Brian Holland
A part-time job at a cinema sparked Brian Holland's screen career. Soon he was managing a multiplex, and working as a film publicist. Holland's film knowledge got him a job programming movies for television. His 12 years at TVNZ included time as TV2's Assistant Programming Manager. In 2005 Holland left TVNZ and moved into producing television. In 2006 he joined Wellington's Top Shelf Productions, where he has developed programmes and been nominated for two NZ TV Awards in the one year: for the Mike King-presented Nutter's Club and offbeat arts show The Sitting. He is now Top Shelf's Head of Development.
Barry Holland
Alongside a radio career spanning more than half a century, Barry Holland, NZOM, has done numerous presenting jobs on television. Since starting his broadcasting career at Radio 1ZB in the early 60s, he has commentated the Olympic Games and the America’s Cup, and been the face of classic Kiwi TV series like On The Mat and Top Town.
Ruud Kleinpaste
Always happy to share his face with a wētā, entomologist and 'Bug Man' Ruud Kleinpaste is one of the insect world’s best friends. After moving to New Zealand from Holland in 1978, his work with MAF created a media profile for him which led to a long-running radio show, and a television career that saw Buggin’ with Ruud, his show for American cable network Animal Planet, screen in over 60 countries.
Simon Morris
Before Simon Morris became resident film reviewer and arts presenter for Radio New Zealand, he had a freelance television career encompassing scriptwriting, reporting and directing. He wrote for high-rating soaps like Close to Home, City Life and Shortland Street, directed classic music videos and was a key part of the Radio with Pictures team.
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.
Catherine Downes
Catherine Downes, MNZM, has won awards both for her stage directing, and her globetrotting one-woman shows about Katherine Mansfield. After launching theatre companies in Holland and the United Kingdom, she spent five years as artistic director of Christchurch's Court Theatre. On screen, she played one of the flatmates in early sitcom Buck House, and starred as a doctor in Epidemic. Time in Australia saw her win a Sammy Award for acclaimed Kings Cross drama Winter of Our Dreams. Later she acted in the original stage version of classic Kiwi play Joyful and Triumphant, and a 1993 television adaptation.
Bernadine Oliver-Kerby
Bernadine Oliver-Kerby’s 25 plus years in broadcasting have ranged from sports reporting (including All Blacks tests and the Olympics) to reading the news — she was a longtime co-presenter on the One News weekend slot. Oliver-Kerby has hosted sports show Skoda Game On, the Halberg sports awards and quiz show New Zealand’s Brainiest Kid; she is also an award-winning radio newsreader.
Stan Wemyss
The long career of Stan Wemyss ranged from South Pacific skirmishes to Māori legends, and gleaming refrigerators. Winner of an MBE after getting caught up in combat in Bougainville as a National Film Unit cameraman, Wemyss later spent many years with commercials company Peach Wemyss. He also produced pioneering te reo TV drama Uenuku.
Miriam Smith
Miriam Smith’s first film How Far is Heaven was born from a year living in the Whanganui River town of Jerusalem. Co-directed with Christopher Pryor, the documentary gained many plaudits. Smith had studied Film and English at Auckland University, gaining a masters in screenwriting. She has written plays for BBC Radio, and studied at Holland's Binger Writer's Lab. Pryor and Smith followed up thier previous collaborative success in 2016 with The Ground We Won, which took the 2017 New Zealand Film Award for Best Documentary. The black and white feature focused on rugby culture in rural New Zealand.
Cushla Dillon
Self-taught editor Cushla Dillon moved from shorter works to features with Harry Sinclair's Topless Women Talk about their Lives: both the bite-sized TV series then the movie, for which she won her first NZ film award. Dillon has gone on to edit shorts, documentaries, and many more features — including The Price of Milk, Orphans & Kingdoms, and award-winning documentary This Way of Life.