Jools Topp
Jools Topp is half of performing duo The Topp Twins. The sisters have taken their songs and comic characters to stages across the world, plus successful television shows The Topp Twins and Topp Country. The duo's story was told in 2009's Untouchable Girls, the most successful local documentary released in New Zealand cinemas to date.
Lynda Topp
Lynda Topp is half of the Topp Twins, the singing sisters who have plucked their way across the country and the globe with their unique brand of comedy and country music. 2009 Topp Twins documentary Untouchable Girls is the most successful local doco released to date in local cinemas. In 2014 the twins presented TV series Topp Country, which became the third most watched local programme of the year.
Arani Cuthbert
Producer and talent agent Arani Cuthbert has had a long association with legendary performing duo The Topp Twins — including producing their TV show Topp Country, and hit movie documentary The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls.
Paul Horan
Paul Horan co-founded the NZ Comedy Festival and The Classic Comedy Bar, kickstarting a vital Auckland comedy scene — and his own successful trans-Tasman TV career. His credits include The Topp Twins, Super City, and Australia's Rove Live. After helping develop prime time formats like The Project, his company Slightly Uncomfortable Productions has specialised in hybrid news comedy shows.
Jacob Tomuri
These days Jacob Tomuri is the go-to stunt double for actor Tom Hardy, but he hasn’t always been in stunt work. Tomuri studied drama and took up stunting on The Lord of The Rings, before roles on The Tribe and Shortland Street gave him the chance to upskill his acting chops. He has gone on to double for Hardy on Mad Max: Fury Road and The Revenant. In 2017 he co-starred in acclaimed action short Do No Harm.
Leanne Pooley
Canadian-born New Zealand director Leanne Pooley has won a raft of awards for her work as a documentary filmmaker. The 2011 Arts Laureate's films include hit Topp Twins movie Untouchable Girls, 3D Everest first ascent saga Beyond the Edge, and euthanasia exploration The Promise. In 2015 her film 25 April, an animated feature about Gallipoli, was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival.
Antony Starr
Antony Starr has won multiple awards for being sly and idiotic at the same time, playing twin brothers on TV's Outrageous Fortune: gormless Van and cynical lawyer Jethro. The roles are distant cousins to an earlier part on Mercy Peak. A starring turn as a sheriff with a secret in Alan (True Blood) Ball’s US TV series Banshee, followed big-screen roles in drama After the Waterfall and Australian thriller Wish You Were Here.
Caterina De Nave
Caterina De Nave, who passed away on 17 August 2014, helped break the glass ceiling for women working in local television. As a network executive at both TVNZ and TV3, she often commissioned new writing and directing talent, and was a key player in the development of Shortland Street, Outrageous Fortune and Montana Sunday Theatre. In 2009 De Nave crossed the Tasman to join Australian broadcaster SBS.
Peter Janes
Peter Janes has been capturing images of NZ — and its musicians — for longer than some of his camera assistants have been on the planet. Through Janes' diverse screen career, music forms a major thread. After directing his first music videos as a teen, he went on to helm iconic clips for many Flying Nun bands. Janes has also been director of photography on TV's Jackson’s Wharf and The Topp Twins.
Tim Woodhouse
Tim Woodhouse has cut some of New Zealand’s most celebrated documentaries since crossing from Australia in 1989. Although he won a Best Editing award for drama Staunch, Woodhouse has largely specialised in documentary. En route he has worked with director Leanne Pooley on Haunting Douglas, Topp Twins hit Untouchable Girls, Beyond The Edge (about Hillary on Everest), and animated film 25 April.