Thomas Robins
Thomas Robins has acted alongside digital penguins, dodgy teachers, and a ring forged in the fires of Mount Doom. Off-screen, his directing work has won a bag of awards, thanks to 2009's Reservoir Hill. He created the International Emmy-winning web series with David Stubbs, his partner at KHF Media. Robins was also behind TV series The Killian Curse, and directed 2017 telemovie Catching the Black Widow.
Joel Haines
Joel Haines has composed screen music for over two decades, including soundtracks for TV shows Outrageous Fortune, Westside, The Brokenwood Mysteries and Mercy Peak— plus movies This Way of Life and After the Waterfall. Haines has also created themes for dozens of high profile brands (Air New Zealand, McDonald's), and channel music for TV2, Māori Television, and Sky Sports.
Ramai Hayward
A pioneer of New Zealand film and star of 1940 classic Rewi's Last Stand, Ramai Hayward is credited as Aotearoa’s first Māori filmmaker, camerawoman, and scriptwriter. At the 2005 Wairoa Māori Film Festival she received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to Māori filmmaking; the following year Hayward was made a Member of the NZ Order of Merit. She passed away on 3 July 2014.
John McRae
As a head of drama in New Zealand television, John McRae spearheaded a run of shows that were both local and export successes. McRae's four-decade television career saw him working in three countries, and winning two Emmy awards.
Irene Wood
Irene Wood was showing her versatility from the early days of Kiwi television: by 1968 she had already been on screen presenting children's shows, singing, and playing Katherine Mansfield in TV play The White Gardenia. Since then Wood has acted in murder mystery Slipknot, Shortland Street, movie Rest for the Wicked, and won fans after playing Nan for five seasons of Go Girls.
Geoff Murphy
Geoff Murphy was a leading figure in the new wave of Kiwi filmmakers that emerged in the 1970s. His movie Goodbye Pork Pie became the first blockbuster of the local film renaissance. He completed an unsurpassed triple punch with Utu and sci-fi classic The Quiet Earth. Noted for his skill at action, knockabout comedy, and melding genres, Murphy spent a decade in Hollywood before returning home.
Kōtuku Tibble
Broadcaster, teacher and Māori language advocate Kōtuku Tibble spent his life championing te reo. Tibble boasted a diverse CV — he had a hand in the launch of te reo pop group, Aaria, taught around the North Island for 28 years, and presented shows for television and radio over more than a decade. The father of two passed away on 24 September 2017, at the age of 53.
David Sims
There were times when the career of longtime National Film Unit director David Sims could have been cut short. Having survived close encounters with steam locomotives in mountainous terrain, he narrowly escaped being blown up, drowned and burnt alive at sea. Even filming a planned set-up on location had its hazards, as he found when his call of “action!” sent exploding rocks whistling by perilously close overhead.
Joel Tobeck
Actor Joel Tobeck acted in a number of early titles directed by Niki Caro, including Cannes-nominated short film Sure To Rise (1994) and Caro's first feature Memory and Desire. In 1997 Tobeck won a NZ Film and TV award for Topless Women Talk About Their Lives, playing wannabe partner to Danielle Cormack's character. He re-teamed with Cormack for offbeat drama Channelling Baby, and played the bad guy in both the first Lawless telemovie (winning him another acting award) and This is Not My Life. Tobeck has also acted on American television hit Sons of Anarchy and Australian series The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
Chris Bailey
Chris Bailey has made key creative contributions to a host of significant Kiwi television dramas, from sci fi classic Under the Mountain to Nothing Trivial. In 1998, Bailey, along with producer Chris Hampson and writer Greg McGee, founded production company ScreenWorks. These days he is managing director of South Pacific Pictures.