Anthony McCarten
Raised in Taranaki with seven siblings and roughly as many books, Anthony McCarten went on to co-write global stage hit Ladies Night. In 1998 he made his directorial debut with a movie of his play Via Satellite, followed later by Show of Hands. In 2015 he won two BAFTA awards after writing Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything. Winston Churchill drama Darkest Hour and Bohemian Rhapsody followed.
Millen Baird
Millen Baird's self-titled comedy show won acclaim, and a Best Comedy nomination at the 2009 Qantas Awards. Then Baird and friends semi-improvised as a group of big city wannabes, for web series Auckland Daze. Baird has gone on to create and act in web series Darryl - An Outward Bound Story, Leeway and Slow Pete (with wife Siobhan Marshall), and act on TV's Step Dave and The Almighty Johnsons.
Toni Street
Raised on a Taranaki farm, Toni Street has represented Taranaki and Canterbury in netball, and Central Districts in cricket. After commerce studies at Lincoln University and a journalism diploma at Canterbury University, she joined TVNZ as an intern in 2006. During seven years in sport, she commentated at the Beijing Olympics and the World Netball champs. In 2012 Street began co-hosting a Saturday version of Breakfast; she graduated to the weekday show the following year, then joined the Seven Sharp team. Three years later, she was named Television Personality of the Year at the 2017 New Zealand TV Awards.
Jim Hickey
Jim Hickey spent more than two decades using his dextrous vocabulary to predict the likely path of sun, rain and wind. A longtime TV One fixture as weather forecaster on the primetime news, Hickey has also brought his distinctive presentation style to a host of other shows, including Country Calendar and A Flying Visit.
Lew Pryme
Lew Pryme was a popular New Zealand performer, who appeared in big screen musical Don't Let it Get You and on sixties television show C'mon. After stints as a music promoter and agent, Pryme played a part in bringing the entertainment and sports worlds together as executive director of the Auckland Rugby Union - introducing cheerleaders, mascots and music entertainment to rugby fans.
John Blick
After starting his filmmaking career at the National Film Unit, cinematographer John Blick has shot many iconic Kiwi commercials, done extended time in Asia and the United States — and worked alongside everyone from Brian Brake and Peter Jackson (The Frighteners), to Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.
Ian Sinclair
Ian Sinclair has reported from every corner of the globe. After experiencing dictatorship while studying flamenco guitar in Spain, Sinclair returned home to New Zealand, and eventually began working for TVNZ in 1986. Since then he has covered four major wars and been a mainstay as an investigative journalist, winning New Zealand’s Qantas Media Award for Best Investigation in 2009.
John Terris
John Terris, QSO, moved from radio into television when the new medium hit New Zealand in the early 60s. Starting as a continuity announcer, he went behind the scenes, directing on the first seasons of TV staples Country Calendar and Town and Around. In 1978 the one time Hutt City mayor began 12 years as Labour MP for Western Hutt, including time as the deputy speaker. These days Terris heads advocacy group Media Matters.
Charlotte Yates
Wellington songwriter Charlotte Yates has helmed projects to turn the words of Witi Ihimaera, Hone Tuwhare and James K Baxter into albums and live events. Yates has toured extensively throughout New Zealand and Australia.
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.