Matthew Ridge
Rugby and league international, car wash entrepreneur and celebrity Matthew Ridge became – alongside fellow sportsman Marc Ellis – one of the twin onscreen towers of 90s and 2000s lad culture in New Zealand. The larrikin pair went adventuring in Aotearoa and overseas (Fresh Up In the Deep End, a run of Matthew and Marc’s Rocky Road series) and were panel captains on sports quiz show Game of Two Halves. Solo, Ridge was chosen to host the original version of high profile game show The Chair. He has also been a regular participant in a run of celebrity reality shows (Treasure Island, Top of the Class).
Julie Christie
Julie Christie, DNZM, is one of New Zealand's most successful television producers. She built her company, Touchdown Productions, into the country's leading producer of entertainment television and exporter of programme formats. In 2006 she sold Touchdown to global company Eyeworks in a multi-million dollar deal; she stayed on as managing director until 2012.
Haunui Royal
For more than 20 years, Haunui Royal has been driven by the desire to be part of a vibrant Māori voice in broadcasting. The director turned executive got his break at TVNZ in 1988, before directing everything from a long line of documentaries (The Truth about Māori), to entertainment (Havoc and Newsboy's Sellout Tour). Later he spent seven years as General Manager of Programming at Māori Television.
Bettina Hollings
Pioneering TV programmer Bettina Hollings can list the launch of Shortland Street and being the first female to head a major local television network among her credits. In 2000, she ‘jumped fence’ and formed Imagination Television. The company is responsible for making some of NZ’s most popular shows, including MasterChef New Zealand, New Zealand’s Got Talent and Grand Designs New Zealand.
Janice Finn
Janice Finn is a television producer and actor. She produced 90s television series Marlin Bay and the iconic high fashion soap opera Gloss (1987-90). Since then, Finn has had a successful career as a writer, director and producer for stage and screen.
Marc Ellis
All Black, Auckland Warrior, juice entrepreneur, and onscreen larrikin, Marc Ellis’ first non-footy screen foray was co-hosting Sportscafe, where his antics regularly attracted headlines (including Nude Day appearances). A run of hosting roles followed – often with fellow sportsman Matthew Ridge – where the lads were fish-out-of-water in New Zealand (In the Deep End, Time of Your Life) and overseas (Matthew and Marc’s Rocky Road). The pair were team captains on quiz show Game of Two Halves; Ellis went solo for 2009's How the Other Half Lives. These days he is co-owner of advertising agency Media Blanco.
Sean Duffy
Best known to the public for an extended career as an actor — he co-starred in Mortimer's Patch and won an award playing a dopey farmer in comedy Willy Nilly — Sean Duffy alternated acting gigs with two decades editing for television. Later he moved into directing, working on a range of shows from Heartland to one-off documentaries.
Stephen McCurdy
Composer Stephen McCurdy's screen music has crossed the gamut — from jazz, chamber pieces, rock, and pop, to the faux Peggy Lee song which opened each episode of 80s soap Gloss. McCurdy won NZ Film Awards for his scores to Came a Hot Friday and The End of the Golden Weather.
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.
Murray Milne
Cameraman Murray Milne often finds himself working on jobs that involve swimming or hanging from helicopters. After starting on commercials, Milne worked with director Richard Riddiford, filming 80s road movie romance Arriving Tuesday, and Zilch! Following acclaimed shorts with Costa Botes, Milne did impressive work for Peter Jackson on Meet the Feebles and zombie epic Braindead. Since then Milne's work has mixed TV with aerial and underwater photography.