Geoff Jamieson
Geoff Jamieson was working as a mechanic in Queenstown when he was asked to help out on landmark 70s television series Hunters's Gold. So began a busy career as a camera grip on a run of classic TV dramas, as well as the ambitious shoots for movies The Quiet Earth and The Piano. Jamieson passed away on 24 May 2016.
Grahame McLean
Veteran producer and production designer Grahame McLean helped organise the shoots of a run of landmark Kiwi productions, from The Games Affair to Sleeping Dogs. Later he brought TV success Worzel Gummidge down under, and became the first — and will likely long remain one of the few — New Zealanders to direct two feature films back to back.
Jane Campion
Jane Campion is one of the most dynamic — and applauded — filmmakers to emerge from Australasia. Campion's CV includes Cannes-winning road trip Peel, An Angel at My Table, based on the life of writer Janet Frame, and award-winning mini-series Top of the Lake. With her twisted settler romance The Piano (1993), she became the first woman to take the top award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Melanie Reid
Whether on air or behind the scenes, award-winning investigative journalist Melanie Reid was a fixture of TV3 current affairs shows for over 25 years. As a reporter on 60 Minutes and 20/20, she went undercover to expose Neville Cooper's community at Gloriavale, and profiled Peter Ellis and David Bain. Reid also fronted 2006 documentary Let Us Spray, on chemical 245T. She now works for website Newsroom.
Mathurin Molgat
While making his mark as a professional skier, Canadian-born Mathurin Molgat began displaying his skills in front of the camera. After meeting Kiwi director Michael Firth, he ended up co-starring in Firth's 1987 movie The Leading Edge, as an adventurer in Aotearoa. Since then Molgat has lent his outdoor skills to films and 30+ commercials. In 2012 he directed his own film: the much travelled environmental documentary Song of the Kauri. Long based in Queenstown, Mathurin has also promoted Queenstown overseas as a skiing and filming location. He is co-owner of essential oils company Wilding & Co.
Lucy Lawless
Eight years after her TV debut on sketch show Funny Business, Lucy Lawless won global fame as the star of Xena: Warrior Princess. The series won her a devoted fan following, and invitations to guest star on everything from The Simpsons to bro' Town. Since the end of Xena's six season run, Lawless has acted in New Zealand and the United States, including as bad girl Lucretia in locally-shot series Spartacus.
John Earnshaw
English cameraman John Earnshaw moved downunder in 1975, just as the local screen industry was hotting up. A director of photography on hundreds of commercials, he shot two feature-length projects: cult movie Angel Mine, one of the earliest entries in the Kiwi movie renaissance, and TV movie A Woman of Good Character. He passed away on 3 March 2014, leaving behind him a passion project involving a mysterious Boeing aircraft.
Sarah Peirse
Sarah Peirse is a multi-award winning actor on screen and stage, best known for her portrayals of two very different mothers — the kind-hearted Honorah Rieper in Heavenly Creatures, and the disaffected sophisticate in Rain. Peirse has also won awards for Vincent Ward’s The Navigator, and one of her earliest starring roles: A Woman of Good Character.
Peta Carey
Award-winning documentary maker Peta Carey has framed subjects from a Kiwi buddha to Fiordland waterfalls, Pacific atolls to paragliders. She cut her teeth as a presenter on kids show Spot On, then began directing current affairs. Genetic research examination Lifting of the Makutu won her a 2006 NZ Screen Award. Carey runs Watershed Films, and has written feature stories for North & South and The Listener.
Jess Charlton
Jess Charlton was behind the camera on three web series from creative collective The Candle Wasters — award-winning party tale Bright Summer Night, musical romance Happy Playland, and 2018's Tragicomic. Born in London but raised in Invercargill and Queenstown, Charlton has shot over a dozen short films, including Jessica Grace Smith's award-winning Everybody Else is Taken and coming of age tale Tama. She was one of the key creatives behind 2012 dystopian feature Existence, and shared two NZ Writers Guild awards for co-writing the script. Charlton has shot ScreenTalk interviews for NZ On Screen.