ScreenTalk

James Griffin gets serious about Kiwi comedy

Posted by Screen Talker on 9 July 2009

Scriptwriter, playwright and columnist James Griffin has been writing for most of his life. Since becoming a scriptwriter in the 1980s Griffin has written many of New Zealand’s most well known and best loved TV shows as well as the feature film Sione’s Wedding.

In this interview, he discusses

• His love of writing from an early age but his desire to be a TV director
• Getting “side-tracked” in to script editing and learning the mechanics of how a script works
• The popularity of Gloss and blending comedy and drama
• His surprise that the TV drama City Life flopped
• The rollercoaster ride that is Outrageous Fortune and when its run should end
• Criticism of NZ comedy
• What it takes to make a “hit” TV show

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

Credits:  Interview, Camera & Editing – Andrew Whiteside

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