Robert Lord
Robert Lord was writing full time at a point when few Kiwi playwrights made a living from their work. In 1988 he turned his play Bert and Maisy into a television series. He also had scriptwriting credits on TV's Peppermint Twist and big screen period drama Pictures. Lord's classic play Joyful and Triumphant was dramatised for television in 1993, soon after his death at age 46.
Ian Cross
Ian Cross trained as a journalist. His 1957 novel The God Boy has been hailed as a classic (and similar status afforded to the 1976 television adaptation). As Listener editor he doubled its circulation and reinvigorated its writing staff. As broadcasting chair and chief executive he had a turbulent relationship with the Muldoon government - and failed to stem what he saw as the over-commercialisation of television.
Ronald Hugh Morrieson
Ronald Hugh Morrieson fashioned dark yet exuberant novels from the provincial Taranaki towns where he spent most of his life. A classic Kiwi example of a writer who won increasing fame after death, Morrieson remains one of New Zealand's most filmed writers, despite writing only four books.
Ruth Harley
Ruth Harley has been a leader and change agent across 30 years in the screen industry. She was commissioning editor at TVNZ, then the first Executive Director of NZ On Air. From 1997 she spent a decade as CEO of the NZ Film Commission, then crossed the Tasman to head the newly created Screen Australia for five years. In 1997 Harley was awarded an OBE, and in 2006 was named a CNZM.
Janet Frame
Janet Frame (1924 - 2004) is an icon of New Zealand literature and her international reputation rests on an original, "edge of the alphabet" use of language. She was twice rumoured to be short-listed for the Nobel Prize, and was acclaimed as "one of the great writers of our time" (San Francisco Chronicle). Her life and work have notably been translated to screen.
Jeffrey Thomas
One of New Zealand’s leading TV actors, Jeffrey Thomas was born in Wales and graduated with a Master of Literature from Oxford University. Since arriving in Wellington in 1976, his credits have included Close To Home, Gloss, Shark in the Park, Mercy Peak, Shortland Street and Outrageous Fortune. In the 80s he starred in a Welsh language drama series. An award-winning playwright, he has also acted extensively on stage.
Martyn Sanderson
From The Governor to The Lord of the Rings, Martyn Sanderson's distinctive voice and sideburns were part of New Zealand's screen landscape for three decades. His work ranged from the experimental to the mainstream, including directing feature films (Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree) and personal documentaries.
Michael King
Michael King was widely recognized as a leading chronicler of Aotearoa and its people. King wrote over 30 books, ranging from Māori culture to the bestselling The Penguin History of New Zealand. In 1974 he presented landmark documentary series Tangata Whenua. Later his books fuelled documentaries about writers Frank Sargeson and Janet Frame, while King himself was the subject of 2004's The History Man.
Marton Csokas
Actor Marton Csokas came to fame in the early 90s, playing the bumbling Dr Dodds in Shortland Street. Since then he has appeared in interracial romance Broken English and coming of age story Rain, before starting a run of international roles — often as the villain — in everything from xXx to The Bourne Supremacy.
Roger Hall
Roger Hall began writing and acting on television in the late 1960s. In 1976 his debut play Glide Time became a sellout. Later Hall turned this satire of bureaucrats into Gliding On, arguably New Zealand's most successful sitcom to date. Play Middle Aged Spread became a film in 1979. Hall went on to write marital comedy Conjugal Rights for English television. He remains the country's most successful playwright.