ScreenTalk

Sam Pillsbury is a self-described American-Kiwi who has made films in both New Zealand and the US. He began his prolific career at the National Film Unit directing the notable documentaries Ralph Hotere and Men and Supermen. In 1975 he directed the award-winning Birth with R.D. Laing, which became a teaching aid in hospitals around the world. Pillsbury’s first feature film was The Scarecrow starring John Carradine, which was the first New Zealand film to be invited to the Cannes Film Festival.

Pillsbury co-wrote the script for The Quiet Earth, but “fired himself” from the director role on the movie. His next major film was Starlight Hotel which was received well overseas but flopped in New Zealand. Pillsbury has directed a number of American TV movies and feature films including Free Willy 3 and Endless Bummer. His most recent Kiwi film was Crooked Earth starring Temuera Morrison.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Pillsbury talks about:

• How his documentary on Ralph Hotere changed the way art films were made
• The fun, chaos and deprivation of making Goodbye Pork Pie
• Mixing necrophilia into a children’s film on The Scarecrow
• Making breakfast for screen legend John Carradine
• Thinking The Quiet Earth was a dog but then watching it go on to commercial success
• The disappointing reaction to Starlight Hotel in New Zealand
• Getting great reviews in America and negative ones in New Zealand for Crooked Earth
• Feeling frustrated by the process of making movies in Hollywood
• How funders in New Zealand need to talk to directors rather than producers

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

Credits: Interview, Camera & Editing – Andrew Whiteside

When people think of Ginette McDonald, they often think of one of New Zild’s most defiant and famed purveyers of Godzone English, Lyn of Tawa. But for McDonald, Lyn is only one part among many. Alongside an acting career which began when she was still a teenager, Ginette McDonald has also worked as a producer, director and presenter.

In this ScreenTalk interview, McDonald talks about:

• how her fascination with television first began, while watching wild geese flying across a TV screen in a Wellington radio store
• making her screen debut as a runaway teenager in drama series Pukemanu, alongside Bruno Lawrence
• acting in London
• the fun of playing “a 38-year-old nymphomaniac housewife from Te Puke” in Kiwi soap Close to Home
• how the infamous Lyn of Tawa was born backstage at a theatre when McDonald was only 16, with help from famed playwrights Bruce Mason and Roger Hall; and how Lyn found success on television
• moving into producing and directing, and having a joint brainwave with director Peter Sharp, while casting kidult hit The Fire-Raiser
• the shock of watching offbeat 60s show Peppermint Twist go down like a lead balloon
• her work on TV series Pioneer Women – playing Hera Ngoungou, a Pākehā brought up Māori, and also directing another episode chronicling sexual health campaigner Ettie Rout
• how she won a Feltex award for playing drama, even though comedy is so much harder

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

A generation of Kiwi kids grew up watching Jason Gunn on television. At the same time Gunn grew up on television himself. Beginning in children’s TV, Gunn hosted Jase TV, Son of a Gunn Show, After School, and What Now? Through many of these shows his co-star was a hugely popular life size puppet named Thingee. Gunn moved on to other programmes such as Young Entertainers and Small Talk.

In recent years Gunn has starred in a host of top-rating primetime entertainment and game shows including Wheel of Fortune, The Rich List and the incredibly popular Dancing with the Stars. As well as his hosting duties, Gunn has appeared as himself on Celebrity Treasure Island.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Gunn talks about:

• Learning the skills of presenting from ‘old hands’ in the industry
• How he grew up on TV hosting Son of a Gunn Show
• Being best mates with a puppet named Thingee
• His love for making children’s TV and how it is the best of all genres
• How his comedic inspiration comes from his everyday life
• The tough path of learning to play piano and sing
• Just being himself on Celebrity Treasure Island
• The drama and excitement of Dancing with the Stars
• Why hosting game shows will lead to new things

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

Credits:  Interview, Camera & Editing – Andrew Whiteside

Jeremy Wells made his broadcasting debut on student radio station 95bFM, reading the news on Mikey Havoc’s breakfast show. The pair teamed up again for Havoc, a talk and music show on the fledgling MTV, before hosting travelogue/social commentary shows Havoc and Newsboy’s Sell-Out Tour, and Havoc’s Luxury Suites and Conference Facility on TVNZ.

Wells then worked with producer/director Paul Casserly to produce seven seasons of the media satire show Eating Media Lunch, which won Best Comedy Programme at the Qantas Film and Television Awards in 2008. He also presented the satirical series The Unauthorised History Of New Zealand in 2005, and an episode of Intrepid Journeys in 2007.

In this ScreenTalk Interview, Wells discusses:

• Being sent to boarding school for possessing marijuana
• Being expelled from boarding school for possessing marijuana
• Starting out as a newsreader on 95bFM
• The fun he had working on the Havoc shows
• The ideas behind The Unauthorised History of New Zealand
• The challenges of making seven seasons of Eating Media Lunch
• His experiences in Libya on Intrepid Journeys
• How the Birdland series came about and observations on the birding community
• His career path
• TVNZ

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

Credits:  Interview, Camera & Editing – James Coleman