The Māori word for land is Whenua; it is also the word for the placenta, which gives life through the umbilical cord. This session will explore three successful New Zealand TV series and each one’s relationship between the whenua that nurtures their stories and the genre of crime drama.
Join celebrated NZ screen industry leaders Tim Balme (The Brokenwood Mysteries), Michael Bennett (The Gone) and Philly de Lacey (A Remarkable Place to Die) as they explore their shows intrinsic connection to whenua, and what has made these three shows so universally popular and commercially successful both locally and around the world.
SPEAKERS
MICHAEL BENNETT
Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) is a screenwriter, filmmaker and author. Michael’s short films and feature films have screened and won awards internationally, including Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, Locarno, New York, London, ImagiNative and Dreamspeakers. He is the 2020 recipient of the Te Aupounamu Māori Screen Excellence Award, awarded by the NZ Film Commission for excellence in Māori filmmaking.
Michael devoted many years of his recent career to the fight for justice for Teina Pora, a young Māori man wrongly imprisoned for 21 years. Michael made the documentary The Confessions of Prisoner T, which lead to the discovery of evidence pivotal to Teina’s exoneration. Michael directed and co-wrote the TV feature film In Dark Places about Teina’s case, which was finalist for a record 11 awards in the NZ Television Awards, winning Best Film and Best Director.
Michael has been head writer or showrunner for many dozens of hours of prime-time television drama including The Gone (NZ / Ireland crime thriller), Vegas (crime thriller), Te Kohu (supernatural drama), and Mataku (the Māori Twilight Zone). Michael’s debut novel Better The Blood, a crime thriller, was published in 2022 in the UK, USA, Australia and NZ, with nine international translations. Better the Blood was a finalist for the fiction prize at the 2023 New Zealand literary awards (The Ockhams) and won Best First Novel at the Ngaio Marsh Awards. Michael is currently adapting his novel for television, and his second novel, Return To Blood, is in bookstores now.
PHILLY DE LACEY
Philly de Lacey (CEO of Screentime NZ and Executive Producer) is one of New Zealand’s leading, multi-award-winning Producers, and is Screentime NZ’s CEO. She has produced / executive produced and at times directed hundreds of hours of television content in the last 20 years. She is responsible for the development and oversite of all Screentime NZ productions.
Having worked across both international and domestic productions, Philly is most passionate about creating and bringing New Zealand fiction and factual stories to life for international and domestic audiences. Her slate of drama productions includes the telemovies Bloodlines, Siege, In A Flash, Safe House, Ablaze, Resolve, Venus and Mars, The Rainbow Warrior, and How to Murder Your Wife (nominated for 6 awards, winning 3 at the NYC IFF, and winning Best TV Movie at the C21 International Drama Awards), as well as a number of romcoms. Her series include Anzac Girls, Underbelly NZ, Dear Murderer, Straight Forward, The Gulf and most recently A Remarkable Place to Die which has been a prime time hit in NZ, Australia and Germany, and performed exceptionally well for the US streamer Acorn. Her shows screen all over the world.
TIM BALME
Tim is an award-winning screenwriter and actor as well as a storyliner, script editor and producer.
Tim has been writing for television since 2005. Credits include: Interrogation, Almighty Johnsons, 800 Words, The Sounds, Under the Vines and Outrageous Fortune over five seasons.
From 2010 – 2013, Tim worked as Head of Development for South Pacific Pictures .
As Producer and Head Writer for The Brokenwood Mysteries now entering its 12th season, he has written or co-written 35 of the 54 x 2-hour murder mystery episodes. He also wrote the screenplay for the crime drama telefeature Stolen based on the true story of the abduction of Baby Kahu.
He is also the Producer of Katie Wolfe’s documentary The Haka Party Incident.
