Ainsley Gardiner | |
|---|---|
 Gardiner in 2018 | |
| Born | Ainsley Amohaere Gardiner Palmerston North, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Film producer |
| Relatives |
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Ainsley Amohaere Gardiner MNZM is a film producer from New Zealand.
Ainsley Gardiner | |
|---|---|
| Gardiner in 2018 | |
| Born | Ainsley Amohaere Gardiner Palmerston North, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Film producer |
| Relatives |
|
Ainsley Amohaere Gardiner MNZM is a film producer from New Zealand.
Gardiner was born in Palmerston North and grew up in the Wellington suburb of Wadestown, attending Wadestown Primary School. Her mother is former MP Pauline Gardiner, and her father was a civil servant and politician, Wira Gardiner. When she was about 12 years old the family moved to Whakatāne. [1] Gardiner is of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Awa descent. [2]
In 1995, Gardiner completed the Avalon Film and TV production course, and went on to work with producer Larry Parr at Kahukura Productions. She began producing short films, and also co-produced a 26-part series Lovebites. [2]
In 2003, she produced her first feature film, Kombi Nation, and co-produced Two Cars, One Night with Catherine Fitzgerald. The film, directed by Taika Waititi, became the first New Zealand short to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film. [2]
In 2004, Gardiner and actor/producer Cliff Curtis formed a film production company focused on indigenous stories, called Whenua Films. The company received start-up funding from the New Zealand Film Commission. Gardiner worked with Curtis and Waititi to produce Tama Tū, Eagle vs Shark and the highly successful Boy, which set a new record for the highest grossing New Zealand film. [2]
In 2007, Gardiner began co-presenting Iti Pounamu, a Māori Television series showcasing New Zealand short films. [3] In 2009 Gardiner wrote and directed Mokopuna, a short film about a part-Māori girl who struggles to embrace her roots; the film won the best short film award at the Canadian indigenous film festival Dreamspeakers. [2] Mokopuna was inspired by Gardiner's childhood as Māori girl living in Wadestown, Wellington, which had a very small Maori population. [4]
In 2017, Gardiner joined a team of women directors and writers to create the feature film Waru , which focuses on child abuse in New Zealand. [2] Gardiner wrote and directed the segment titled "Mihi," which focused on the life of a single mother struggling to make end's meet. More than 40 women had applied for the project in 2015, in which Gardiner was chosen to be among the final 9 women directors and writers to collaborate on the project. [5]
In 2021, Gardiner and Briar Grace Smith co-developed and co-directed the feature film Cousins, an adaptation of the 1992 novel of the same name written by Patricia Grace. [6] With its release, Gardiner and Grace Smith made history as the only Māori women to have directed a feature film since the release of Mauri by Merata Mita in 1988. [7]
In 2023, Gardiner worked as an executive producer on the feature film Red, White & Brass, a Comedy Drama inspired by a true story of a Tongan super fan's attempt to get tickets to the Tonga vs. France Rugby World Cup. [8]
In 2010, Gardiner and Curtis shared the SPADA New Zealand Screen Industry Awards title of Independent Producer of the Year. [2]
In the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, Gardiner was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film and television. [9]
In 2019, Gardiner and Briar Grace Smith were the recipients of the Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship. [10]
Gardiner describes her approach to filmmaking as collaborative and intuitive, in which community is at the center of both the production and development process. [7] In the making of Cousins, Briar Grace Smith states that she and Ainsley Gardiner worked best with a "flat hierarchy," in which neither filmmaker had more control or command than the other. [7] In an interview with Sundance, Gardiner explains that her process of filmmaking has been shaped by her Māori identity [7] in which there is a convergence of community and storytelling.
Gardiner's cinematic language also revolves around visual and thematic metaphors.
