ScreenTalk

Funny man actor Peter Rowley is best known for his appearances in a slew of TV comedy shows including A Week of It, McPhail and Gadsby, The Billy T James Show, the self-titled Pete and Pio, with Pio Terei, and Letter to Blanchy. Rowley does however have a dramatic side which he has ably demonstrated in the feature films Savage Islands, Russian Snark and Netherwood (currently in post-production).

In this ScreenTalk interview, Rowley talks about:

• How A Week of It became a hit satirising politics and politicians
• How lampooning Prime Minister Rob Muldoon made Muldoon more popular
• Being accused of ruining the career of Bill Rowling by the politician’s daughter
• Writing for The Billy T James Show while living with the show’s star
• Hating the emergence of political correctness while continuing to push boundaries in comedy
• Causing offence in a souvenir store by wearing a Nazi uniform
• Loving working with Pio Terei in Pete and Pio
• How Aucklanders didn’t ‘get’ Letter to Blanchy
• Successfully begging to be in the pirate movie Savage Islands
• The beautiful cinematography in Stephen Sinclair’s film Russian Snark
• Overcoming personal doubts about his abilities

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

Born in Westport, Jeremy Corbett is a middle-aged 6’2” Leo who likes potatoes, grass, cordless drills and guitars. His broadcasting career began at student radio station Radio Massey, while studying for a BA in English and Computer Science.

Since then, Corbett has gone on to develop a successful career in radio, clocking up 16 years as morning co-host on MORE FM, and has appeared regularly on NZ TV screens in shows like The Paradise Picture Show, A Bit After Ten, Celebrity Squares, The Gong Show, Pulp Comedy, Downsize Me, Deal or No Deal and most recently 7 Days.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Corbett reveals:

• How 7 Days came about, and what the success of the TV show means for NZ TV comedy
• Some of the early NZ TV shows that influence 7 Days
• How he started out in TV, and who was there
• Some amusing moments from TV shows like The Gong Show, Celebrity Squares and The Mad Mad World of Television
• What it’s like hosting big live TV events like Christmas in the Park
• The challenges of fronting game shows like Deal or No Deal
• Some of his favourite NZ TV comedy

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

Comedian and writer Jon Gadsby is an integral part of the television comedy landscape in New Zealand. With his long time friend and colleague David McPhail, Gadsby headlined some of the most iconic comedy shows this country has produced. They first teamed up in the 1970s in the hit sketch show A Week of It. The show took pot-shots at politicians, the news, and everyday life. The pair then moved on to the long-running self-titled comedy show McPhail and Gadsby, which ran for seven seasons. Gadsby penned and starred in two rural based situation comedies – Rabbiter’s Rest and Letter to Blanchy. In his varied career, Gadsby has also appeared in feature films, and hosted episodes of Great NZ River Journeys and Intrepid Journeys.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Gadsby discusses:

• Being the newbie on the ground-breaking comedy show A Week of It
• How mocking religion led to death threats on McPhail and Gadsby
• Why politicians wanted to be on the show and how it captured the public mood
• The origins of the infamous ‘Jeez Wayne’
• How Letter to Blanchy reflected heartland New Zealand and his own upbringing
• Tormenting his cameraman Jacob Bryant on an Intrepid Journeys trip to Myanmar

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

Poetry, satire and music were the mainstays of Gary McCormick’s life, before he took his unique world view to television. His onscreen career began with the award-winning documentary Raglan by the Sea, on which he collaborated with filmmaker Bruce Morrison. McCormick’s best-known TV series was Heartland, which ran for four years and told the stories of communities across the country. In the mid 90s McCormick teamed up with his buddy and fellow poet Sam Hunt for a romp around New Zealand in the celebrated documentary The Roaring 40’s Tour.

In 1998 McCormick returned to his home town of Porirua to host The Bay Boys – a gripping documentary about life in the suburb. Since then McCormick has hosted other talk shows and was a guest host on Nightline. Now resident in Lyttelton, McCormick shares hosting duties on More FM in Christchurch with his mate Simon Barnett.

In this ScreenTalk interview, McCormick talks about:

• The pleasure of working on Heartland
• The challenge of interviewing the Rastafarian community
• Playing tricks on the director of Heartland
• Learning to dodge a knife attack with Sam Hunt
• Taking a nostalgic look back at his home town
• The on-set shower and other quirks of McCormick Country
• Being mistaken for other celebrities

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

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

Comedy legend David McPhail began making New Zealanders laugh in pioneering 1970s sketch show A Week of It, and then moved on to McPhail & Gadsby with his comedic mate Jon Gadsby. The two comedians also produced and starred in the sitcom Letter to Blanchy. In later years, McPhail starred in the mock documentary The Waimate Conspiracy, and played the appallingly politically incorrect teacher Gormsby in Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby. In 2007 McPhail donned a spandex super hero costume to fight crime in Amazing Extraordinary Friends, directed by his son Matt McPhail. As well as acting, McPhail has written many of the shows he has been involved in. His other writing credits include A Haunting We Will Go, and he has also worked as a comedy director on such shows as The Life and Times of Te Tutu.

