ScreenTalk

Internationally successful Kiwi film producer Finola Dwyer began her career as an editor at the National Film Unit and then moved onto editing and producing at TVNZ. Dwyer migrated over to the film industry and worked as an editor and producer. Some of the memorable New Zealand films she worked on include Came a Hot Friday, Starlight Hotel, and The Quiet Earth. In the 90s, Dwyer moved to the UK where she has made a name for herself producing films such as Backbeat, An Education and Dean Spanley. Her latest project is Quartet, a film directed by Dustin Hoffman.

In this ScreenTalk, Dwyer talks about:

• Learning to edit film at the National Film Unit
• Editing the classic short film Score with director Arthur Everard
• How editing Country Calendar for TV was more stressful than NFU editing
• How an unplanned visit to the beach led to Raglan by the Sea
• Creating the quirky chat show McCormick Country
• Having to re-record the dialogue and soundtrack for The Quiet Earth
• How her first producing job on Queen City Rocker was a baptism by fire
• Overcoming fear by producing the Beatles biopic Backbeat
• Being proud of the film Dean Spanley and its cast and crew
• Sharing teenage dating stories while co-producing An Education
• How the film struck controversy due to its subject matter
• Feeling blessed to be working and continuing to learn in the film industry

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

Acclaimed Director of Photography Leon Narbey has had a hand in many of New Zealand’s best known films. He directed the feature film, Illustrious Energy, in 1987, and has been the DOP on other major film projects such as Desperate Remedies; The Price of Milk; and the smash hit Whale Rider. His most recent films were the Topp Twins doco Untouchable Girls and Samoan language feature The Orator.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Narbey talks about:

• How directing Illustrious Energy was one of his greatest achievements
• Resisting attempts to shoot the film in a studio
• The challenges of filming Desperate Remedies in a wharf shed
• Chaos caused by the number of sets that had to be built
• The difficulties of creating realistic whales on the set of Whale Rider
• Taking a long ‘organic’ approach to filming Rain of the Children with director Vincent Ward
• Working in freezing conditions on the set of Dean Spanley

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

Don McGlashan is one of New Zealand’s foremost singer/songwriters. He was a member of Blam Blam Blam, and the Muttonbirds, and has recorded as a solo artist. He was also a part of the acclaimed musical theatre act The Front Lawn. Through his work with The Front Lawn, McGlashan moved into the film world with the quirky short Walkshort. He has worked as a film composer on An Angel at My Table, No 2, and Dean Spanley.

In this ScreenTalk interview, McGlashan talks about:

• The music video for the Kiwi classic ‘Nature’, shot by Stuart Dryburgh, choreographed by Douglas Wright, and directed by Fane Flaws
• The video for his latest single ‘Bad Blood’, working with director Sally Tran, and the joys of stop-frame animation
• Composing the soundtrack to Dean Spanley, and working with director Toa Fraser
• The difference between working with Fraser on Dean Spanley and Jane Campion on An Angel At My Table
• Working on the classic Front Lawn short film Walkshort

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

Credits: Interview by James Coleman, Camera and Editing by Leo Guerchmann.