Peter Feeney
Peter Feeney is a veritable Swiss Army knife of the screen, with credits as an actor, casting director and acting tutor. Feeney's 20 year plus acting CV ranges from drama (as Rose-Noelle skipper John Glennie, in TV movie Abandoned), kids TV (The Cul de Sac), comedy (Auckland Daze), New Zealand-shot US shows (Spartacus), and film. He won rave reviews as a mad scientist in movie hit Black Sheep.
Michael Heath
Though Michael Heath helped create a run of pioneering examples of the Kiwi cinema of unease, his contributions to our culture defy easy categorisation. His scripts include many films which have made a comfortable home between genres: children’s vampire tale Moonrise/Grampire, nostalgic Ronald Hugh Morrieson chiller The Scarecrow, Heath’s work with director Tony Williams, and his acclaimed song-cycle A Small Life.
Nevan Rowe
Former journalist Nevan Rowe made a high profile big screen acting debut as Gloria, the estranged wife of Sam Neill’s Smith in landmark feature Sleeping Dogs (1977). She also co-starred in 1980 kids movie Nutcase, as mad scientist Evil Eva. Rowe worked off-screen in casting and as a production manager, and in 1989 directed short film Gordon Bennett, starring Andy Anderson. She passed away in April 2016.
Mark Mitchinson
Born in England, Mark Mitchinson spent a number of formative years in New Zealand, before returning to the United Kingdom and training as an actor. But he kept coming back, eventually settling downunder in 2002 and rekindling his love of acting. Mitchinson has won awards and acclaim for TV movies Bloodlines and Siege, and has also starred in The Monster of Mangatiti and web series High Road.
Winter Hall
The son of a Canterbury mayor and lay preacher, Winter Hall turned his early love of acting into a long and steady Hollywood career. He used friendships forged in Australasian dramatic companies to gain entrée into the silent film world, and became a valuable, “poised and distinguished” supporting actor in over 100 films, including 1925 silent epic Ben-Hur. His career continued unabated through the introduction of the ‘talkies’. Image credit: Alexander Turnbull Library, B-158-009 (detail)
Tim White
Tim White began his career producing fellow student Vincent Ward’s A State of Siege, and later joined him on the epic Map of the Human Heart. With a penchant for working with emerging talent, he has produced a run of films on both sides of the Tasman. His long slate — from Heath Ledger breakthrough Two Hands, to the acclaimed Out of the Blue — has established White as a leading Australasian producer.
Matasila Freshwater
Matasila Freshwater is a Wellington director with a background in animation, anthropology and design. She cut her creative teeth on a run of 48 Hour filmmaking competitions (including 2017 Best Animation winner The Real Rare Arctic Firefly). Her award-winning short Shmeat – the tale of a mad scientist who devises a new food source – was chosen for the 'New Zealand’s Best' section of the 2016 NZ International Film Festival. Freshwater is an Assistant Director at Wellington's Pūkeko Pictures (working on WotWots spin-off Kiddets); she is also one of eight directors behind Vai, a Pacific Island follow-up to feature Waru.
Sam Neill
One of New Zealand's best known screen actors, Sam Neill possesses a blend of everyman ordinariness, charm and good looks that have made him an international leading man. His resume of television and 70+ feature films includes leading roles in landmark New Zealand movies, from a man alone on the run in breakout feature Sleeping Dogs to the repressed settler in The Piano.
Anna Marbrook
Director Anna Marbrook came to the screen from an extensive theatre background (she co-founded Auckland company Theatre at Large). More than 150 episodes directing on Shortland Street laid the groundwork for a run of factual work, focused on Pacific themes: including food series Real Pasifik, award-winning waka documentary Te Mana o te Moana – The Pacific Voyagers, and reality series Waka Warriors.
Colin Tapley
Dunedin-born actor Colin Tapley found character parts gave his movie career longevity. Tapley argued that the average time for a leading man in 1930s Hollywood was seven years. He played supporting roles in pre-World War II Hollywood films, and after the war extended his career into the late 60s with performances in British movies and TV. His best remembered film is 1955 classic The Dam Busters.