Denson Baker
Auckland-born Denson Baker moved to Australia while still a child. Since then his award-studded career has balanced down under work, with shoots across the globe. Triple nominated for autism drama The Black Balloon, he scored awards with his fourth feature: the Indian-shot Waiting City, starring Joel Edgerton and directed by Baker's future wife Claire McCarthy. Baker also shot acclaimed Cliff Curtis drama The Dark Horse and NZ short Lambs.
Erik Thomson
Scots-born Erik Thomson moved to New Zealand at age seven. In the mid 90s his career took off, after he began acting in Australia. In 2004 he won an AFI award for feature Somersault, then later starred in Aussie TV hit Packed to the Rafters and NZ drama/comedy We're Here to Help. In 2016 Thomson won a Best Actor Logie for his role in TV series 800 Words, as an Australian widower who moves his family to NZ.
Vincent Ward
Vincent Ward has won an international reputation as an original and visionary filmmaker. Vigil and The Navigator played in competition at the Cannes Film Festival (the first New Zealand features to do so). Docudrama Rain of the Children (2008) revisited people from his 1980 documentary In Spring One Plants Alone. Ward also directed Robin Williams afterlife drama What Dreams May Come.
David Blyth
David Blyth cemented his place in the Kiwi filmmaking renaissance with two films that left social realism far behind: 1978 experimental feature Angel Mine, and 1984's Death Warmed Up, New Zealand's first homegrown horror movie. Since then Blyth's work has included family friendly vampire film Moonrise, a number of documentaries on war, and varied works exploring sexuality.
Jay Laga'aia
Auckland-born Jay Laga’aia is the proverbial man of many talents. A busy trans-Tasman career as actor/performer has seen him performing on stage (The Lion King) and screen (Street Legal, Water Rats, Star Wars).
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.
John Toon
John Toon's globetrotting award-winning career as a cinematographer encompasses documentary, shorts, TV drama (The Governor) and feature films — Rain, Mr Pip, Kingpin and Sunshine Cleaning among them. He has also shot and directed many commercials.
David Sims
There were times when the career of longtime National Film Unit director David Sims could have been cut short. Having survived close encounters with steam locomotives in mountainous terrain, he narrowly escaped being blown up, drowned and burnt alive at sea. Even filming a planned set-up on location had its hazards, as he found when his call of “action!” sent exploding rocks whistling by perilously close overhead.
Hone Tuwhare
The late Hone Tūwhare (1922-2008) remains one of New Zealand's most loved and respected poets. Tūwhare has been the subject of numerous documentaries. He also wrote short stories and plays, and the drama Eel for anthology television series E Tipu e Rea. Tuwhare died on 16 January 2008 in Dunedin.
Gary McCormick
Known for his many live tours as a poet, debater and speaker, Kiwi legend Gary McCormick has made a host of appearances on New Zealand television. His work on the talk show McCormick and long-running series Heartland helped make him television's most popular presenter in a 1999 newspaper poll.