Screentalk

This ScreenTalk marks the 21st birthday of Shortland St on May 25. Produced by South Pacific Pictures for TVNZ, the serial drama has screened five nights a week on TV2 since its inception. It has won awards, sold internationally and become a part of our national landscape and pop culture. A who's who of New Zealand acting talent, writers, directors and producers have worked on the soap.

In this special edition of ScreenTalk, some of the show's stalwarts reflect on their Shortland St days, and on the programme's importance to NZ and our screen industry.

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

Suzanne Paul made a splash on our TV screens as the Queen of Infomercials in the 1980s. She soon had her own TV show called Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, followed by a range of other popular primetime programmes. Despite breaking a rib in the final episode, Paul won the third season of Dancing with the Stars.

In this ScreenTalk, Paul talks about: 

• Transferring her selling skills from malls to infomercials
• Learning to accept having the mickey taken out of her
• Creating the concept for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?
• Running out of celebrities for the show
• Finding out the title of Garage Sale was not literal
• Getting a role on How’s Life? despite being flippant
• How her episode of Intrepid Journeys changed her life
• Believing she was the comic relief on Dancing with the Stars
• Breaking a rib on live television but carrying on with the show
• How a bottle of port lead to the creation of the novelty song and music video The Blue Monkey

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

Ngila Dickson is an Academy Award-winning costume designer who has been involved in some of our biggest film and TV projects. Her first film experience was on User Friendly and since then she has designed for Jack Be Nimble, Heavenly Creatures, Crush and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, she made a name for herself designing costumes for Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Dickson has also worked on a range of international movies.

In this ScreenTalk, Dickson talks about: 

• Creating costumes for acclaimed period piece Heavenly Creatures
• Learning a life lesson from Peter Jackson on the film
• How Xena: Warrior Princess provided her greatest learning curve ever
• Avoiding an obsession with Tolkien on the Lord of the Rings trilogy
• Creating specific design features for each of the story elements
• How winning an Oscar for Lord of the Rings has given her traction in the American film industry
• Trying to achieve perfection on the set of The Last Samurai
• Learning the limits of CGI technology on movie Green Lantern
• The frustration of working on a lot of films that never get made

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

Actor and director John Callen has a voice that is hard to forget. Callen has appeared in a number of TV shows and films including Close to Home, The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and, most recently, The Hobbit. His directing credits include Shortland Street, and the documentary series Epitaph and Taonga.

In this ScreenTalk, Callen talks about:

• Why The Hobbit has been his most extraordinary job
• Still enjoying a good fight despite being older than his contemporaries
• How costuming proved to be a big hassle on the set, and a light moment with co-star Billy Connolly
• How playing a murderer on Close to Home appealed to autograph hounds
• The excitement of directing actors on Shortland Street
• Enjoying directing 'real' stories for Epitaph
• Learning about Māori history on the series Taonga
• The challenge of re-writing scripts on war documentary The Kiwi Who Saved Britain

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

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.

Stu Dennison was a much-loved TV presenter in the 1970s who introduced the ‘naughty schoolboy’ and thumbs up to a generation of Kiwi kids on the show Nice One Stu. He went on to host a range of TV shows, often as sidekick to popular TV host Roger Gascoigne. After Dennison ended his on-air career, he re-invented himself as a sports producer at TVNZ. In this ScreenTalk, Dennison talks about:

• Being the ‘everyman’ on Ready to Roll
• Creating the outrageous persona on Nice One Stu
• Becoming famous by being controversial
• How a spontaneous ‘thumbs up’ became his signature gesture
• Winding up the prim and proper Roger Gascoigne on Top Town
• Getting a pie in the face on Telethon
• Enjoying the mix of live entertainment and skits on How’s That
• Moving from presenting to editing and producing sports
• Carrying the torch at the Beijing Olympics

Roger Gascoigne was at one stage the most famous man on New Zealand television. He began his TV career as a continuity announcer and introduced his infamous wink to the nation. He went on to present a huge range of TV shows in the 70s and 80s including Ready to Roll, Top Town and several Telethons. During the 80s he made the transition to news presenting on regional show Today Tonight. In this ScreenTalk, Gascoigne talks about:

• Becoming the face of television
• How ‘the wink’ became an institution
• Getting excited about music videos in the early days of Ready to Roll
• Revamping the midnight to dawn slot on Telethon
• Ruining a valuable piece of equipment on Top Town
• Fearing for his life while being mobbed on the show
• Changing the focus of his career by hosting Today Tonight
• Acting a role similar to his real persona in Peppermint Twist
• How the arrival of Holmes led to him leaving television

Long-time television and radio host Mark Leishman began his TV career as a continuity announcer, and then moved on to the regional news show Today Tonight. Over the years, Leishman has appeared on a number of hit shows including Top Town, That’s Fairly Interesting and Tux Wonderdogs. As well as presenting, he has also directed documentaries such as A Friend For Life and Kohi: A Guide For Life. In this ScreenTalk, Leishman talks about:

• Getting a chance to read the news and create stories on Today Tonight
• Taking over the reins on Top Town
• How budgets and health and safety regulations weren’t an issue
• A future All Black becoming ultra competitive
• Joining a youthful Phil Keoghan hosting That’s Fairly Interesting
• Missing out on some great footage when directing the Peter Blake Bi-Centennial Race Around Australia
• Making Tux Wonderdogs a hit
• Jim Mora’s scripts and voice bringing personality to the show
• Creating a series of documentaries on guide dogs
• Pitting celebrities against a young genius on The Great NZ Spelling Bee
• Feeling fortunate to have had a good long run on TV

James Anderson and Nick Ward are the brains behind Auckland based production company Two Heads. They've made a name for themselves producing fresh and quirky documentaries and TV series such as Santarchy, Making Tracks, The Cheerleaders and Funny Roots. Two Heads are also the creative force behind TV ONE’s hit show The Food Truck. In this ScreenTalk, Anderson and Ward talk about:

• How a $5000 doco about an anarchic troupe in Santa suits got  them their first commission
• Taking Kiwi music to the world in the series Making Tracks
• Having to avoid young thugs with guns in Brazil during the shooting of the show
• Bringing stand-up comedy back to TV in A Night at the Classic
• Poking fun in a gentle way at mustachioed men in Movember
• Taking healthy fast food to the nation in The Food Truck
• How chef Michael was the perfect quirky fit for the show
• Finding the origins of comedy in TV series Funny Roots
• How their different strengths and abilities have led to a great partnership

Radio and TV host Jim Mora began his career reporting for regional news show The South Tonight. From there, he moved on to One News and then joined Holmes when it debuted in 1989. Over the years Mora became a household name voicing and presenting popular shows including Tux Wonderdogs, Maggie’s Garden Show and the long-running Mucking In. Mora was also involved with the creation of animated TV shows Massey Ferguson and Stains Down Drains, and is the host of the afternoon show on Radio New Zealand National. In this ScreenTalk, Mora talks about:

• Being daunted by his first piece to camera on The South Tonight
• Finding reporting on Holmes a demanding role
• Still not knowing if the Dennis Conner walk-off on the show was pre-planned
• How the premise of Tux Wonderdogs must have seemed odd to TVNZ commissioners
• Rolling a huge letter ‘R’ down the main street of Gore in the doco New Zild
• Wondering if there would be enough good sorts for the long-running show Mucking In
• How the gardens got more elaborate and expensive as the years went by
• Always feeling there’s more to achieve with his broadcasting career