Gardiner has stated that Merata Meta has had a large influence on her life and career. [7]
| Film | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Hole | 1998 | Producer | |
| Ouch | 1999 | Producer | |
| Kombi Nation | 2003 | Producer | Nominated for Best Film, 2003 New Zealand Film Awards |
| Ebony Society | 2003 | Co-producer (with Chelsea Winstanley) | Winner, Best Short Film, 2011 Aotearoa Film and Television Awards |
| Two Cars, One Night | 2004 | Co-producer (with Catherine Fitzgerald) | Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, 2005 Best Short Film – Panorama Section, 2004 Berlin Film Festival Winner, Best Drama, 2004 Aspen Film Festival Prize of the Cinema Jury, 2004 Oberhausen Film Festival Jury Prize, 2004 Newport Film Festival Best Short Film, 2004 Hamburg Short Film Festival Best Short Film, 2004 Seattle Film Festival Best Live Action Short Film, 2004 Melbourne International Film Festival Audience Award, 2004 National Geographic's All Roads Festival Grand Jury Prize for Best International Short Film, 2004 AFI Los Angeles Film Festival Nominated for Best Short Film, 2003 New Zealand Film Awards |
| Tama Tū | 2004 | Producer | Coopers Award for Best Film, 2006 Flickerfest (Australia) Special Jury Prize, Honourable Mention - Panorama Section, 2005 Berlin Film Festival (Germany) Honourable Mention in Short Film Making, 2005 Sundance Film Festival (United States) Best Fiction Short Film, 2005 Melbourne International Film Festival (Australia) First Prize - Short Film Competition, 2005 Stockholm International Film Festival (Sweden) Honourable Jury Mention, 2005 St Tropez Film Festival (France) Best Live Action Short, 2005 Palm Springs International Film Festival (United States) Linda Mabalot New Director's/New Visions Award, 2005 VC LA Asian Pacific Film Festival (United States) Special Jury Prize, 2005 Aspen Shortsfest (United States) Grand Jury Prize for Best Short, 2005 Indianapolis International Film Festival (United States) |
| Hawaikii | 2006 | Executive producer | |
| The Speaker | 2006 | Executive producer | |
| Eagle vs Shark | 2007 | Co-producer (with Cliff Curtis) | Nominated for Best Picture - Budget over $1 Million, 2008 Qantas Film and Television Awards |
| Taua - War Party | 2007 | Executive producer | |
| Shadow over the Sun | 2007 | Executive producer | |
| Mokopuna | 2008 | Writer, director and executive producer | Winner, Best Short Film, Dreamspeakers (Canada) |
| Boy | 2010 | Co-producer (with Emanuel Michael and Cliff Curtis) | Winner, Best Feature Film, 2010 Qantas Film and Television Awards Nominated for Best Children's Feature Film, 2010 Asia Pacific Screen Awards |
| The Pā Boys | 2014 | Producer | |
| Fantail | 2014 | Executive producer | |
| Waru | 2017 | Writer and director (with Briar Grace-Smith, Katie Wolfe, Chelsea Winstanley, Renae Maihi, Paula W. Jones, Casey Kaa, Awanui Simich-Pene and Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu) | Winner, Best Feature Film Script, New Zealand Writers Guild Awards (SWANZ) 2017 Winner, Mana Wairoa Festival Prize, Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2017 Winner, Grand Jury Award, Asia-Pacific Film Festival 2018 Winner, Best Film, Seattle International Film Festival 2018 |
| Cousins | 2021 | Co-director and Writer | Nominated for Best Film - Giffoni Film Festival 2021 Nominated for Best International Film - Golden Rooster Awards 2021 Nominated for Best Cinematography for a Motion Picture - Sichuan Film Festival 2023 |
| Night Raiders | 2021 | Producer | |
| Red, White & Brass | 2023 | Executive Producer | Nominated for Best Film - Golden Space Needle Award, Seattle International Film Festival 2024 |
New Zealand cinema can refer to films made by New Zealand-based production companies in New Zealand. However, it may also refer to films made about New Zealand by filmmakers from other countries. Due to the comparatively small size of its film industry, New Zealand produces many films that are co-financed by overseas companies.
Cliff Curtis is a New Zealand actor. His film credits include Once Were Warriors (1994), Three Kings (1999), Blow (2001), Training Day (2001), Whale Rider (2002), Collateral Damage (2002), Sunshine, Live Free or Die Hard, Push, Crossing Over, Colombiana (2011), The Dark Horse (2014), for which he won the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actor, and Doctor Sleep (2019), also portraying James "Mac" Mackreides in The Meg (2018) and Meg 2: The Trench (2023) and Tonowari in Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and Avatar 3 (2025). Curtis had television series roles on NBC's Trauma and ABC's Body of Proof and Missing. From 2015 to 2017, he portrayed Travis Manawa on the AMC horror drama series Fear the Walking Dead.
