ScreenTalk

Rachel Jean has produced and/or directed over 40 documentaries, made award-winning drama and film, and set up and run production company Isola Productions. Jean has recently moved from producing and directing to the role of Head of Drama and Comedy at TV3 and C4.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Jean reveals:

• Details of her early work at Frame Up Films
• How feature film Memory and Desire was conceived
• Hilarious and embarrassing moments during filming of Love Mussel
• The joys of spending her pregnancy on the floor and laughing while helping write Secret Agent Men
• How The Market came about, and its intriguing production philosophy
• An insight into the making of her documentary Life, Death and a Lung Transplant about her husband’s Cystic Fibrosis and lung transplant
• Her most satisfying achievements so far as Head of Drama and Comedy at TV3 and C4

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

Playwright and screenwriter Roger Hall has made a significant contribution to New Zealand’s television landscape. Two of his highly successful stage comedies became TV hits – Gliding On and Neighbourhood Watch. Hall wrote three one-off TV plays for the Spotlight series:The Bach, The Reward, and Some People Get All the Luck. As well as his own creations, Hall has also written for Pukemanu and Spin Doctors.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Hall talks about:

• Rolling on the floor laughing while writing for the sitcom Buck House
• Why he took his name off the credits in series two
• How mega-hit Gliding On was initially rejected by TVNZ and why the show became so popular
• The genesis of Middle Age Spread and the complexity of the story
• The joy of writing for the very topical and fast turn-around satire Spin Doctors
• Trying to bribe his way out of a visit to Uganda in Intrepid Journeys
• Getting dumped in the Nile on a rafting trip

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

Jay Laga’aia is an in demand actor on both sides of the Tasman, having appeared in a number of popular film and TV roles in both New Zealand (Heroes, Gloss, Marlin Bay, Xena and Street Legal), and Australia (Home and Away, Water Rats, Bed of Roses). He says his most memorable achievement was having an action toy created in his likeness after appearing as Captain Typho in Star Wars.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Laga’aia talks about:

• Thinking he was terrible in his first TV role in Heroes
• Learning to be an actor in Open House
• Believing Marlin Bay was ahead of its time and finished too soon
• The delicious pleasure of playing the first bad guy on Xena
• Forgetting his lines upon seeing Lucy Lawless in full costume
• Causing chaos on Sydney Harbour during a shoot on Water Rats
• How he ‘came of age’ playing the lead character in Street Legal
• How he got a role on Home and Away
• Playing Captain Typho on Star Wars and being made into a plastic toy

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

The Cult star Sara Wiseman first got the acting bug while volunteering on the set of Peter Jackson’s feature film Heavenly Creatures. She began her career as a stuntwoman alongside Zoe Bell, but gained her first big acting break in the drama series Street Legal. Her best known role is Dr Nicky Sommerville on Mercy Peak. Some of Wiseman’s other screen credits include Mataku, Sione’s Wedding, Outrageous Fortune and Jinx Sister.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Wiseman discusses:

• How Street Legal introduced her to television acting
• The awkwardness of a sex scene with Jay Laga’aia
• The agony of auditioning for Mercy Peak
• Why she loved playing Nicky Sommerville
• How Outrageous Fortune gives actors the freedom to explore their characters
• The intensity of filming The Cult on location in winter
• Breaking her foot on the set of Jinx Sister

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

Credits: Interview, Camera & Editing – Andrew Whiteside