Screentalk

Simon Bennett's extensive CV includes producing and directing episodes of long-running successes Shortland Street and Outrageous Fortune. He has also spent time in executive roles at South Pacific Pictures, the production house behind these shows, and directed SPP feature film Sione's 2: Unfinished Business.

In this ScreenTalk, Bennett talks about:

• Having to clean up horse manure for his first TV directing job on Riding High
• Learning to direct fast-turnaround TV drama on Shortland Street
• Being told off by the actors when directing Mercy Peak
• Taking up the reigns as Head of Drama at South Pacific Pictures
• How fantastic writing and acting made Outrageous Fortune a hit
• The unlikely premise of The Almighty Johnsons
• The challenges of making a sequel to a successful film, with Sione's 2: Unfinished Business
• Being intrigued by the scripts of The Blue Rose
• Enjoying the fast-paced nature of the show

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

Bruce Morrison's career as a producer, director and writer has brought some memorable New Zealand stories to the screen. He has been involved in a number of arts shows such as Kaleidoscope and Profiles, as well as poetry documentaries The Roaring 40's Tour and The Road to Jerusalem. Morrison directed the feature films Constance, Shaker Run and Queen City Rocker, and was a long-time director on Gary McCormick's iconic Heartland documentary series.

In this ScreenTalk, Morrison talks about: 

• Getting funding for his Profiles series of art documentaries
• How a collection of old liquor bottles lead to the film Constance
• Learning to direct action films from the car chase scenes on Shaker Run
• Making Queen City Rocker a musical film without ‘breaking into song’
• Having an initially low opinion of Raglan by the Sea
• Creating a fake living room for McCormick Country
• How the show Heartland gave rural life a voice
• Bringing poetry and imagery together in The Roaring 40's Tour
• His favourite moment in The Roaring 40's documentary
• How being appalled by settler history lead to Bastion Point — An Untold Story

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

Actor and director Murray Keane's first big role on screen was in 1980s television series Peppermint Twist. His acting credits also include Away Laughing, Chunuk Bair and Braindead. In the 1990s, Keane moved into directing, working on popular drama series Shortland Street, Outrageous Fortune, The Almighty Johnsons and Go Girls. In this ScreenTalk, Keane talks about:

• Playing a semi-mute drummer on Peppermint Twist
• Working in mud and unwashed costumes for movie Chunuk Bair
• Why the film Braindead was the worst experience of his career
• The pressure of directing episodes of Shortland Street
• Being proud of directing Diplomatic Immunity despite its disappointing ratings
• Enjoying public praise for his contribution to Outrageous Fortune
• How Go Girls proved a great way of improving his directing skills

Fiona Samuel has found success as an actor, writer and director. Her first acting job was in long-running soap Close to Home, and she followed that with appearances in a number of film and TV shows. Samuel’s greatest passion, however, is for writing and directing. She was the creative force behind The Marching Girls, and has written scripts for shows such as Outrageous Fortune, The Almighty Johnsons and Rude Awakenings. Samuel also wrote and directed award-winning one-off dramas Piece of My Heart, and Bliss: The Beginning of Katherine Mansfield. In this ScreenTalk, Samuel talks about:

• Being too theatrical on the set of Close to Home
• Creating the concept for The Marching Girls
• Discovering her scriptwriting skills needed an overhaul
• Adding a prostitute to the original story in Home Movie
• How a surprising statistic led her to create the documentary Virginity
• Taking 10 years to get Piece of My Heart funded
• The reasons she picked the main actresses
• Bringing a fresh but authentic feel to Bliss
• Wishing she’d had even more opportunities in her career

Sean Duffy started his TV career as a news and documentary editor, then later began mixing in acting roles on film and television. His major breakthrough role was in Mortimer’s Patch. Since then he has starred in numerous TV shows including Willy Nilly, Plain Clothes, Tiger Country and The Neighbourhood Network. His film credits include Utu, Came a Hot Friday and Smash Palace. Duffy has also directed a number of TV documentary series. In this ScreenTalk, Duffy talks about:

• Being laughed at for his acting in The Governor
• Mortimer’s Patch being his favourite acting experience
• How the pace of the show was incredibly slow by modern standards
• Seeing a horse being spray-painted on the set of the film Utu
• Ending up buried under a concrete airport runway on Gloss
• Terrifying fellow actor Simon Prast in one scene
• Being surprised that TV3 commissioned quirky comedy The Neighbourhood Network
• How illness ruined his performance in Tiger Country
• Forming a brilliant working partnership with Mark Hadlow on Willy Nilly
• Not understanding why the show was cancelled

