William James Te Wehi Taitoko better known by his stage name Billy T. James, was a New Zealand entertainer, comedian, musician and actor. He became a key figure in the development of New Zealand comedy and a household name during his lifetime.
Chris Knox is a New Zealand rock and roll musician, cartoonist and movie reviewer who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the group Tall Dwarfs with guitarist Alec Bathgate. The Tall Dwarfs were noted for their unpolished sound and intense live shows. His 4-track machine was used to record most of the early Flying Nun singles.
In My Father's Den is a 2004 New Zealand film written and directed by Brad McGann and starring Matthew Macfadyen and Emily Barclay. It is based on the novel of the same title by Maurice Gee. The film was released in October 2004 to glowing reviews.
Jane Theresa Wrightson is New Zealand's Retirement Commissioner. She was previously New Zealand's eighth Chief Censor, and first woman Chief Censor, from 1991 to 1993, when Films, Videos, and Publications Act became law.
Once Were Warriors is a 1994 New Zealand tragic drama film based on New Zealand author Alan Duff's bestselling 1990 first novel. The film tells the story of the Heke family, an urban Māori whānau living in South Auckland, and their problems with poverty, alcoholism, and domestic violence, mostly brought on by the patriarch, Jake. It explores the detrimental effects of the colonisation of New Zealand suffered by Māori, and the survival of Māori culture against all odds.
The Secret of Moonacre is a 2008 fantasy film loosely based on the 1946 novel The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. The film was directed by Gábor Csupó and starred Dakota Blue Richards in the leading role and with Ioan Gruffudd, Tim Curry, Natascha McElhone and Juliet Stevenson in supporting roles. The film premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2009 by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Antony Starr is a New Zealand actor, known for his television roles. He played the dual roles of Jethro and Van West on Outrageous Fortune (2005–10), Lucas Hood in the Cinemax action series Banshee (2013–16), and Homelander in the Prime Video series The Boys (2019–present).
Matariki is a 2010 New Zealand drama film set in Otara, South Auckland. The film is told through five interweaving stories all set in the days leading to the rising of Matariki. The film incorporates a variety of languages including English, Māori, Tokelauan, Samoan, and Cantonese. It features an ensemble cast and is the feature debut for actors Susana Tang and Jason Wu. The film was funded by the New Zealand Film Commission.
Thomas Rimmer is a New Zealand stage and screen actor best known for his role in Danny Mulheron's feature film directorial debut Fresh Meat. His television work includes roles in The Gibson Group's Facelift and Bryan Bruce's crime documentary series The Investigator.
My Wedding and Other Secrets is a 2011 romantic comedy film directed by Roseanne Liang, written by Liang and Angeline Loo, and produced by South Pacific Pictures. The film is based on Liang's real-life cross-cultural romance.
Paula Jane Kiri Morris is a New Zealand novelist, short-story writer editor and literary academic. She is an associate professor at the University of Auckland and founder of the Academy of New Zealand Literature.
Bronwyn Holloway-Smith is an artist and author from Wellington, New Zealand. She holds a PhD in Fine Arts from Massey University, and is Co-Director of Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand, a research initiative based at Massey University's Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts.
Born to Dance is a 2015 New Zealand feature film. It was written by Steve Barr, Hone Kouka and Casey Whelan and is the feature film direction debut by Tammy Davis, best known for his role as Munter in Outrageous Fortune. The film was released on 24 September 2015 in New Zealand. Born to Dance was choreographed by Parris Goebel.
Alistair Graeme Fox is a New Zealand scholar, former university administrator, and writer who specialises in English Tudor literature and history, New Zealand literature and cinema studies, and contemporary literary and film theory.
Roger John Horrocks is a New Zealand writer, film-maker, educator and cultural activist.
Tina Makereti is a New Zealand novelist, essayist, and short story writer, editor and creative writing teacher. Her work has been widely published and she has been the recipient of writing residencies in New Zealand and overseas. Her book Once Upon a Time in Aotearoa won the inaugural fiction prize at the Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards in 2011, and Where the Rēkohu Bone Sings won the Ngā Kupu Ora Aotearoa Māori Book Award for Fiction in 2014. She lives on the Kapiti Coast, New Zealand.
Mosley is a 2019 computer-animated fantasy adventure drama film produced by Huhu Studios. It was written and directed by Kirby Atkins who stars in the title role along with his young daughter Leah, playing the character of Rue. The film also stars Lucy Lawless, John Rhys-Davies, Temuera Morrison and Rhys Darby. The film was released in New Zealand on 10 October 2019 by Rialto Distribution. It is the first official New Zealand–Chinese co-production.
Cousins is a 2021 New Zealand film directed by Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace-Smith. It is an adaptation of the 1992 novel of the same name by Patricia Grace.
Daniel Alexander Belton is a New Zealand dancer, choreographer and film-maker based in Dunedin. He is the co-founder and artistic director of Good Company Arts (GCA). He is an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate. His works have been shown in America, Europe, South America, Asia and the Pacific.
Vanessa Byrnes is a director, actress and educator in New Zealand. She has collaborated on many theatre and screen productions including feature films, short films, television commercials and theatre. As an educator she completed a PhD at the University of Waikato in 2015, titled Removing the ‘Cloak of Invisibility’: New Zealand Directors Discuss Theatre Directing Praxis. Byrnes has been in senior roles at both Toi Whakaari and Unitec Institute of Technology, leading drama training for many years. She is an experienced theatre director and as an actor was in popular television soap opera Shortland Street.