Taika David Cohen, known professionally as Taika Waititi, is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor and comedian. He is known for directing quirky comedy films and has expanded his career as a voice actor and producer on numerous projects. He has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Grammy Award, as well as two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.
Miriama Te Rangimarie Smith is a New Zealand film and television actress who has played roles in various TV shows such as Xena: Warrior Princess, Karaoke High and Shortland Street. Her best-known roles, however, were the role of Moz in the third season of The Tribe, and also the role of Elsa / Principal Randall in the 2004 Power Rangers series, Power Rangers Dino Thunder. She was one of the three judges on the first season of entertainment show New Zealand's Got Talent that aired on Prime TV in 2008. She starred as Brady Trubridge on the TVNZ 2 drama series Filthy Rich.
Tammy Davis is a New Zealand actor, best known for his role as Munter on the hit New Zealand comedy-drama Outrageous Fortune. He grew up in Raetihi, New Zealand.
Merata Mita was a New Zealand filmmaker, producer, and writer, and a key figure in the growth of the Māori screen industry.
Nancy Brunning was a New Zealand actress, director, and writer who won awards in film and television and made a major contribution to the growth of Māori in the arts. She won the best actress award at the New Zealand Film Awards for her lead role in the film What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1999). In 2000, she won the Best Actress in Drama award at the New Zealand Television Awards for her lead role in the television series Nga Tohu.
Briar Grace-Smith is a screenwriter, director, actor, and short story writer from New Zealand. She has worked as an actor and writer with the Maori theatre cooperative Te Ohu Whakaari and Maori theatre company He Ara Hou. Early plays Don't Call Me Bro and Flat Out Brown, were first performed at the Taki Rua Theatre in Wellington in 1996. Waitapu, a play written by Grace-Smith, was devised by He Ara Hou and performed by the group on the Native Earth Performing Arts tour in Canada in 1996.
Boy is a 2010 New Zealand comedy-drama film, written and directed by Taika Waititi. The film stars James Rolleston, Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu, and Waititi. It is produced by Cliff Curtis, Ainsley Gardiner and Emanuel Michael and financed by the New Zealand Film Commission. In New Zealand, the film eclipsed previous records for a first week's box office takings for local production. Boy went on to become the highest-grossing New Zealand film at the local box office. The soundtrack to Boy features New Zealand artists such as The Phoenix Foundation, who previously provided music for Waititi's film Eagle vs Shark.
Carthew Neal is an Academy nominated film, television and interactive producer.
Katie Wolfe is an actor, film and stage director from New Zealand. She appeared in television series including Marlin Bay (1990s), Shortland Street, and Mercy Peak. Her screen directing work has won awards, including Redemption at the ImagineNative Film + Media Arts Festival and This Is Her at the Prague International Short Film Festival. Wolfe wrote and directed a stage play, The Haka Party Incident that was presented in 2023 in New Zealand.
Rachel Jessica Te Ao Maarama House is a New Zealand actress and director. She has received numerous accolades including an Arts Laureate, NZ Order of Merit, 'Mana Wahine' from WIFT NZ and Te Waipuna a Rangi for her contributions as an actor and director.
Rowley Habib, also known as Rore Hapipi, was a New Zealand poet, playwright, and writer of short stories and television scripts.
Chelsea Jane Winstanley is a New Zealand film producer. She produces short films and documentaries which celebrate Indigenous peoples. She also produced the films What We Do in the Shadows and Jojo Rabbit.
Renae Maihi is a New Zealand film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her work on the films Waru and We Are Still Here, both of which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017 and 2022 respectively.
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.
Miriama McDowell is a New Zealand actor, director and playwright. She is a graduate of Toi Whakaari.
Elizabeth Anne Hakaraia is a New Zealand film producer and director.
Mateheke "Tweedie" Waititi is a New Zealand film director and producer. The whāngai sister of Taika Waititi, she is best known for her work co-directing production company Matewa Media, which since 2016 has produced Māori language versions of Disney animated films.
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