Jane Campion
Jane Campion is one of the most dynamic — and applauded — filmmakers to emerge from Australasia. Campion's CV includes Cannes-winning road trip Peel, An Angel at My Table, based on the life of writer Janet Frame, and award-winning mini-series Top of the Lake. With her twisted settler romance The Piano (1993), she became the first woman to take the top award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Marton Csokas
Actor Marton Csokas came to fame in the early 90s, playing the bumbling Dr Dodds in Shortland Street. Since then he has appeared in interracial romance Broken English and coming of age story Rain, before starting a run of international roles — often as the villain — in everything from xXx to The Bourne Supremacy.
Bret McKenzie
Bret McKenzie is one half of musical-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. McKenzie and Jemaine Clement found international fame with the cult HBO comedy, which followed the duo's fictional efforts to 'make it' in New York. An Oscar-winner after writing songs for The Muppets (2011), McKenzie's screen career began after a brief role in The Lord of the Rings trilogy helped win him a cult following.
Stephen Downes
Stephen Downes had never shot a film before meeting director Robert Sarkies in an Otago University cafe; he wound up framing a trio of Sarkies’ short films, plus his breakout feature Scarfies. With a zoology degree under his belt, Downes has also forged a prolific career as an international wildlife filmmaker, from capturing kaka parrots in his lens to "chasing wild ass" in India. He is co-founder of 5 to 9 productions.
Gary Scott
Gary Scott began his television career as an assignment editor on TV3's news desk, before joining Ninox Films as a writer and researcher. He directed documentaries then joined Wellington company Gibson Group in 2001, where he has produced or executive produced a slew of factual programmes and series, including Kiwis at War, Here to Stay and NZ Detectives.
Suzanne Paul
Brit-born Suzanne Paul first made a splash on Kiwi television screens in the 80s, thanks to her infomercials. Hit TV show Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? saw her surprising ordinary New Zealanders with a long run of celebrity guests. She paired up with Anthony Ray Parker again for TV's Garage Sale and Second Honeymoon, then went on to win the third season of Dancing with the Stars — despite breaking a rib in the final.
Geoffrey Scott
Geoffrey Scott, MBE and OBE, oversaw the Government's National Film Unit for over 20 years, until his retirement in 1973. Scott began his film career playing piano over silent movies. During his command of the unit, the organisation won 141 awards.
David Gribble
Australian cinematographer David Gribble, ACS, has carved a career in Hollywood and downunder, capturing everyone from Robin Williams to Temuera Morrison. Gribble has worked in New Zealand on dozens of occasions; among the earliest was shooting Shining with the Shiner for director Roger Donaldson, as part of 1976 series Winners & Losers. Gribble later shot Donaldson's features Cadillac Man and The World’s Fastest Indian, winning an Aussie award for Indian. He also shot 2001 movie Crooked Earth. His many adverts in Aotearoa include campaigns for Donaldson, Paul Middleditch and Geoff Dixon.
Michael Forlong
After managing to introduce drama and dance into his post WWII films for the National Film Unit, filmmaker Michael Forlong spent the remainder of his career directing features in Europe. In 1972 he returned to New Zealand to shoot children's tale Rangi's Catch, discovering actor Temuera Morrison in the process.
Cohen Holloway
Cohen Holloway began singing and doing impersonations at high school. He went on to showcase his John Campbell impression on bro'Town and sketch show Facelift. After studying acting at Toi Whakaari, he won a Qantas Award in 2009 for TV drama Until Proven Innocent; Holloway starred as the falsely-imprisoned David Dougherty. Since then Holloway has played a gang member in Boy and a real estate agent in Māori TV hit Find Me A Māori Bride, and starred as a dodgy cowboy in Western Good for Nothing. In black comedy Fresh Eggs, he is a well-meaning husband caught up in a run of unfortunate deaths.