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.

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

After making her television debut on Shortland Street in 2004, Siobhan Marshall won fame as straight-talking sister Pascalle West over six seasons of Outrageous Fortune. In 2005 she won celebrity singing contest Sing Like a Superstar. More recently she made a guest appearance on The Almighty Johnsons, and will next join her Outrageous screen sister Antonia Prebble as co-star of The Blue Rose. In this ScreenTalk, Marshall talks about:

• Being inspired into acting by seeing Les Miserables
• Playing her name-sake in Shortland Street
• Being accused of playing a slut on the show
• Moving from comic relief to ‘meaty’ drama in Outrageous Fortune
• Getting room to develop her acting and character on the show
• Having a serious migraine while taping Sing Like a Superstar
• Learning how to behave like a man on The Almighty Johnsons
• Discovering a penchant for bending the truth on Would I Lie to You?
• Being one of the only actors in the cast of Duncan’s Lady to speak English
• Playing a cool Kiwi girl in new drama series The Blue Rose
• Believing acting is the only thing she’s good at

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

Samoan-born actor Pua Magasiva was inspired by his older brother Robbie Magasiva to get into show business. He is best known for his role as Nurse Vinnie Kruse in Shortland Street, but has had roles in a number of TV productions including Power Rangers, Outrageous Fortune and Diplomatic Immunity. He has also appeared in films Sione's Wedding, 30 Days of Night, The Other Side of Heaven, and Matariki. In this ScreenTalk, Magasiva talks about:

• Having a fantastic time playing the 'leader' in Power Rangers
• Cringing after looking at his first acting stint on Shortland Street
• How the pace of production on the show has improved his performances
• Not appearing much in Sione's Wedding, despite his character being in the title
• Creating a machine to fight vampires in 30 Days of Night
• Hoping he wouldn’t stuff it up on the set of Outrageous Fortune
• Ad agency qualms about the popular Lift Plus commercials
• How putting on a costume made him feel like a cop in Matariki
• Willing to be handcuffed and hurt for the TV series East West 101

Actor Greg Johnson began his career as a stand-up comedian. His first acting role was in the film The End of the Golden Weather. Since then, he has appeared in a wide range of TV shows, films and commercials, and is perhaps best known for roles in Shortland Street, Outrageous Fortune and Go Girls. He has won two acting awards for performances in TV series City Life, and 2010 movie The Insatiable Moon. In this ScreenTalk, Johnson talks about:

• Learning to act by watching rehearsals of The End of the Golden Weather
• Trying not to be funny on Shortland Street
• How the fast-paced nature of the show enhanced his skill
• Having fun on Street Legal with the show’s star Jay Laga’aia
• Playing it cool with Holly Hunter while filming The Piano
• Teasing Anthony Hopkins on the set of The World’s Fastest Indian
• Finding an odd way of speaking for his character in Outrageous Fortune
• Creating a strong back-story for his award-winning role in The Insatiable Moon
• Being conned into wearing a wig on Go Girls

Shortland Street producer Steven Zanoski’s first job in television was as a writer/reporter on the kids programme What Now? He went on to become a storyliner for Shortland Street and eventually the programme’s producer. During his time as a writer on the show, he also penned the screenplay for the one-off TV drama House of Sticks. Zanoski has also had a hand in the development of Outrageous Fortune and executive produced Mataku and Mercy Peak. In this ScreenTalk, Zanoski talks about:

• Getting a job on the kids show What Now? at the age of 19
• The genesis for writing the screenplay of the hour-long TV drama House of Sticks
• How he learnt to write storylines for Shortland Street
• The process of creating story arcs for the soap
• Having over-all control of the show in his role as producer
• Keeping the 20-year-old show fresh by bringing in new creative challenges
• His favourite storyline when the clinic was blown up
• How great storytelling will see Shortland Street into the future

Actor Jeffrey Thomas has had a long and varied career in both TV and theatre. His best-known television role was as Inspector Brian Finn in the police series Shark in the Park. Thomas has also appeared in Mercy Peak, Shortland Street, Spartacus and Outrageous Fortune. He has just completed a small film role in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. In this ScreenTalk, Thomas talks about:

• How Close to Home was the perfect place to hone his acting skills
• Having lots of fun and laughter on the set of Gliding On
• How being seen as a ‘leader’ got him the main role in Shark in the Park
• How spending time with the police gave him the cues he needed for the role
• Being mistaken for a real cop by a robbery victim
• Loving the spectacle on the set of Hercules
• Playing a dying man on Shortland Street
• Enjoying working with John Hannah in Spartacus
• The reason he can’t tell anyone about his experience on The Hobbit
• Being surprised and humbled by his long career

Nick Ward is a prolific and award-winning screenwriter. He attracted notice with the hit feature film Stickmen, a Wellington lads-on-the-make tale that potted him the best script gong in the 2001 New Zealand Film and TV Awards. He originated, and then co-wrote, popular recycling relationship comedy Second-Hand Wedding (2008); and wrote the original script for Love Birds (2011). His TV screenwriting credits include Outrageous Fortune, Burying Brian, Nothing Trivial and The Cult. Ward has also worked in front of the camera, co-presenting The Big Art Trip with Douglas Lloyd Jenkins. In this ScreenTalk, Ward talks about:

• How he plagiarised his own life in writing Stickmen
• Creating a fake bar for the film that everyone seemed to know
• Acting a ‘hurtful’ sex scene with Luanne Gordon
• Driving Douglas Lloyd Jenkins up the wall in The Big Art Trip
• Basing the script of Second-Hand Wedding on his own family
• How all of the second-hand props in the movie belonged to his Mum
• Resisting pressure to change the film
• Bringing his obsession for pub quizzes into the scripts of Nothing Trivial
• Realising he is still learning the craft after 10 years writing

Vivacious actor Nicole Whippy has created some memorable characters on our television screens. She debuted playing a warrior queen on Xena and then appeared in the film Vertical Limit. She made a splash on the drama Jackson's Wharf before appearing in a slew of TV series such as Mercy Peak, Being Eve, The Strip and Outrageous Fortune. In 2011, she starred in the comedy/drama hit Nothing Trivial. In this ScreenTalk, Whippy talks about:

• Being terrified having to ride horses on Xena
• Having all her acting flaws pointed out by a producer on Jackson's Wharf
• How a sexy costume helped her create Elektra in Being Eve
• Being taken on an intense emotional journey on the set of Mercy Peak
• Filming scenes from The Strip in a real strip club and refusing to go in the spa pool
• Playing an extreme version of herself on Outrageous Fortune
• How people on the street had some negative reactions to the role
• Auditioning for a role on Nothing Trivial that was modeled on her
• Feeling that her role on the show is the 'big one' in her career