Irene Gardiner began her career as a journalist at Wellington’s Dominion newspaper. In 1984, she became a publicist at the TVNZ publicity department at Avalon. An interest in television production developed from there, and in 1986 she became a trainee producer/director, working in Avalon’s music unit on such shows as READY TO ROLL, RTR NEW RELEASES, HEARTBEAT CITY, TRUE COLOURS and RADIO WITH PICTURES.
In 1989, Gardiner set up an Auckland branch office for the music unit, then in 1990 moved from directing music shows to producing children’s television, with 3.45 LIVE! (1990) and THE BUGS BUNNY SHOW (1991). Short stints at the independent production companies Communicado (programme development and corporate videos) and The Gibson Group (arts series The Edge) followed.
Gardiner returned to TVNZ in 1994 to launch the TV2 late night news programme NEWSNIGHT. This irreverent news show featured the unusual talents of a young Marcus Lush, and became something of a cult favourite.
The following year, 1995, Gardiner took over the running of TVNZ’s internal production unit in Auckland. With the trend towards independent production at that time, the TVNZ production unit consisted of just two programmes – MAGGIE’S GARDEN SHOW and OPEN HOME. Gardiner produced both shows, and also worked on programme development.
Over time, she built the TVNZ production unit up from just two programmes to around 30 titles a year, including popular series such as TASTE NEW ZEALAND, HOME FRONT, UNITED TRAVEL GETAWAY, JO SEAGAR’S REAL FOOD FOR REAL PEOPLE, MOUNTAIN DEW ON THE EDGE, HAVOC AND NEWSBOY’S SELL-OUT TOUR, and MUCKING IN, as well as many one-off specials and documentaries.
The TVNZ production unit had a particular focus on lifestyle programmes, and one of the lifestyle titles Gardiner herself devised while running the unit was the long-running gardening make-over series MUCKING IN.
After six years running the internal production unit, Gardiner took up the job of TV ONE Commissioning Editor, later moving on to Head of Commissioning across TV ONE and TV 2. Noteworthy commissions during her time include the prestige documentary series CAPTAIN’S LOG, GIVE IT A WHIRL, and FRONTIER OF DREAMS, as well as more populist titles such as PIONEER HOUSE, BORDER PATROL and PIHA RESCUE, and one-off documentaries including 1951, CHILDREN OF GALLIPOLI, and NO MEAN FEAT.
Gardiner left TVNZ in 2003 to work freelance as a television consultant and executive producer. Since then she has worked on the series HOW’S LIFE?, GIVE IT A WHIRL 2, EYE TO EYE WITH WILLIE JACKSON, and Prime’s 50 YEARS OF NEW ZEALAND TELEVISION, as well as many one-off documentaries.
She has also begun a sideline career as a radio and television media commentator. In January 2009, Gardiner took up her role as Content Director of NZ On Screen.
Session info: Giving Voice to those Unheard: Erebus Operation Overdue with Charlotte Purdy and Peter Burger
