ScreenTalk

Judy Callingham has had a long and varied television career as a reporter, presenter, and writer. She first appeared on our screens as a continuity announcer, but then moved on to reporting on the 1960s regional programme Town and Around. Callingham then developed her skills as a television drama writer on shows such as Close to Home, Gloss, Shark in the Park and Shortland Street.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Callingham talks about:

• How a friendly rivalry with a co-reporter on Town and Around forced her to confront a fear of heights
• Loving being a show runner on Close to Home
• How the show led to complaints that it didn’t represent real New Zealanders
• Why writing for Gloss made her a better person to live with
• That the superb cast of the show made the scripts better
• Basing the lead character of her TV play Casualties of Peace on her father
• The ‘organic’ process of writing the scripts for The Billy T James Show
• Doing a writing experiment while creating scene breakdowns for Shortland Street
• Admitting she became a writer because she was appalling at being an actress

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

Janice Finn is a television writer/producer who has also spent time in front of the camera. Her acting roles have included parts in Close to Home, and The Strip. Finn produced the high camp 80s soap Gloss and 90s drama Marlin Bay, and has written extensively for Shortland Street. She has also produced reality series such as Changing Rooms for Touchdown Productions. Lately Finn has been producing documentaries for Natural History New Zealand.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Finn talks about:

• Playing ‘mad Jane’ in the first season of Close to Home
• How the show was made as though live, and any mistakes led to an entire re-shoot
• How her love of fashion and humour lead to the creation of Gloss
• Story-lining the entire series on a huge piece of paper with James Griffin
• Being shocked by male media commentators hatred of Gloss
• Making reality TV with Julie Christie of Touchdown Productions
• How making Changing Rooms was a complete shambles
• Having fun playing a loony character on The Strip, despite being very self-conscious

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

Danielle Cormack began acting on stage, but in her mid-teens won a coveted role in the popular 80s soap Gloss. Growing up on screen led her to a one-year stint on Shortland Street, playing sweet and innocent nurse Alison Rayner. Cormack starred in the TV show Topless Women Talk About Their Lives and then went on to the film version of the project. Her pregnancy was incorporated into the film and her performance earned her a best actor award at the 1997 Film and TV Awards. Cormack has appeared in a number of feature films including The Price of Milk, Channelling Baby, and Separation City. She recently appeared in the TV drama The Cult.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Cormack talks about:

• Growing into womanhood while appearing on Gloss
• Playing the lovable nurse Alison Rayner on Shortland Street
• Being the first of the original cast to leave the soap
• Appearing in Xena and not always enjoying the intensity of the show’s fans
• How becoming pregnant changed Topless Women Talk About Their Lives
• Giving birth on screen a week after giving birth in real life
• Why Channelling Baby was her favourite filmic experience
• Working with a deliciously naughty cast and crazy director on Separation City
• Feeling a little isolated on the set of The Cult

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

Lisa Chappell began her screen career playing spoilt rich kid Chelsea Redfern in the 80s glamour soap Gloss. From there she went on to star in the TV dramas Shark in the Park and City Life. In the 90s Chappell moved to Australia and landed the role that made her world famous – Claire in McLeod’s Daughters. Between small screen gigs, Chappell squeezed in some notable film projects, such as the fantastical period romp Desperate Remedies, and the sci-fi drama Jack Brown Genius. In 2009 Chappell returned to NZ television playing gun-toting villain Sophie in the TV2 drama The Cult.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Chappell discusses:

• Being the ‘baby’ and eating the props on the hit show Gloss
• Not being recognised at an audition for Shark in the Park
• Being covered in mud while actor Michael Hurst buried his face in her breasts
• Modelling the character of Claire in McLeod’s Daughters after the men in her life
• Her murderous character on The Cult, and the trauma of having to shoot a co-star

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

Credits:  Interview, Camera & Editing – Andrew Whiteside

Ilona Rodgers has starred in a huge array of theatre, film and TV roles in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK.

As well as appearing in many British and Australian TV shows screened in New Zealand, Rodgers has been a stalwart of locally made programmes such as Close to Home and Hunter’s Gold.

Probably best known for playing Maxine Redfern in Gloss, some of Rodgers’ other screen credits include The Billy T James Show, Marlin Bay and the film Utu.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Rodgers discusses:

• Close to Home and the pioneering days of New Zealand television
• Frightening tourists on the set of Hunter’s Gold
• The joy of being paid to be a well-dressed bitch on Gloss
• Taking a gamble on Marlin Bay
• The privilege of working with Billy T James
• Plunging off a balcony on the set of Utu
• Reflections on how “lucky” she has been in her career

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

Credits:  Interview, Camera & Editing – Andrew Whiteside

For more than 20 years, actor Peter Elliott’s career has spanned theatre, film, television and radio. His most notable screen credits include playing Rex on Gloss, Dr David Kearney on Shortland Street, and more recently he was the TV ad face encouraging us to take civil defence seriously.

As well as TV drama, Elliott has fronted and narrated a range of documentary TV series such as Captain’s Log, Explorers, Frontier of Dreams and Secret New Zealand. He also wrote and presented Jungle Rain, a documentary about Agent Orange. Elliott was the first celebrity to appear in Intrepid Journeys. Now 50, Elliott has recently added a new skill to his repertoire – directing theatre.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Elliott discusses:

• The experience of being a ‘star’ in Gloss and why he had to pretend to be single
• How he got burned out and burned by his four years on Shortland Street
• Why he thinks male characters get a rough deal on the soap
• How being part of Captain’s Log was a dream come true and a boost to his morale
• What a confronting experience it was visiting Kenya in Intrepid Journeys
• The great experience of being in Until Proven Innocent and the talent of co-star Cohen Holloway
• And how he has finally become comfortable with himself and his transition into being a director

Miranda Harcourt got her screen break playing the bitchy Gemma on iconic 80s soap Gloss. Since then the versatile Harcourt has hardly taken a break – directing, teaching, plus acting in prisons, tele-movie Clare, and feature film For Good, among many other titles.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Miranda Harcourt talks about:

• the joys of playing Gemma on Gloss, as the character journeyed from being a “really nice girl from Hamilton” to a “bitch from hell”
• the over-the-top reactions of some Gloss viewers when they met Harcourt in person
• reinvention in London
• interviewing prisoners about violent crime and murder for Verbatim. Harcourt performed the play in prisons across New Zealand, as seen in Shirley Horrocks documentary Act of Murder
• the genesis of award-winning feature film For Good – directed by Harcourt’s husband Stuart McKenzie – the tale of a woman’s fascination with a teenager’s abduction and murder
• playing Phillida Bunkle in tele-movie Clare, based on the disastrous gynaecological study at Auckland National Women’s Hospital
• her time as a “terrible” student at New Zealand Drama School, and her return to spend seven years at the school as head of acting
• embracing variety in her career, including her recent work as acting coach on Yvonne Mackay’s series Kaitangata Twitch

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

Before launching her own clothing label, designer Liz Mitchell began her career creating costumes for stage and screen (including Front Lawn classic Walkshort,and cult movie Angel Mine). In this ScreenTalk interview she turns her attention to costume-heavy 80s soap Gloss.

Liz talks about

• the “fantastic” experience of working on Gloss over three seasons
• designing the “over-the-top” costumes for the series, complete with shoulder pads and loud prints
• how the fashion industry pitched in to help
• working on forgotten TV show Seekers, starring Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Temuera Morrison
• participating in the Benson & Hedges Fashion awards – both behind the scenes, and on the awards podium

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