Andrew Dominik
Kiwi-born but raised largely in Australia, Andrew Dominik began his career directing music videos (including four for Straitjacket Fits). He went on to win acclaim with a trio of films about violent males: Chopper, starring Australia's Eric Bana, and two movies with Brad Pitt, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (which made many best of 2007 lists) and American underworld tale Killing Them Softly.
Aaron Jeffery
Auckland-born Aaron Jeffery moved to Australia at 17, to study acting at Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art. After time on Water Rats, he won fame and two Logie Awards for McLeods' Daughters. In-between doing over 200 episodes as larrikin horseman Alex Ryan, he returned to Aotearoa for Outrageous Fortune, to play Wolf West's dodgy half-brother. In 2012 he won an AACTA Award after adding 15 kilograms for Underbelly: Badness. Later he starred as celebrity criminal Mark 'Chopper' Read in a 2018 Underbelly instalment. Jeffery has also acted in Step Dave (as Dave's dad) and Prisoner update Wentworth.
Simon Reece
Simon Reece has had a long career editing television and film, cutting landmarks such as Tank Busters, The Governor, Pukemanu, The God Boy and Vigil. In 1990 he shifted post-production roles and set up Wellington company The Dub Shop, which specializes in providing digital services for broadcast, web and archives.
Richard Driver
Chairman of company Greenstone TV, Richard Driver first broke into television as host of music show Radio with Pictures. After directing documentary Hokonui Todd, the ex singer ran production company Visionary TV and produced music series Give it a Whirl and award-winner Love, Speed and Loss. He went on to create and programme Sky TV's Documentary Channel for four years, before selling it to the BBC.
Jamie Selkirk
Jamie Selkirk is the Academy Award-winning editor of Return of the King, the final episode of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. His working relationship with director Peter Jackson stretches from Jackson's first feature Bad Taste through to the present day. Selkirk helped found special effects company Weta Workshop, and Wellington's Camperdown Studios.
John Gilbert
John Gilbert has edited images of hobbits, disabled lovers, and heroic conscientious objectors. Along the way he has done time at TVNZ, edited over 20 feature films, and cut a clutch of classic short films. In 2017 Gilbert won his first Academy Award — for Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge — after having been previously nominated for The Fellowship of the Ring.
Finola Dwyer
Finola Dwyer, ONZM, began as an editor. After cutting Country Calendar and movie Trial Run, she was encouraged by Larry Parr to become a producer. Three films and a number of TV programmes later, Dwyer began her producing career anew in London in the early 90s. Her work in England stretches from acclaimed Beatles feature Backbeat to Oscar-nominated dramas An Education and Brooklyn.
Laurie Clarke
Laurie Clarke began his career in 1983, as an editor for Australia’s ABC. Back home for the birth of TV3, he later spent nine years directing and producing for news show 20/20. Clarke is currently a company director at Top Shelf Productions; his list of credits includes Target, What's Really in Our Food, Making New Zealand, Heritage Rescue, and long-running media commentary show Media Take.
Luke Nola
Luke Nola is the creator of madcap children’s show Let’s Get Inventin’, which over seven seasons spawned awards, dozens of inventions — and 11 successful patents. The show screened in more than 30 countries. Nola began as a graphic designer, and the advertising world soon led him to television; he has also directed children’s shows Life on Ben and The Goober Brothers, in which he played one of the Goobers.
Rima Te Wiata
Rima Te Wiata's career has seen her showcasing her diverse talents as an actor (Housebound, Hunt for the Wilderpeople), comedian and impressionist (More Issues), and singer (Little Shop of Horrors) — sometimes all at the same time. In 2017 she was awarded a New Zealand Order of Merit for her work on screen.