ScreenTalk

Susan Wood is one of New Zealand’s most experienced TV news and current affairs presenters. Beginning in print journalism, Wood soon moved to TVNZ news where she stayed for over 20 years. Wood has a number of firsts to her career, including first TVNZ foreign correspondent (Sydney); first host of Midday News; and first host (with Mike Hosking) of TV ONE’s Breakfast. In 2005 Wood sued TVNZ over a plan to cut her salary by 22 per cent – she left the network a year after she won her case.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Wood talks about:

• Developing the ‘fine attributes of a thief’ to source footage as TVNZ’s first foreign correspondent
• Using her feminine wiles to get interviews with Australian PM Bob Hawke
• Feeling terror during her first live interview while filling in on Holmes
• How a tiny team of women put out an hour of news a day on Midday News
• Co-hosting with Mike Hosking on the first two years of Breakfast
• Nerves and tension behind the scenes before the first broadcast
• The emotion of interviewing her colleague Angela D’Audney on Today Live when D’Audney was terminally ill
• Being up a mountain when told Paul Holmes had left TVNZ and she had just hours to come in and host a new show – Close Up
• The incredible competition between three 7pm current affairs programmes
• Facing public humiliation and a good deal of heartache when she sued TVNZ over changes to her contract

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

Peter Hayden has one of the best known faces and voices in New Zealand, having presented and voiced hundreds of nature documentaries on television. His many documentary series include the hugely successful Wild South and Latitude 45. Hayden is also a successful actor and has appeared in range of dramas including: The Fire-Raiser, Footrot Flats and Beyond Reasonable Doubt.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Peter talks about:

• Being a story teller for both documentary and drama productions
• How Wild South mirrored the growth in conservation in New Zealand
• Creating Moa’s Ark with famous conservationist David Bellamy
• The delight of making Latitude 45 and sailing on a reed boat on Lake Te Anau
• Acting a small role in The Governor and riding a terrified horse in a battle scene
• Playing the “dupe” who finds the bullet cartridge in Beyond Reasonable Doubt
• Breaking the jaw of a fellow actor in The Fire-Raiser

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

Kevin Milne is one of New Zealand’s most popular TV presenters after more than 20 years on Fair Go. In that time he has won settlements worth millions of dollars. Before Fair Go, Milne was a reporter for Eyewitness News and the TVNZ lifestyle shows Production Line and Then Again. He has also been a presenter on the travel show Holiday and Fair Go spin-off Kev Can Do. In September 2010 Milne announced he would be leaving Fair Go at the end of the year.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Milne talks about:

• How saying no to a TV job in Invercargill led to a better job in TV news
• The excitement of working with veteran newsreaders Dougal Stevensen, Philip Sherry, and Bill Toft
• Working on the late night news show Eyewitness News
• Having to be on his best behaviour interviewing former PM Rob Muldoon
• Thinking that the consumer show Production Line was amateurish
• Getting a reporting job on Fair Go without having to audition
• Working for a year with his mentor Brian Edwards
• Presenting the show live in front of a drunk audience
• Getting millions of dollars in settlements for people
• The ethos behind Fair Go spin-off Kev Can Do
• Deciding it was time to leave Fair Go before he got too stuck in his ways
• His hopes and fears for the future of the series

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

Rocker Ray Columbus, OBE, has been a headline act since 1961 when he appeared on Time Out for Talent at the age of 18. Since then, he has performed on or hosted a huge range of music and light entertainment TV shows including: Club Columbus, C’Mon, Happen Inn, Personality Squares and That’s Country. With his band Ray Columbus and the Invaders, he had two number one hits with ‘She’s a Mod’ and ‘Till We Kissed’.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Columbus talks about:

• How all tapes of his early days on TV in Club Columbus were destroyed
• Being squeezed into the newsroom in Christchurch to tape the show
• Bringing a TV studio to a standstill by dancing the ‘Mod’s Nod’
• The excitement of appearing on C’Mon and working with Pete Sinclair
• Why lurid costumes and psychedelic lyrics led to changes on Happen Inn
• How a damning TV review led to the axing of My Name is Ray Columbus
• Fearing the reactions of fans to him hosting That’s Country
• Selling the show to the Nashville Network in America
• Being grateful for his TV career

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

Rawiri Paratene (Ngā Puhi) was the first Māori student to graduate from the New Zealand Drama School, and has since made an indelible mark on the NZ screenscape.

Paratene’s small screen career began with a small part on The Governor, and playing Koro in 70s sitcom Joe and Koro. Paratene then hosted daily pre-school show Play School – a role familiar to a generation of Kiwi kids.

He went on to star in the long-running comedy sketch show Issues and won praise for his parodies of politician Winston Peters. Paratene is also an acclaimed writer whose credits include the TV dramas Erua and Dead Certs. The latter earned him a 1989 NZ Television Award.

On the big screen Paratene has created some of this country’s most memorable characters. He played the role of reformed gang memeber Mulla in What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?; but it was his role as Koro in Whale Rider that garnered him international recognition.

