for a quartet of Kiwi movies, including The Scarecrow and Kingpin. In 1981 they moved to Hong Kong and got even busier, composing commercials. Wilson went on to oversee Schtung sound studios in Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, while Hagen launched Schtung in Hollywood.
John Terris
John Terris, QSO, moved from radio into television when the new medium hit New Zealand in the early 60s. Starting as a continuity announcer, he went behind the scenes, directing on the first seasons of TV staples Country Calendar and Town and Around. In 1978 the one time Hutt City mayor began 12 years as Labour MP for Western Hutt, including time as the deputy speaker. These days Terris heads advocacy group Media Matters.
Jacob Bryant
Intrepid cinematographer Jacob Bryant has shot everywhere from Iraq and Afghanistan to the mean streets of Auckland (Super City). His work with leading documentary makers has been nominated for multiple screen awards. An episode of TV show Ends of the Earth shot in Afghanistan won Bryant a 2007 Qantas Award; he also shared a Documentary Edge gong for filming Finding Mercy in Zimbabwe.
Mark Sainsbury
As longtime host of primetime current affairs show Close Up, Mark Sainsbury became a household name; in 2007 the Sunday Star Times described his moustache as “the most famous in the country.” But the ginger duster doesn’t overshadow the experience and talent he’s brought to many roles over a long broadcasting career: from reporting for One News and Holmes, to officiating at Sir Edmund Hillary's funeral.
Phillipa Dann
Phillipa Dann’s work presenting music shows has taken her from 80s-era series Shazam! to MTV Europe. Dann studied English Literature and acted in series Pioneer Women, before winning a break fronting youth show Viewfinder. In 1986 she departed for a UK screen OE with husband Brent Hansen, before going on to present a run of shows for MTV Europe and VH1.
Scott Flyger
Auckland-raised Scott Flyger got his first big editing break on high profile documentary Rubber Gloves or Green Fingers, and went on to spend 12 years in London, where he cut a range of high profile dramas, comedies and documentaries. Now based in Christchurch, Flyger runs postproduction house Due South Films.
Bruce Mason
For three decades, playwright and critic Bruce Mason played intelligent, impassioned witness to many key developments in Kiwi theatre and culture; a number of them his own. His play The Pohutukawa Tree has spawned more than 180 productions, and was watched by 20 million after being adapted for the BBC. The End of the Golden Weather is both a classic solo play, and movie.
Sean Duffy
Best known to the public for an extended career as an actor — he co-starred in Mortimer's Patch and won an award playing a dopey farmer in comedy Willy Nilly — Sean Duffy alternated acting gigs with two decades editing for television. Later he moved into directing, working on a range of shows from Heartland to one-off documentaries.
Jennie Goodwin
Broadcaster Jennie Goodwin made history in June 1975, when she became the first woman in the Commonwealth to take on the national prime time news bulletin. The TV2 newsreader dispelled the belief that women lacked the authority to present network news. Goodwin left television in 1982, although she has made occasional return appearances.