Vincent Ward: A very original filmmaker...
Vincent Ward has won an international reputation as one of New Zealand's most original and visionary filmmakers. Vigil and The Navigator played in competition at the Cannes Film Festival (the first Kiwi films to do so). In Hollywood, Ward made Robin Williams afterlife drama What Dreams May Come. Urewera-set docu-drama Rain of the Children in 2008 revisited characters from Ward's 1980 documentary In Spring One Plants Alone.
Sarah Peirse: Multi award-winner…
Award-winning actor Sarah Peirse is best known for her portrayals of two very different mothers — the ill-fated Honorah Rieper in Heavenly Creatures, and the disaffected sophisticate in Rain. Peirse’s first film was the 80s short Queen Street, followed by tele-feature A Woman of Good Character (aka It's Lizzie to those Close). More recently, she has appeared in tele-movies Bliss: The Beginning of Katherine Mansfield and Aftershock.
Robin Scholes: Producing the goods...
Robin Scholes is one of our most prolific feature film producers. Her credits include Once Were Warriors, Broken English, Rain, Crooked Earth, The Tattooist, and Mr Pip. She has also produced hundreds of hours of television, including Magic Kiwis, The Big Art Trip, Heroes, Greenstone, The Chosen and Burying Brian.
John Toon: Internationally-successful NZ cinematographer…
John Toon is an award-winning cinematographer who has worked all over the world and in many genres. His early New Zealand TV jobs include The Governor and Moynihan, while his movie credits include Rain, Sylvia and Sunshine Cleaning (all shot for his wife, director Christine Jeffs), plus Broken English and Mr Pip.
Leon Narbey: Illustrious cinematographer...
Acclaimed Director of Photography Leon Narbey has had a hand in many of New Zealand’s best known films. He directed the feature film Illustrious Energy in 1987, and has been the DOP on other major film projects such as Desperate Remedies; The Price of Milk; and the smash hit Whale Rider. More recent films include the Topp Twins doco Untouchable Girls and Samoan language feature The Orator.
Rena Owen: Being Beth Heke...
Actor Rena Owen found fame through her role as matriarch Beth Heke in hard-hitting feature film Once Were Warriors. She went on to spend two decades years in Los Angeles, though she returned to New Zealand to act in Vincent Ward's Rain of the Children and Fiona Samuel's TV movie Piece of My Heart.
Peter Roberts: From Gloss to The Dark Horse...
Award-winning editor Peter Roberts runs post production company RPM Pictures, and has worked on a wide range of TV shows and films. His TV credits include Gloss, God, Sreenu and Me, Legend of the Seeker and Artsville. His film work includes The Dark Horse, Hip Hop-eration, The Most Fun You Can Have Dying and 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous.
Catherine Fitzgerald: The art of film producing...
Catherine Fitzgerald cut her teeth producing high profile short films. She collaborated with Taika Waititi on his Oscar-nominated short Two Cars, One Night and with Vincent Ward on his feature Rain of the Children. More recently Fitzgerald produced two features with director Tusi Tamasese.
Mark Beesley: Bringing the ‘Westies’ out of the closet…
Director and producer Mark Beesley has worked on some of New Zealand's most high profile series, including Outrageous Fortune, Shortland Street, The Blue Rose and The Almighty Johnsons. Beesley also worked on the big American shows Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: Legendary Journeys. He also wrote and directed the 'Westie' feature film Savage Honeymoon, which some credit as an inspiration for Outrageous Fortune.
Murray Grindlay: Film composer and jingle writer extraordinaire...
Murray Grindlay first rose to prominence as the lead singer in the 60s blues band The Underdogs. Since then he has written the music for a number of feature films, such as Sleeping Dogs, Once Were Warriors and Broken English; as well as countless TV commercials, including the classics Dear John and the Great Crunchie Train Robbery. Currently Grindlay is producing a web-based kids music show The One Winged-Bee Called Emily.