Paratene has served as deputy chairman of the New Zealand Film Commission. His latest cinema role is playing a psychiatric patient who believes he is the second son of God in The Insatiable Moon.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Paratene talks about:

• creating a stir by portraying a realistic Māori accent in the 70s sitcom Joe and Koro
• being asked to “reign in” his performance playing a dead body in The Governor
• how hosting the iconic kids show Play School helped to get him a long career
• fighting for Māori language and characters to be included in the show
• how ad-libbing boosted the tiny role of Rangi into a major part in Footrot Flats: The Dog’s (Tail) Tale
• creating the back story behind gang member Mulla in What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
• causing a public stir by wearing his on-screen tattoos out in public
• loving the ‘honesty’ of his character Koro in Whale Rider
• his most humbling and poignant moment on the set of the film

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

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.

Born in Westport, Jeremy Corbett is a middle-aged 6’2” Leo who likes potatoes, grass, cordless drills and guitars. His broadcasting career began at student radio station Radio Massey, while studying for a BA in English and Computer Science.

Since then, Corbett has gone on to develop a successful career in radio, clocking up 16 years as morning co-host on MORE FM, and has appeared regularly on NZ TV screens in shows like The Paradise Picture Show, A Bit After Ten, Celebrity Squares, The Gong Show, Pulp Comedy, Downsize Me, Deal or No Deal and most recently 7 Days.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Corbett reveals:

• How 7 Days came about, and what the success of the TV show means for NZ TV comedy
• Some of the early NZ TV shows that influence 7 Days
• How he started out in TV, and who was there
• Some amusing moments from TV shows like The Gong Show, Celebrity Squares and The Mad Mad World of Television
• What it’s like hosting big live TV events like Christmas in the Park
• The challenges of fronting game shows like Deal or No Deal
• Some of his favourite NZ TV comedy

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

Poetry, satire and music were the mainstays of Gary McCormick’s life, before he took his unique world view to television. His onscreen career began with the award-winning documentary Raglan by the Sea, on which he collaborated with filmmaker Bruce Morrison. McCormick’s best-known TV series was Heartland, which ran for four years and told the stories of communities across the country. In the mid 90s McCormick teamed up with his buddy and fellow poet Sam Hunt for a romp around New Zealand in the celebrated documentary The Roaring 40’s Tour.

In 1998 McCormick returned to his home town of Porirua to host The Bay Boys – a gripping documentary about life in the suburb. Since then McCormick has hosted other talk shows and was a guest host on Nightline. Now resident in Lyttelton, McCormick shares hosting duties on More FM in Christchurch with his mate Simon Barnett.

In this ScreenTalk interview, McCormick talks about:

• The pleasure of working on Heartland
• The challenge of interviewing the Rastafarian community
• Playing tricks on the director of Heartland
• Learning to dodge a knife attack with Sam Hunt
• Taking a nostalgic look back at his home town
• The on-set shower and other quirks of McCormick Country
• Being mistaken for other celebrities

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

Petra Bagust grew up in Christchurch, studied fine arts at Canterbury University and waited tables before being lured into regional TV station Cry TV.

And so began a screen career during which she has hosted many of NZ’s most popular shows, including madcap youth series Ice TV from 1996, and its sequel Ice As, travel show Travel.co.nz, real estate series Hot Property in 2003, the feel-good Dreams Come True, game show Snatch our Booty with Oscar Kightley and Nathan Rarere in 2005, Sing Like a Superstar (2005), and The Perfect Age (2006).

Fronting big live shows like Christmas In The Park and Fight for Life (2001, 2004), Bagust became a regular live anchor for TV3. More recently Bagust fronted daily news satire show @Seven, as well as the factual series What’s Really In Our Food, for which she was nominated for a 2009 Qantas Best Presenter award.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Bagust talks about:

• Considering a TV career over a career as a painter
• Her first experiences at regional station Cry TV
• How she landed her initial audition for Ice TV, and what it was like working on the show
• One of the golden rules of doing travel shows
• Hosting big live shows like Christmas in the Park
• Making What’s Really In Our Food, and the follow up show to come
• Her love of NZ design

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

A generation of Kiwi kids grew up watching Jason Gunn on television. At the same time Gunn grew up on television himself. Beginning in children’s TV, Gunn hosted Jase TV, Son of a Gunn Show, After School, and What Now? Through many of these shows his co-star was a hugely popular life size puppet named Thingee. Gunn moved on to other programmes such as Young Entertainers and Small Talk.

In recent years Gunn has starred in a host of top-rating primetime entertainment and game shows including Wheel of Fortune, The Rich List and the incredibly popular Dancing with the Stars. As well as his hosting duties, Gunn has appeared as himself on Celebrity Treasure Island.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Gunn talks about:

• Learning the skills of presenting from ‘old hands’ in the industry
• How he grew up on TV hosting Son of a Gunn Show
• Being best mates with a puppet named Thingee
• His love for making children’s TV and how it is the best of all genres
• How his comedic inspiration comes from his everyday life
• The tough path of learning to play piano and sing
• Just being himself on Celebrity Treasure Island
• The drama and excitement of Dancing with the Stars
• Why hosting game shows will lead to new things

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