ScreenTalk

Richard Driver began his showbiz career in a punk band, and calling himself Johnny Abort. He then moved on to the popular Kiwi rock bands Pop Mechanix and Hip Singles. Driver made his TV presenting debut replacing Karyn Hay on Radio with Pictures and hosted the show for three years. He later collaborated with Hay making music television for several years, ran the New Zealand arm of Screentime, and then formed his own company called Visionary Productions.

Driver has made several influential documentaries such as Hokonui Todd, about the life of Garfield Todd, and Love, Speed and Loss, the story of racing star Kim Newcombe and his widow Janeen. More recently Driver set up The Documentary Channel on the Sky TV platform.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Driver discusses:

• The hard task of replacing Karyn Hay on Radio with Pictures
• How TV presenting didn’t come naturally to him
• Why a major fight between RIAANZ and TVNZ took RWP off air
• The challenge of directing his first documentary Hokonui Todd
• An emotional journey through the life of racing legend Kim Newcombe in Love, Speed and Loss
• Why chefs, sharks and Nazis led him to create The Documentary Channel
• Being happy with having an “accidental” career in television

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

TV executive Andrew Shaw talks candidly to NZ On Screen about more than three decades of experiences in the New Zealand TV industry, from being a teen heartthrob to sitting on top of the heap as network commissioner.

Shaw reflects on:

• early days as a presenter, “fluking” a screentest to get the Hey, Hey, It’s Andy gig
• his anticipation of his “expiry date” and the deal he brokered to train as a multi-camera live broadcast director; working on shows from Billy T James’ Radio Times to punk music docos, to returning to being in front of the camera to host disco show Star Zone.
• his sabbaticals from TVNZ, working for South Pacific Pictures (where he was charged with broadening their slate from drama and film; he introduced the Idol franchise to NZ TV), working as the founding commissioner for Prime TV, and helping launch the Documentary Channel with Richard Driver
• his passionate belief in the resilience and importance of network TV as a “gathering place” in the age of the internet
• his return to TVNZ and the challenge of balancing “god and mammon”  – commercial and public service – that TVNZ has to manage
• “the privilege” of working for the public broadcaster, citing the Edmund Hillary Westminster Abbey memorial service as an example of something he wouldn’t get the opportunity to do elsewhere
• criticism about programming arts docos at 10.30pm at night. Shaw’s response: “stay awake!”

This interview is available for download and distribution on YouTube.

Credits: Direction and Interview – Clare O’Leary, Camera and Editing – Leo Guerchmann