Hori Ahipene: Queen of the screen...
Hori Ahipene could perhaps be described as New Zealand’s most 'diverse' actor, having played both male and female characters in TV comedies and dramas. In the 90s Ahipene gained a loyal fan base by appearing in the TV sketch shows Away Laughing, Skitz and Telly Laughs. Two of Ahipene’s popular gender-swapping roles were Mrs Semisi in Skitz and The Semisis, and Beverley Best in Māori Television sitcom/chat show B&B. Ahipene has also appeared in TV dramas Maddigan’s Quest, Mataku, and Shortland Street.
Wayne Leonard: The art of multi-camera directing...
Wayne Leonard began his career as a sound operator, but later moved to directing, where he made his name helming sports and live shows that require multiple cameras. Leonard has directed some of the biggest events on television from the Olympic Games and America’s Cup, to Christmas in the Park. He has also produced or directed primetime TV shows This is Your Life, My Kitchen Rules and Game of Two Halves. In 2013 he was part of the team nominated for multiple Emmy awards for coverage of the America’s Cup in San Francisco.
Jennie Goodwin: Pioneering female broadcaster...
Popular radio and television personality Jennie Goodwin (aka Jennie Forder) became the first woman in the Commonwealth to read a prime time news bulletin. Beginning as a continuity announcer on TV1, Goodwin moved to the fledgling TV2/SPTV channel in 1975 and read the news on the channel’s Two at Seven bulletin until 1982.
Rachel Jean: Documentaries, dramas and being a network exec...
Rachel Jean has produced and/or directed over 40 documentaries, made award-winning drama and film, and set up and run production company Isola Productions. Jean moved from producing and directing to the role of Head of Drama and Comedy at TV3, and now works at South Pacific Pictures.
Allan Martin: Pioneering television in New Zealand...
Allan Martin was influential in television in both New Zealand and Australia. In the early 60s he helped the fledgling television arm of the BCNZ produce popular regional show Town and Around, and was a key player in the creation of ground-breaking current affairs series Compass. After time in Australian television, he returned to set up NZ's second TV channel South Pacific Television in 1975. Martin was later Director-General of TVNZ from 1980 to 1985.
Hugh Macdonald: Expos, epics and animated amphibians...
Hugh Macdonald’s long filmmaking career encompasses historical epics, Oscar-nominated shorts, and lots of time on the road. Macdonald is probably best-known for three-screen spectacular This is New Zealand, which got crowds queueing at World Expo in Japan, before playing for months back home. A two-decade long stint at the National Film Unit also saw him directing two episodes of historical epic The Governor, and producing the first of many animated shorts.
Matthew Metcalfe: Scaling the heights of filmmaking…
Producer Matthew Metcalfe began his career making short films and music videos. He moved into feature films with Nemesis Game, The Ferryman, Dean Spanley and Love Birds. Metcalfe has also made documentaries including Vietnam – My Father's War and Soldiers of Fortune.
Niki Caro: The cult of shoes to Vintner's Luck...
Director Niki Caro has made movies in East Coast townships, French vineyards, and Minnesota coal mines. Although feature films Memory and Desire and the breakthrough hit Whale Rider made Caro’s international name, her early career was also rich, and much of it can be sampled on NZ On Screen.
Ray Henwood: The voice...
Ray Henwood, ONZM — father of comedian Dai — arrived in New Zealand from Wales, just in time for the birth of professional theatre downunder. Best known to TV viewers for five seasons playing Hugh on hit office comedy Gliding On, Henwood’s screen roles include villains (The Legend of William Tell) surgeons (Shortland Street), and experts in hypothermia (Such a Stupid Way to Die). Which is not to mention an epic theatre career which has seen him play Stalin, Einstein and Richard Burton, and star in early plays at Wellington theatres Downstage and Circa.
Martin Devlin: On playing the game...
Martin Devlin’s first screen appearance involved playing a policeman in a film shot in Taranaki - he can’t remember the name of it, but is fairly sure it wasn’t a box office hit. Following success as a radio broadcaster, Devlin made his first foray into television on a rugby panel for Sky TV, before hosting sports show House of Football. Since then Devlin has been a familiar face on NZ television, as part of mad-cap game show A Game of Two Halves, triumphantly beating Peter Urlich to finish second to last on Dancing with the Stars, and hosting Football World Cup and Rugby World Cup coverage for TV ONE.