ScreenTalk

Shortland Street: Happy 21st Birthday..…

Screen Talker — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:46:07 +1200

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: Dancing Queen

Screen Talker — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:50:46 +1200

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: A Designing Woman

Screen Talker — Mon, 06 May 2013 11:56:41 +1200

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.

Ray Waru: Māori Broadcasting Pioneer

Screen Talker — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:11:57 +1200

Ray Waru has had a long and distinguished career as a producer and director in both television and radio. He began his TV career working on factual series such as Country Calendar, Fair Go, People Like Us and Tomorrow’s World. In 1980 he established the Māori television production unit at TVNZ, and launched the first regular Māori primetime show Koha. Waru went on to work on major documentary series Our People Our Century and Frontier of Dreams.

In this ScreenTalk, Waru talks about:

Discovering an infamous wine while directing Country Calendar
Having the freedom to be creative on People Like Us
Introducing Sharon Crosbie to the world on Tomorrow’s World
The ideological problems of the first regular Māori primetime programme Koha
Making New Zealand history popular on Our People Our Century
How Frontier of Dreams tried to make history fun and exciting
Making deals to get the international footage for the series

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

John Callen: The distinctive voice behind Oin the Dwarf…

Screen Talker — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:39:54 +1200

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: On producing and directing the big TV dramas…

Screen Talker — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:31:38 +1200

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.

Peter Blake: On making music and getting Ready to Roll …

Screen Talker — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:12:46 +1300

Music is Peter Blake's passion. Blake's career has encompassed jazz, Hendrix covers, keyboards for Hello Sailor – and quite a lot of television. After time at radio station 2ZA he began working on TV music show Grunt Machine, then got the job of musical director, and later producer of the high rating, hit-making Ready to Roll. Soon he was commanding a stable of music shows that included RTR, Radio with Pictures, Heartbeat City, and stereo simulcasts of rock concerts.

In this ScreenTalk, Blake talks about:

Eclectic early music show Grunt Machine
Abolishing cover versions, when he became producer of Ready to Roll
Having to look after glam rocker Gary Glitter for a day
The arrival of music videos, and commissioning videos by both TVNZ staffers and freelancers
RTR's golden age in the 80s, when it ruled both the TV and music charts
How he moved into composing soundtracks, with drama series Marching Girls
Composing for himself, versus composing for the screen

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

Paul Norris: On the changing face of TV news and current affairs…

Screen Talker — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:48:29 +1300

Journalist and academic Paul Norris had a major role in changing the landscape of television news and current affairs in New Zealand. He cut his teeth with the BBC, but moved back to New Zealand to run TVNZ’s News and Current Affairs division in 1987. In that role, he revamped the evening news on TV One, and launched the Holmes show in 1989. Norris left TVNZ in 1996 to head the New Zealand Broadcasting School in Christchurch.

In this ScreenTalk, Norris talks about:

How a British election set off his career in journalism
Being lured back to be Head of News and Current Affairs at TVNZ
The changes brought about by former head of TVNZ Julian Mounter
Bringing together Richard Long and Judy Bailey on the evening news
Being criticised for introducing American consultants for the show
How the Holmes show changed the TV current affairs landscape
The truth behind the Dennis Conner interview
Wanting to tell the story behind radical political changes in the 80s, in documentary series Revolution
Reinventing himself as an academic as Head of the NZ Broadcasting School
Feeling that TV current affairs is in a rather dire state at the moment
Changing the landscape of broadcasting

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

Stelios Yiakmis: From heart-throb to bad guy …

Screen Talker — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:10:43 +1300

Actor Stelios Yiakmis created a name for himself playing doctor Johnny Marinovich for five years on Shortland Street. He gained further acting credentials in a range of Australian and Kiwi TV shows such as McLeod's Daughters, All Saints, and Underbelly – Land of the Long White Cloud, and the Australian feature film Jindabyne. Yiakmis is currently appearing as bad guy Derek Peterson in crime drama The Blue Rose.

In this ScreenTalk, Yiakmis talks about:

Being overawed by his first scene on Shortland Street
How a fellow actor couldn’t help him adjust to the work schedule
Loving the polarising nature of his character Johnny Marinovich
How a role in Street Legal gave him a chance to stretch his acting wings
Confusing the local population on the set of McLeod's Daughters
Wanting to punch director Ray Lawrence while filming Jindabyne
Playing a real life criminal in the Kiwi version of Underbelly
Relishing the chance to be a 'bastard' in The Blue Rose
How not knowing the plot in advance made the role harder

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

Jennifer Ludlam: Acting without makeup or shoes…

Screen Talker — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:32:42 +1300

Award-winning actor Jennifer Ludlam has played a range of strong female characters in TV shows such as Cover Story, Gloss, and Undercover. She spent time in Australia appearing in a number of dramas including Prisoner and Sons and Daughters. Returning to New Zealand, Ludlam starred in Sima Urale’s feature film Apron Strings. She is currently appearing in TV thriller The Blue Rose.

In this ScreenTalk, Ludlam talks about:

Playing a country girl in a city pub in A Going Concern
Lying about her horse riding ability for a role in Radio Waves
Having trouble singing and dancing in Gather Your Dreams
Forgetting all about one of her roles in Shark in the Park
Loving the camaraderie on the set of Prisoner
Playing a 'toughie' on Sons and Daughters
Being an embarrassment to Ilona Rodgers in Gloss
Being cast as a strong and forthright woman in Cover Story
Enjoying playing a homophobic mother in Shortland Street
Feeling nervous in her first scene in Apron Strings
Giving up a theatre tour for a role in The Blue Rose
Her one last ambition in TV

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