Since the mid ’80s Timpson has worked in most facets of the film industry; from managing Charley Gray’s arthouse, programming for MGM, creating film events, operated drive-ins to producing. He operated two devolved government feature film funds (Headstrong & Make My Movie) that mentored new voices. His distribution company released specialist fare starting with Slacker (1993). He launched the The Incredibly Strange Film Festival in 1994 which moved inside the New Zealand International Film Festival a decade later. His national film competition 48HOURS with Peter Jackson as mentor began in 2003 and exposed talent such as Taika Waititi Jo Jo Rabbit, Damon Fepulea’i Red, White & Brass, Roseanne Liang Shadow in the Cloud, Gerard Johnstone M3GAN Tom Sainsbury Loop Track and many more. As producer he created the global hit anthology series The ABCs of Death (TIFF 2013) and has produced/ exec produced the following features The Devil Dared Me To (SXSW 2006), Housebound (SXSW 14), Turbo Kid (Sundance 15), Deathgasm (SXSW 15), The Greasy Strangler (Sundance 16) & The Field Guide to Evil (SXSW 18), Censor (Sundance 21), Mister Organ (Fantastic Fest 22), Family Dinner (Tribeca 22) and upcoming films She Loved Blossoms More (2024). He directed the critically acclaimed feature Come to Daddy (Tribeca 2020) starring Elijah Wood. His latest feature is called Bookworm (2024) also starring Wood. He was the inaugural recipient of New Zealand’s Art Entrepreneur Award and is a Board member of the New Zealand Film Commission. He recently resigned as programmer from the NZ International Film Festival after 20yrs. His 35mm print archive is the largest personal film archive in the Southern Hemisphere.
