Zöe Bell
Kiwi Zoë Bell went from stunt work on Xena to starring in Quentin Tarantino movie Death Proof. Having won stunt awards for her work as Uma Thurman's double in Kill Bill 2, Tarantino wrote her a starring role, playing herself. The ex-gymnast was profiled in TV series Extraordinary Kiwis and American documentary Double Dare. Since then she has turned increasingly to acting: from Tarantino's The Hateful Eight, to starring in action movie Raze and web series Angel of Death. Having already added producing to her resume, in 2017 Bell began directing commercials for Australiasian production house Curious Film.
Leanne Saunders
Leanne Saunders’ eye for talent has resulted in producer credits on six features: box office hits Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Born to Dance, Nazi horror The Devil’s Rock, and dramas Desert, The Weight of Elephants and Christmas. She also executive produced a run of successful shorts. In 2016 Saunders was appointed Head of Production and Development at the NZ Film Commission.
Beth Tredray
Beth Tredray began working in sound at Radio New Zealand, and the National Film Unit. Often on contract to TVNZ, she worked on shows Close Up and Top Town. Going freelance as a sound recordist in the early 90s, she began moving into sound design in the mid 2000s. Since then Tredray has designed the soundtracks for hit documentary Tickled and Emmy-nominated telefilm The Golden Hour.
Peter Hayden
Peter Hayden’s long storytelling career spans fact, fiction, feather and fur. Hayden has worked extensively behind the scenes on a run of nature documentaries, made for company NHNZ. His acting career includes roles in classic goldmining drama Illustrious Energy and Maurice Gee series The Fire-Raiser. In 2017 Hayden was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film and television.
Maxine Fleming
Maxine Fleming created or co-created the Emmy-nominated Being Eve, Agent Anna (starring Robyn Malcolm) and black comedy Burying Brian. The former journalist began her scriptwriting career when soap Shortland Street launched in the early 90s. Fleming has gone on to write for Outrageous Fortune, small town drama Mercy Peak, and Cliff Curtis mini-series The Chosen.
Marcus Lush
Popular and idiosyncratic radio and TV host Marcus Lush chronicled his love affair with the railways on high-rating series Off the Rails, which won him an award for best presenter at the 2006 NZ Screen Awards. Lush followed it with Ice, which saw him spending time in Antarctica, before making further Kiwi excursions South and North.
Esther Stephens
Having grown up in a musical family, Esther Stephens found it hard to decide between music or acting. So she did both. After training in performing and screen arts, she won an ongoing role as fashionista Olivia Duff in Go Girls. Since then, Stephens has had major parts in WWI drama When We Go to War and Westside. On stage, she won acclaim as suffragette Kate Sheppard in musical That Bloody Woman.
Max Cryer
Max Cryer’s career as an entertainer has encompassed pioneering live talk shows (Town Cryer), singing on stage and screen, and extended time in the United States. After a busy decade of television presenting beginning in the late 60s, Cryer went behind the scenes to produce a clutch of quiz shows —before a late flowering as a prolific, bestselling author, exploring his love of words and Kiwi culture.
Andrew Adamson
Andrew Adamson, NZOM, began his career at Auckland computer animation company The Mouse that Roared. After moving to the States and working in visual effects, he won fame in 2001 after co-directing Shrek, the first film to win an Academy Award for best animated feature. Adamson has returned home to shoot the first two installments of the Chronicles of Narnia, followed by Lloyd Jones novel Mister Pip.
Annie Collins
Editor Annie Collins worked on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and won awards for her editing work on Scarfies and Out of the Blue. But she is also known for an extensive resume of documentaries, having edited such landmark productions as Patu! and The Neglected Miracle.