Tony Manson
Tony Manson has worked in television as a director, producer and commissioner of programmes. His specialty is factual programming - including directing for the popular Open Home and producing a wide range of documentaries.
Jennifer Ward-Lealand
Kiwi acting legend Jennifer Ward-Lealand began acting at age seven; her first screen role followed at age nine. Since then she has starred in big screen dramas Desperate Remedies and Vermilion to critical acclaim, and appeared in a long run of television shows, from TV drama Danny and Raewyn to Australian comedy show Full Frontal.
Margaret Moth
Margaret Moth was the first female camera operator to be employed by state television in New Zealand. Her natural curiosity and desire to experience history as it unfolded led her from a career in local news and documentaries to working for American cable channel CNN, documenting war zones and major international events from Kosovo to Kuwait.
Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith was the multi-talented actor who appeared in a host of television shows, starting with eighties soap Gloss. He also starred in three tele-movies as maverick private investigator John Lawless. His feature films include period melodrama Desperate Remedies, and offbeat drama Channelling Baby.
Mike Gill
Pathologist and climber Mike Gill accompanied Sir Edmund Hillary on many adventures, often doubling up as participant and cameraman. In 1961 he was part of the first team to climb Nepal’s Ama Dablam; he later helped film Ed’s missions jet-boating up the Ganges, climbing the Kaipo Wall and grand traversing Mt Cook. A founding member of the Himalayan Trust, Gill wrote Himalayan Hospitals about its humanitarian work.
Dane Giraud
Former guitarist Dane Giraud began his screen career by starring in and helping write 2001 movie The Waiting Place. Since then there hasn’t been much waiting around. Aside from directing feature drama Luella Miller, he has been a key player in a run of television shows and documentaries (Bring Your Boots, Oz, Both Worlds). Giraud is also creator of mockumentary series Find Me a Māori Bride.
Kelly Martin
Kelly Martin is chief executive of leading New Zealand production company South Pacific Pictures. Martin rose through the network ranks from photocopying to international acquisitions, before she became director of programming at TV3 — where she oversaw local drama successes like Outrageous Fortune, and comedy hits bro’Town and 7 Days. In 2012 she left TV3 to head up South Pacific Pictures.
Bob Allen
Starting with the National Film Unit in 1943, Bob Allen’s career as a motion picture sound recordist covered six decades. Based in the UK from 1953, he worked with well-known directors including Fred Zinnemann (Allen's work on The Day of the Jackal was BAFTA-nominated). He returned to his homeland to share his knowledge and experience as New Zealand feature filmmaking blossomed; and later to retire.
Tom Scott
Catapulted to fame after tousles with Prime Minister Robert Muldoon, Tom Scott originally trained to be a vet. He ended up helping Murray Ball turn Footrot Flats into a hit movie. The celebrated humourist and cartoonist has also told the story of Kiwi legends Edmund Hillary and David Lange, in both TV documentaries and dramas. Scott also co-wrote Rage, a TV movie about the 1981 Springbok tour.
Mike Walker
Impressed by untapped Polynesian talent, Levin-based filmmaker collaborated on a trio of pioneering films that put young Polynesians and Māori centre-frame: Kingi's Story, Kingpin, and award-winning telemovie Mark II. Walker passed away in late 2004.