Marcus Turner
Folk musician Marcus Turner spent three years as one of a trio of presenters on kids show Spot On, where he became known for his musical performances and comic sketches. After leaving the show in 1984 he worked as a director, including on documentaries for NHNZ and another kids classic, Play School. He also spent time in the UK as a fulltime folk musician. Turner passed away in early February 2016.
Michelle Turner
Michelle Turner has worked on everything from splatter classic Braindead to Bread & Roses. Her CV covers a wide range of behind the scenes roles, from production manager to producer. In 2001 she produced her first feature Stickmen. The tale of friends who enter an underground pool contest sold to more than 20 countries. Then she joined the producing team on London-set romance Bollywood Queen. Turner was a producer on documentary Children of the Migration and TV drama The Lost Children. She has also worked on the Fijian shoot for Tom Hanks hit Cast Away, and in sales for the NZ Film Commission.
Richard Turner
Richard Turner’s work as a director began with poetry-based works, pioneering Māori works for television, and Squeeze (1980), New Zealand’s first gay-themed feature. Since then he has made films largely in Australia.
Jared Turner
New Plymouth-born Jared Turner got his big break with 2004 feature Fracture, as the thief upon whose botched robbery the story pivots. Though his screenwork to date has been mainly in New Zealand, Turner grew up in Sydney, where he studied theatre. After time in the cast of Kiwi TV hit Go Girls, he spent three seasons as one of The Almighty Johnsons. Turner played Norse god Ty, whose romantic tendencies are inhibited by an unusually cold exterior. He went on to act Australian series The Secret Daughter, played a villain in The Last Saint, and co-starred in 2019 TV movie Ablaze, about the 1947 Ballantyne store fire.
Ash Turner
Ash Turner is a production designer and art director with over 20 year's experience contributing to award-winning features and television dramas, plus short films, commercials and live events. His work includes design for the films Snakeskin, A Song of Good, and Planet Man, as well as award-winning TV drama Ngā Tohu: Signatures.
Ian Mune
Quite aside from being a talented and prolific actor, Ian Mune has made behind the scenes contributions to many New Zealand screen landmarks. Mune's writing career ranges from some of New Zealand's earliest television series to Goodbye Pork Pie. His work as director includes classics Came a Hot Friday and The End of the Golden Weather, and the hit sequel to Once Were Warriors.
Rodney Bryant
Rodney Bryant was one of the stars of the heyday of regional television news. In the early 70s he became a Canterbury institution fronting The South Tonight with Bryan Allpress, and returned to host The Mainland Touch in the early 80s. He moved on to TV talkback, then children’s current affairs with The Video Dispatch, before leaving TV for a twenty year run in communications for the Dunedin City Council.
Phillip Gordon
Phillip Gordon began his screen career with 70s soap Close to Home, then won fame in the mid 80s with two different roles: playing conman Cyril Kidman in hit period comedy Came a Hot Friday, and starring in Wellington-set TV series Inside Straight. He went on to act on both sides of the Tasman.
Philip Sherry
Philip Sherry, MNZM, remains one of New Zealand’s longest serving newsreaders — including flagship bulletins for the NZBC, TV One, South Pacific Television, TV3 and Radio NZ. Sherry began television newsreading in 1963. After work in Canada and London he returned home, co-anchoring innovative twin city bulletin News at 10 with Tom Bradley. He joined TV3 for its launch in 1989, then did time in politics.
Dougal Stevenson
When television's nightly news finally went nationwide in 1969, newsreader Dougal Stevenson was the person chosen to read the very first bulletin. Six years later, Stevenson and Bill McCarthy were given alternating command of Television One's 6.30 news slot. These days the beloved broadcaster, occasional actor and car fan presents regional show Dunedin Diary, back in the town where his TV career first began in 1964.