Fresh - First Episode
This first episode of the popular TVNZ Pasifika youth show is presented by brothers Nainz and Viiz Tupai (aka Adeaze), who are heading back to Samoa to play a post-Tsunami fundraising gig in the village of Lalomanu. Elsewhere, Vela Manusaute hosts Brown’n’around and is MC at Manukau PI festival Strictly Brown, before teaming up with Bella Kololo and Jermaine Leef to judge Fresh talent. Actor Jason Wu gets ready for the premiere of movie Matariki; the Samoan myth of Sina and the eel gets fresh retelling; and Bill Urale (aka King Kapisi) talks tatau.
Bryn Evans
Documentary director Bryn Evans has honed his skills on an eclectic range of subjects, from Kiwi tragedies (Descent from Disaster) to the Taliban cricket team (The Great Game) to elderly hip hop dancers. The Great Game (2002) marked one of his earliest directing credits. After working on multiple seasons of genealogy series Tātai Hono, Evans won international acclaim for Hip Hop-eration, a feature-length documentary about elderly hip hop dancers heading to the World Hip Hop Championships in Las Vegas. In late 2018 he followed it with Born Racer, about Kiwi IndyCar racing driver Scott Dixon.
Libby Hakaraia
Libby Hakaraia has an overflowing kete of credits, covering subjects from Fat Freddy’s Drop to Apirana Ngata, Anzac Day to Anne Salmond. The ex-radio journalist had a screen apprenticeship at Kiwa Productions, where she made many docos on Māori themes. Based in Otaki, she now produces shows with partner Tainui Stephens under the Blue Bach banner, including the popular Māori Television reboot of It’s in the Bag.
Stuart Page
Director, photographer and Axemen drummer Stuart Page is a prolific maker of music videos. Page has directed promos for Superette, The Clean, and The Skeptics' infamous 'AFFCO'. In 2009 he won Doc NZ International Film Festival awards for feature documentary and emerging filmmaker, for his doco Shustak, a portrait of US photographer Larence Shustak. Page also put together alternative music compilation Noisyland.
Stephen Latty
Stephen Latty has built up an eclectic CV encompassing short films, a run of documentaries, and 2010 feature film Russian Snark. His collaborations with director Michael Heath include two docos on modernist painter Edith Collier, and spellbinding images for 50-minute drama A Small Life. As a director, he has chronicled musicians in Opera in the Outback (with Kiri Te Kanawa) and country music tale Maple on the Hill.
Lanita Ririnui-Ryan
Māori and Cook Island producer and director Lanita Ririnui has made a career telling the stories of youth, women, Māori and Pacific Islanders. Her extensive CV includes Pasifika youth show Fresh, Māori Television's flagship sports show Code, and interactive website Poi 360.
Haunui Royal
For more than 20 years, Haunui Royal has been driven by the desire to be part of a vibrant Māori voice in broadcasting. The director turned executive got his break at TVNZ in 1988, before directing everything from a long line of documentaries (The Truth about Māori), to entertainment (Havoc and Newsboy's Sellout Tour). Later he spent seven years as General Manager of Programming at Māori Television.