Yellow is Forbidden
This feature documentary from director Pietra Brettkelly (A Flickering Truth) follows Chinese fashion designer Guo Pei as she aims to join the exclusive world of Paris’s Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Brettkelly traces the designer’s Cinderella story from Mao’s China to Paris fashion shows and the Met Gala fundraiser event in New York, beginning with pop star Rihanna modelling a 27kg canary yellow gown in 2015. Yellow is Forbidden was selected for the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival (the first Kiwi film to screen in its main competition) and the NZ International Film Festival.
Hayley Cunningham
After working on a selection of music documentaries and shows, Hayley Cunningham won a Qantas Television award in 2009 for producing the first series of award-winning comedy The Jaquie Brown Diaries. In 2017 she was nominated for a NZ Television award for her work on the Kiwi version of Dancing with the Stars. She has also been on the production team of The X-Factor New Zealand, The Real Housewives of Auckland, and multiple international incarnations of The Amazing Race. In 2015 she produced Loading Docs short Conversations with Pets.
Ewen Gilmour
Surely the most famous comedian to rise from West Auckland, Ewen Gilmour won the first Billy T award in 1997, and a devoted following. The longtime petrolhead had begun making regular appearances on TV show Pulp Comedy in the mid 90s; there would also be live performances in Paris, Ireland, Montreal, and across the length of New Zealand. Gilmour passed away in his sleep in early October 2014.
Bret McKenzie
Bret McKenzie is one half of musical-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. McKenzie and Jemaine Clement found international fame with the cult HBO comedy, which followed the duo's fictional efforts to 'make it' in New York. An Oscar-winner after writing songs for The Muppets (2011), McKenzie's screen career began after a brief role in The Lord of the Rings trilogy helped win him a cult following.
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.
Jemaine Clement
Jemaine Clement is the bespectacled half of folk-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, who achieved international cult status in their own HBO series. Clement's screen career began after he appeared on 90s sketch shows Telly Laughs and Skitz. Following his big screen debut in Tongan Ninja, he starred in misfit romance Eagle vs Shark. In 2014 he co-directed and acted in hit vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows.