ScreenTalk

Musician, artist, writer and director Greg Page began his film career in Hamilton in the early 90s, making music videos for local bands. Since then the international award-winning filmmaker has written and directed several short films, including claymations Decaff and The New Zealand Centenary of Cinema, as well as Sarah’s Washing, and his full length feature film The Locals.

Page’s boundless energy and fanaticism has also given rise to some of NZ’s most memorable and spectacular music videos for top recording artists like Scribe, The D4 and Elemeno P.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Page reveals:

• how he shot his 1994 claymation short Decaff
• the story behind making the claymation short The New Zealand Centenary Of Cinema, along with John O’Shea
• behind-the-scenes details from his feature length horror The Locals, including the animation process, casting and soundtrack decisions
• how the D4’s Exit To the City music video came about and a behind-the-scenes insight
• what it was like shooting Elemeno P’s Verona in an icecream freezer in minus 20 degrees
• his views on the state of NZ’s film industry

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Credits:  Interview, Camera & Editing – James Coleman

Miranda Harcourt got her screen break playing the bitchy Gemma on iconic 80s soap Gloss. Since then the versatile Harcourt has hardly taken a break – directing, teaching, plus acting in prisons, tele-movie Clare, and feature film For Good, among many other titles.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Miranda Harcourt talks about:

• the joys of playing Gemma on Gloss, as the character journeyed from being a “really nice girl from Hamilton” to a “bitch from hell”
• the over-the-top reactions of some Gloss viewers when they met Harcourt in person
• reinvention in London
• interviewing prisoners about violent crime and murder for Verbatim. Harcourt performed the play in prisons across New Zealand, as seen in Shirley Horrocks documentary Act of Murder
• the genesis of award-winning feature film For Good – directed by Harcourt’s husband Stuart McKenzie – the tale of a woman’s fascination with a teenager’s abduction and murder
• playing Phillida Bunkle in tele-movie Clare, based on the disastrous gynaecological study at Auckland National Women’s Hospital
• her time as a “terrible” student at New Zealand Drama School, and her return to spend seven years at the school as head of acting
• embracing variety in her career, including her recent work as acting coach on Yvonne Mackay’s series Kaitangata Twitch

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Credits: Direction and Interview – Ian Pryor.  Camera and Editing – Alex Backhouse

Award-winning actor Robyn Malcolm has become one of our most loved performers, and has been voted New Zealand’s sexiest woman two years in a row.

Since joining the cast of Shortland Street in 1994, Malcolm has played a diverse range of gritty characters. Her TV credits include the tele-feature Clare, Mercy Peak, Serial Killers, and Shark in the Park. Her most recent award-winning TV role is Cheryl West in the TV 3 hit Outrageous Fortune. Malcolm’s film acting credits include Perfect Strangers, Absent Without Leave, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Lovely Bones.

As well as acting roles, Malcolm has been a panellist on How’s Life?, starred in an episode of Intrepid Journeys, and presented the documentary Our Lost War: Passchendaele – a personal story about the World War I battle in which her great uncle died.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Malcolm discusses:

• Getting the acting bug in school
• How she thought Shortland Street would be her only TV role
• The challenging experience of playing a cervical cancer survivor in the tele-feature Clare
• How playing an ex-porn star turned teacher, and kissing Craig Parker could be included in her list of career lows and highs
• The emotional intensity of the documentary Our Lost War: Passchendaele
• How proud she is that Outrageous Fortune has changed the way we see ourselves on television
• And how a prediction that her career would consist of acting as mothers and whores has come true

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Credits:  Interview, Camera & Editing – Andrew Whiteside