Abi King-Jones
Schooled at Unitec, Auckland University and Juice TV, King-Jones has made a run of NZ film festival-selected documentaries in partnership with Errol Wright: Te Whānau o Aotearoa, The Last Resort, Operation 8 and The 5th Eye (about homelessness, land sales, terror raids and surveillance respectively). With Alister Barry, she co-directed the award-nominated Hot Air; she also edited his A Civilised Society.
Ido Drent
Former model Ido Drent first won a fan following in 2009 after joining Shortland Street, and taking over the role of Daniel Potts. The character experienced homelessness, was brain damaged after being assaulted, and discovered major revelations over his parents. In late 2012 the South African-born actor headed for Australia, where he got the part of therapist to the main character in hit show Offspring. In 2014 he played INXS drummer Jon Farriss in miniseries INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, before returning home to New Zealand to play a land court lawyer turned military officer in WWl miniseries When We Go to War.
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.
Errol Wright
Errol Wright has co-directed a run of festival-selected documentaries with Abi King-Jones, under their CutCutCut Films banner: Te Whānau o Aotearoa, The Last Resort, Operation 8 and The 5th Eye (which examine homelessness, land sales, the 2007 terror raids and surveillance respectively). Wright has also been a camera operator for Alister Barry documentaries (Hollow Men, Hot Air) and television news.
Costa Botes
Costa Botes has had a long independent career as a director of drama (Stalin’s Sickle, Saving Grace ), a run of feature-length documentaries (Angie, Candyman, The Last Dogs of Winter) and at least one film that is very difficult to classify (Forgotten Silver). Botes also spent many years as a film critic, with a reputation for an acerbic wit.
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 Niccol
Andrew Niccol is one of the rare Kiwis to have made a career in Hollywood, and to boot he has done so largely with films based on his original ideas. His directing debut was dystopic GE future tale Gattaca, and he wrote one of the most acclaimed films of the 90s, reality TV saga The Truman Show. He has directed A-list actors Al Pacino, Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Nicolas Cage, and Justin Timberlake.
Wi Kuki Kaa
Wi Kuki Kaa was a diverse, formidable presence on New Zealand stage and screen for almost 30 years. His iconic roles included Iwi in Barry Barclay-directed feature Ngati, Rewi Maniapoto in TV series The Governor, Wiremu in Geoff Murphy-directed Utu, the koroua in Trinity Roots' music video Little Things, a scarecrow maker in Worzel Gummidge Down Under, and many more.