SCREEN
Creative leadership at scale
For more than three decades I’ve worked across television and film as a Director, Producer, Executive Producer and Showrunner, leading writers, performers and creative teams from development through production and delivery.
I’ve worked across drama, comedy, family entertainment, fantasy, science fiction, action and crime, from high-volume domestic television to internationally distributed productions.
What connects this work is my interest in story, people, performance and process. I’m drawn to complex stories and characters that resist easy answers, and to finding the choices beneath the obvious.
I believe the strongest work emerges when talented people are given the conditions to contribute their best thinking.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER · SHOWRUNNER
Power Rangers Dino Fury / Cosmic Fury / Once & Always
Hasbro | eOne | Netflix | International production
As Executive Producer and Showrunner, I led the creative development and production of Power Rangers Dino Fury, Power Rangers Cosmic Fury and the 30th Anniversary Special: Once & Always, working with creative teams across multiple territories on one of Hasbro’s flagship global entertainment franchises.
The role encompassed story and script development, writers’ rooms, casting, design, directing, production and post-production, as well as the day-to-day creative leadership of a large international team.
It required a constant balance between franchise expectations, audience, performance, story and production realities— finding ways to bring freshness and contemporary energy to an established global property.
Power Rangers Dino Fury received a GLAAD Media Award.
Outrageous Fortune
South Pacific Pictures | Executive Producer / Director | Six seasons
As Executive Producer of New Zealand’s longest-running 5-night-a-week television drama, I worked within one of the country’s most demanding scripted production environments. I also worked as Producer of the show during two periods: from 1997–2000 and 2012–2015.
High-volume television requires rapid and confident creative decision-making, strong story instincts and the ability to develop writers, directors and producers while maintaining consistency and quality.
It taught me how to lead creatively under pressure and make the best choices with limited time and resources.
Working with Rachel Lang, Shortland Street story table
I was Executive Producer across all six seasons of Outrageous Fortune, one of New Zealand’s defining television dramas, and directed 23 hour-long episodes of the series.
Working across both executive production and directing gave me an unusual perspective on the show: from helping shape its overall creative direction and working with writers, producers and performers, to being directly involved in the detailed work of story, performance and scene.
In 2007, I received the SDNZ Achievement in Directing Award at the Air New Zealand Screen Awards for my work on the series.
The combination of long-form storytelling, comedy, drama and ensemble performance made Outrageous Fortune an important part of my development as a creative leader. It taught me a great deal about story architecture, tone, performance, audience and sustaining a strong creative identity over a long-running series.
Shortland Street
South Pacific Pictures · Executive Producer
HEAD OF DRAMA · SOUTH PACIFIC PICTURES
Before moving into independent production and international showrunning, I was Head of Drama at South Pacific Pictures, one of New Zealand’s leading film and television production companies.
The role broadened my perspective from individual productions to the development of a wider slate of drama — working with writers, producers and creative talent to identify, develop and shape projects for television.
It was an important step in my development as a creative leader: learning not only how to make a production work, but how to recognise promising ideas and help them become viable projects.
PRODUCER
Maddigan’s Quest
Producer · International co-production
An ambitious fantasy series produced as an international co-production involving New Zealand’s TV3, Australian broadcaster Nine Network, and CBBC.
The production brought together a large international creative team and gave me experience working at the intersection of story, performance, production design, visual world-building and international collaboration.
The Almighty Johnsons
A genre series combining comedy, family drama and Norse mythology.
Working across producing and directing gave me the opportunity to move between the larger creative architecture of the series and the detail of individual performances and scenes.
It was also a chance to work in a tonal space I particularly enjoy: where comedy, emotional truth and the fantastical can coexist.
Sione’s 2 - Unfinished Business
DIRECTOR
Director · Television
My Life Is Murder
I directed episodes of the internationally successful crime-comedy series My Life Is Murder, working with an established international format.
Spies and Lies
Telefeature · Producer / Director
I produced and directed this television feature starring Antony Starr, early in his international screen career.
The project gave me the opportunity to take responsibility for both the creative and production realisation of a complete screen story — from preparation through performance, shooting and post-production.
Producer / Director
Director · Feature film
I directed this feature sequel to Sione’s Wedding, working within an established world and ensemble while developing the story and performances for the second film.
Feature directing brought together many of the disciplines that have shaped my practice: story, performance, visual storytelling and the orchestration of a large creative team.
Westside
Directing episodes of the acclaimed New Zealand comedy-drama Westside allowed me to work in a world where comedy, character and drama are constantly in conversation with one another.
STORY & DEVELOPMENT
Story development has been at the heart of my screen career — from writers’ rooms to the finished production.
I’ve led writers’ rooms, developed series from concept through production, worked with writers and directors on scripts and story, and shaped the creative identity of productions across very different genres.
My approach is collaborative but rigorous.
I encourage writers and creative teams to question the obvious, test assumptions and dig beneath the surface of the material.
The goal isn't simply to make a script work. It is to discover what the story is really about — and then make the creative choices that allow that discovery to reach the audience in a fresh and compelling way.
LEADING CREATIVE TEAMS
I’ve led creative teams ranging from small groups of writers and directors to large international productions involving multiple departments and territories.
My role is to steer the process, bringing disparate creative elements together and forging them into a coherent whole.
That means knowing when to lead, when to listen, when to challenge an idea and when to get out of the way.
I believe good creative leadership is neither about imposing your own ideas nor about achieving consensus for its own sake.
It’s about creating the conditions in which talented people can do their best work — and having the experience and judgement to recognise the best choices when they emerge.
WHAT THE WORK DEMONSTRATES
CREATIVE LEADERSHIP
Leading writers, directors, performers and creative departments through complex productions.
STORY DEVELOPMENT
Developing concepts, scripts, series architecture and long-form story.
PERFORMANCE
A performance-led approach grounded in actor training and decades of directing experience.
SHOWRUNNING
Stewarding the creative identity of a series from development through production and delivery.
PRODUCING
Balancing creative ambition with the practical, financial and logistical realities of production.
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
Working with creative teams and production partners across multiple territories and cultures.
CREATIVE JUDGEMENT
Making confident creative choices while balancing story, performance, audience, production realities and the contributions of a large team.
CURRENTLY
I’m currently developing projects across television and film, including original television concepts, adaptations and feature film development, alongside returning to theatre directing.
I’m particularly interested in projects that combine strong storytelling with distinctive voices, complex characters and an unexpected point of view.