Angela Bloomfield made a splash on Shortland Street when she first joined the show as messed up teenager Rachel McKenna. Over her long stint on the 20-year-old series, her character has battled bulimia, survived a lightning strike and recovered from alcoholism. Once voted NZ’s sexiest TV star, she has acted in the films Bonjour Timothy and Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners, and appeared in the TV shows Ride with the Devil, and Dancing with the Stars. As well as acting, Bloomfield has directed episodes of Shortland Street, Jackson’s Wharf and Go Girls. In this ScreenTalk, Bloomfield talks about:

• Getting the bug for acting on the set of Bonjour Timothy
• Learning to act differently for film in The Frighteners
• Being terrified on her first day on the set of Shortland Street
• Enjoying playing the role of Rachel McKenna on the show
• Feeling flattered but surprised by being seen as a sex symbol
• How directing episodes of the soap has influenced her acting
• Treating her stint on Dancing with the Stars as another job
• Really wanting to have a lead role in a feature film

Actor Paul Gittins is best known for his portrayal of Dr Michael McKenna, the original clinic director, on the long-running soap opera Shortland Street. He has also acted in a number of feature films, including Other Halves, The End of the Golden Weather, and The Whole of the Moon. Gittins’ love of history led to the creation of two popular docu-drama series Epitaph and Shipwreck, which he hosted and sometimes directed. In this ScreenTalk interview, Gittins talks about:

• How a novice actor inspired him on the set of Other Halves
• Learning lessons about life in Ian Mune’s The End of the Golden Weather
• Initially struggling to adapt to the face-paced shooting schedule on Shortland Street
• How Epitaph gave him a unique sense of New Zealand history
• Learning how to research, write, and direct television by doing the show
• Finding a solution to his seasickness while shooting Shipwreck
• Loving the process of ‘getting into someone else’s head’ when acting

Tony Holden has produced and directed hundreds of hours of NZ television from A Week Of It, Radio with Pictures and Gliding On to Shortland Street, City Life and Dancing with the Stars. Holden’s roles over his 40 year screen career include Head of Production at South Pacific Pictures, General Manager of Commissioning and Production at TVNZ, and CEO of Comedia Pictures. In this ScreenTalk interview, Holden talks about:

• Auditioning and casting Karyn Hay for Radio with Pictures
• Learning the art of comic timing
• How Gliding On struck a chord with New Zealanders
• Shooting live to tape on A Week Of It
• The early days working with Billy T James
• His emotions producing Billy, the tele-movie about Billy T James
• Commissioning at TVNZ
• The future of NZ television

Award-winning documentary maker John Bates is a Scotsman who has lived in New Zealand for over 40 years. His documentaries have covered a range of genres from art: The Dutchman, The Making of an Opera; Sense of Place, Robin Morrison, Photographer; Reflections, Gretchen Albrecht, to social issues: New Faces, Old Fears; Crime and Punishment, to historical: Banned, 100 Years of Censorship in New Zealand; 1951. In 2010, Bates produced and directed the acclaimed series 50 Years of New Zealand Television. In this ScreenTalk interview, Bates talks about:

• Initially being told he couldn’t direct his documentary Sense of Place
• How the subject of the documentary Robin Morrison passed away while filming was still in progress
• Learning about abstract art through the doco Reflections – Gretchen Albrecht
• How copyright issues mean that Banned – A History of Censorship will never be re-screened
• How his documentary 1951 told the suppressed history of the waterside lock out
• The making of 50 Years of New Zealand Television and why it was better for being produced for Prime

Producer/director Gary Scott has spent time in the newsroom, the museum, and on location. Trained as an historian and journalist, Scott has been producing with Wellington company Gibson Group for a decade - though he began his screen career as an assignment editor, in the stressful world of primetime TV news. Alongside his TV work at Gibson Group, Scott also helps the company develop multi-media experiences for museums. In this ScreenTalk interview, Scott talks about:

• How TV producing involves mediating between art and commerce
• Starting off
• Working on one of his earliest directing projects, documentary Flight 703: about a 1995 air crash in which survivor William McGrory played a key role in guiding emergency services to the downed plane
• "Career highlight” Here to Stay, and how the show explored stories about NZ’s social history, including the roots of Kiwi humour and stoicism
• Working as part of the producing team on a trio of police shows: Undercover (about undercover police), Line of Fire (the armed offenders squad), and NZ Detectives, soon to begin its second series.
• How the stresses of producing can be a sign you have got something wrong in the mix
• Dealing with the Church of Scientology for doco How to Spot a Cult
• The differences between producing and directing for TV