In this ScreenTalk interview, McPhail discusses:

• The excitement of filming A Week of It an hour before it aired each week
• Using satire to prick the ego of former Prime Minister Rob Muldoon
• Why the concept behind the first season of McPhail & Gadsby was a mistake
• The real life stories behind Letter to Blanchy
• How Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby shocked the TV network but delighted fans
• Getting caught in public in a very revealing spandex costume while shooting The Amazing Extraordinary Friends

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

Credits:  Interview, Camera & Editing – Andrew Whiteside

Comedian Te Radar (aka Andrew Lumsden) has made his mark in stand-up comedy, documentaries, and the top-rating popular factual series Off the Radar. His other screen credits include Pulp Comedy, Homegrown, Intrepid Journeys, B & B, and Hidden in the Numbers – a three part documentary series about statistics.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Te Radar discusses:

• The genesis of the name ‘Te Radar’
• Why he thinks Pulp Comedy was one of the most important NZ comedy programmes
• Why it took years for him to appear in an episode of Intrepid Journeys
• His fight for life after being bitten by a scorpion in Mali
• The chaos and fun of the talk show/sitcom B & B
• How Hidden in the Numbers made statistics ‘fun’
• His delight that Off the Radar was a hit with children
• And the state of NZ TV comedy

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

New Zealand inherited 15-year-old Jaquie Brown from England. Following a stint at Auckland’s 95bFM in her late teens, Brown soon became ensconced in the intriguing world of New Zealand television. Her first TV role was as co-host of youth culture show Space with Dominic Bowden in 2000, before becoming one of the two main anchors on burgeoning music channel C4.

From there, Brown moved into “grown up” TV with John Campbell and Carol Hirschfeld, in the series A Queen’s Tour, before becoming a reporter on the current affairs show Campbell Live.

Brown then stepped into the challenging realm of programme-making, forming her own production company with Gerard Johnstone. One season later and The Jaquie Brown Diaries is a hit with critics and viewers, and was named Best Comedy at the 2009 Qantas Film and Television Awards. The series was released on DVD, played on SBS in Australia and is part of Air New Zealand’s in-flight entertainment.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Brown reveals:

• how she looked as a 15-year-old
• how she handled her first live broadcast
• how a shocking night club revelation helped secure her role on the TV show Space
• the joys of live TV, working with Clark Gayford, and the subsequent trials of being mistaken for Jackie Clarke… before beating her up
• what it’s like working with John Campbell
• which of her character’s mortifying experiences in The Jaquie Brown Diaries actually happened
• some of the behind-the-scenes challenges of making TV

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

Credits:  Interview, Camera & Editing – James Coleman

Hori Ahipene could perhaps be described as New Zealand’s most ‘diverse’ actor, having played both male and female characters in TV comedies and dramas.

In the 90s Ahipene gained a loyal fan base by appearing in the TV sketch shows Away Laughing, Skitz and Telly Laughs. Two of Ahipene’s popular gender-swapping roles were Mrs Semisi in Skitz and The Semesis, and Beverley Best in the Maori Television sitcom/chat show B&B. Ahipene has also appeared in TV dramas such as Maddigan’s Quest, Mataku, and Shortland Street. In 2009, Ahipene returned to wearing a frock on screen playing ‘Angel’ – a transgender prostitute in Outrageous Fortune. Ahipene’s film credits include Jubilee and The Piano.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Ahipene discusses:

• His love of Skitz and the chance it gave him to become a director
• Why hosting the 1998 Hero Parade terrified him
• Dedicating his role in Jubilee to the memory of his father
• How satisfying it was to work with Māori crew on the TV series Mataku
• Working with Te Radar on the sitcom/chat show B&B
• Learning acrobatic skills on the set of Maddigan’s Quest
• And playing a transgender hooker in Outrageous Fortune

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

Credits: Interview, Camera & Editing – Andrew Whiteside

Jon Bridges was born in America. Since moving to New Zealand at the age of three, he has made hundreds of hours of television for NZers – not only from in front of the camera, but also behind it.

Bridges’ comic dexterity came to light on our screens in the early 90s with TV shows like A Bit After Ten and Away Laughing, but his first big TV role was as co-presenter of the long-running TV3 series Ice TV, which debuted in 1995.

Since Ice TV, Bridges has written, directed, produced and starred in numerous documentaries, dramas, game shows and films. He is currently producing TV3′s well-received comedy panel show 7 Days.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Bridges shares his experiences on:

• Working with the fledgling TV3
• The evolution of TV skit comedy in NZ
• How back room reservations meant a change from Ice TV’s original name
• Working with director Mike Huddleston on the documentary Who Ate All the Pies?
• The perils of being cast twice on Shortland Street
• Writing for the youth dramas S.A.M. and Amazing Extraordinary Friends
• Regretful moments in NZ television
• Producing the TV panel show 7 Days

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

Credits:  Interview, Camera & Editing – James Coleman