ScreenTalk

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

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

The star of TV ONE’s The Investigator, Bryan Bruce has made programmes on everything from Kiwi humour to mass murderers.

In this ScreenTalk interview, the director, writer and presenter talks about:

• making his television debut interviewing Katherine Mansfield and Chopin, after a lucky break while playing piano in a bar
• mortgaging his house to make a documentary on yachtsman Sir Peter Blake, then selling it around the world in the time it took Blake to sail into Auckland harbour
• Some similar features of the famous New Zealanders he has profiled for documentaries, including Whina Cooper, Howard Morrison and John O’Shea
• Discovering the common traits of mass murderers for the documentary In Cold Blood
• How he takes the unusual approach of offering his own opinion, on true-life crime series The Investigator
• How the secret drop box for The Investigator has received much worthwhile information

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

Credits: Direction and Interview – Ian Pryor.  Camera and Editing – Alex Backhouse

Musician, artist, writer and director Greg Page began his film career in Hamilton in the early 90s, making music videos for local bands. Since then the international award-winning filmmaker has written and directed several short films, including claymations Decaff and The New Zealand Centenary of Cinema, as well as Sarah’s Washing, and his full length feature film The Locals.

Page’s boundless energy and fanaticism has also given rise to some of NZ’s most memorable and spectacular music videos for top recording artists like Scribe, The D4 and Elemeno P.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Page reveals:

• how he shot his 1994 claymation short Decaff
• the story behind making the claymation short The New Zealand Centenary Of Cinema, along with John O’Shea
• behind-the-scenes details from his feature length horror The Locals, including the animation process, casting and soundtrack decisions
• how the D4’s Exit To the City music video came about and a behind-the-scenes insight
• what it was like shooting Elemeno P’s Verona in an icecream freezer in minus 20 degrees
• his views on the state of NZ’s film industry

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

Credits:  Interview, Camera & Editing – James Coleman