Danny Mulheron
Danny Mulheron has approached comedy from almost every angle: as a writer, director, inside a hippo suit, and as co-creator of the politically-incorrect Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby. But laughter is only half the story. Mulheron has also acted in a run of productions, presented car series AA Torque Show, and directed everything from documentaries (The Third Richard) to several TV dramas about iconic Kiwis.
Robin Laing
Robin Laing began her long career as a producer with 1985's Mr Wrong, the first of many projects she has worked on with director Gaylene Preston. In 1993 Laing was awarded a Member of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the New Zealand film industry.
David McPhail
David McPhail's television resume is that of a genuine stayer. Working with Jon Gadsby, his longtime comic partner in crime, McPhail co-starred — and famously impersonated Sir Rob Muldoon — in landmark sketch shows A Week of It and McPhail and Gadsby. Later he helped create the Barry Crump-style yarns of Letter to Blanchy, and played the no-nonsense teacher in Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby.
Gaylene Preston
Gaylene Preston has been making feature films and documentaries with a distinctive New Zealand flavour and a strong social message for over 30 years. In 2001 she was the first filmmaker to be made a Laureate by the Arts Foundation, recognising her contribution to New Zealand film and television.
Graeme Tetley
Graeme Tetley began his long scriptwriting career with Vigil, one of the most acclaimed New Zealand films of the 1980s. He went on to co-create police show Shark in the Park, collaborate extensively with director Gaylene Preston (Ruby and Rata, Bread and Roses), and co-write Out of the Blue, the story of the Aramoana massacre. Tetley passed away on 13 March 2011.
Bill Johnson
Veteran actor Bill Johnson began appearing on Kiwi screens as early as 1969, when he joined the cast of TV thriller The Alpha Plan. Johnson is best remembered by a generation of Kiwis as the sinister Mr Wilberforce in 1980s sci fi classic Under The Mountain. After more than four decades as an actor, he passed away on 23 September 2016.
Oliver Driver
Oliver Driver's career has seen him fronting arts programmes and breakfast show Sunrise, and portraying everyone from villainous alien Mr Wilberforce to a sensitive sperm donor and a wacky nurse. The ex-Auckland Theatre Company artistic director has also done time with music station Alt TV, co-starred in chalk and cheese comedy Sunny Skies and directed many episodes of Shortland Street.
Paul Horan
Paul Horan co-founded the NZ Comedy Festival and The Classic Comedy Bar, kickstarting a vital Auckland comedy scene — and his own successful trans-Tasman TV career. His credits include The Topp Twins, Super City, and Australia's Rove Live. After helping develop prime time formats like The Project, his company Slightly Uncomfortable Productions has specialised in hybrid news comedy shows.
Tom Scott
Catapulted to fame after tousles with Prime Minister Robert Muldoon, Tom Scott originally trained to be a vet. He ended up helping Murray Ball turn Footrot Flats into a hit movie. The celebrated humourist and cartoonist has also told the story of Kiwi legends Edmund Hillary and David Lange, in both TV documentaries and dramas. Scott also co-wrote Rage, a TV movie about the 1981 Springbok tour.
Louis Sutherland
Two of Louis Sutherland’s short film collaborations with Mark Albiston have been invited to Cannes: 2007 drama Run (which Sutherland also stars in), and The Six Dollar Fifty Man — both won special mentions. Their 2013 feature film Shopping screened at Sundance and Berlin, where it won a Grand Prix. The drama school grad’s acting talents have graced TV's The Insiders Guide to Love and Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby.