Our People: Production

Andrew has over thirty years' experience in the television industry and has produced factual content for the international market for the past twenty years. He joined NHNZ as an Executive Producer in 2000 since when he has executive produced 140 hours of high quality, top rating shows for major US and European networks. Recent productions include China's Ghost Army, Clash of the Continents and Mutant Planet.

Since joining NHNZ in 2001, Judith has been the driving force behind a diverse range of high profile programs. Judith series-produced top rating docu-drama series Orangutan Island, credited with raising awareness of this endangered species, the acclaimed Life Force series and A&E Bio Channel series I Survived...Beyond and Back. In 2012 Judith both series produced and executive produced Smithsonian Channel’s first foray into reality with the original series L.A. Frock Stars, following Hollywood vintage fashion doyenne Doris Raymond. Judith is currently working on OceaNZ – a six-part series for TVNZ, funded by NZonAir’s Platinum Fund.

John Hyde has more than 30 years of filmmaking experience, working both in New Zealand and overseas. John has worked variously at NHNZ as an editor, producer, and director for a variety of natural history, adventure, and science programs from Bite Me with Dr Mike Leahy and Tribal Life - Meet the Namal to Strike Force and Man Hunt.

Craig Meade has made over 200 hours of programs in news, comedy, infotainment, reality, science, and natural history. He has also worked as a field producer and director before joining NHNZ as VP Development and Marketing in 2005. In 2012 Craig was appointed Executive Producer and the Series Producer on Gem Hunt for Travel Channel.

After beginning his career as a political journalist for South Pacific Television in Wellington, Alan gained extensive experience as an Executive Producer in Australian television, working for all five free to air networks as well as commercial production companies. A multi award winner, including the Gold Walkley for Best Piece of Australian Journalism in Print, Radio or Television, Alan is the founding NHNZ producer of the hit A+E Bio Channel series I Survived...

With a background as a zoologist and a unique ability to interpret the phenomena of the animal kingdom, Ian has produced and written a number of hugely successful natural history programs. In 1999 Ian won an Emmy Award writing Twisted Tales: The Bat. The following year, Ian and co-writer Quinn Berentson were nominated for an Emmy Award in the same category. In 2002 Ian picked up his third Emmy nomination for Most Extreme: Jumpers. He is currently series producing a National Geographic Wild countdown series.

Colette has executive produced for National Geographic Channels US and International, as well as for production companies in Australia, the US and Germany. Her shows include Primetime Emmy Award Nominated Inside 9/11 and The Dog Whisperer, among the Channel’s all-time top-rated Specials and Series. She has also produced shows for Discovery, the History Channel, Science Channel, Oxygen, CBS, TLC, and Animal Planet. At NHNZ, she is series producing OceaNZ, an NZonAir Platinum Funded series for TVNZ.

Lorne recently moved to New Zealand from the UK to produce  Life Force II - a blue chip natural history series in co-production with NHK, Science Channel, Discovery International and Arte. Lorne’s directing credits include the series How the Universe Works for Discovery US,  Animals In the Womb: Dogs for Channel 4 & National Geographic and the long running Naked Science series, also for National Geographic. He most recently worked on Mankind: The Story of All of Us, a 12 part series for History Channel.

Penny began her media career as a programmer for two of London’s iconic independent cinemas, before setting up a production company producing a slate of programmes on social issues, sexuality and gender for Ch4.  Head-hunted by Auckland based Greenstone Pictures in 2004, she moved to New Zealand to work on a variety of shows. Recent credits include story editor on Special Investigators, post directing The Zoo  and writer/director on Situation Critical, a series on transplants and organ donation for TVNZ. Penny is currently the supervising producer for  I Survived... the hit NHNZ series for A&E Bio Channel.

Robin arrived at NHNZ this year with a raft of New Zealand credits to his name including Earthquake; A Shocking Reminder for Prime TV, and The Truth About Us and The Missing Link for TVNZ. He joined NHNZ in July to post-produce the high-rating series Abalone Wars for Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific and is now series producer on Wild About NZ – a six-parter for TVNZ featuring New Zealand’s iconic national parks.

Kyle has worked for NHNZ for over a decade, joining the company after completing an MA with distinction in archaeology. Over that time he's worked in every genre from the award-winning countdown series The Most Extreme, to science shows such as China Quake and adventure programs like X Force. Since 2007, Kyle has worked from NHNZ's Beijing office helping develop and produce key documentaries such as Secrets of the Kungfu Temple, Inside Ice Vegas and Ancient Man Made Marvels. He is focussed on building NHNZ's slate of Asian-inspired productions.

Max has worked as a camera operator, producer and director for over four decades in television production, and has specialized in natural history programming since the 1980s. Max is a veteran of filmmaking in the polar regions and has now made around 15 programs in and around the frozen regions. Max is currently working on a 3D series for NHNZ.

Sally began her journalism career working in news at ABC. She went on to produce a variety of docu-reality programs. She's written, produced and directed shows for Lifetime, TLC, Discovery, CBS and National Geographic. She joined NHNZ to direct Season One of A&E Bio Channels hit series I Survived... and is now directing Season Five. Sally also directed the pilot of I Survived…Beyond and Back, also for A&E Bio Channel, and a pilot for National Geographic.

Giles started his career directing the successful BBC factual entertainment format Cash in the Attic and went on to produce primetime series such as Wife Swap and Natural Born Dealers for Channel 4. In 2003 Giles moved to the US and worked on series for Discovery Channel, HGTV and Travel Channel. Giles has numerous awards for his work, including a Royal Television Society Award, MIPCOM Best Ob Doc Award and most recently a Montana Film Festival Award for National Geographic's Hunters of the Lost World.

Quinn is an experienced writer and documentary director who has worked for Discovery Channel, National Geographic and History Channel Asia. Quinn relishes in telling factual stories in a creative and visually interesting style, and has directed shows on subjects as diverse as Human Cannonballs (Discovery), Blue Whales (Animal Planet), and National Parks (TVNZ). In 2000 Quinn was co-nominated for an Emmy™ Award in Outstanding Craft In Documentary Writing for The Twisted Tale of the Rat and more recently worked on the top-rating series I Survived for AETN Bio and Hidden Cities for AETN History Asia.

Job began his career in 2003 post-directing Animal Face Off, followed by field-directing the reality series Power Tool Drag Racing, both for Discovery. From there he went on to post-direct a number of shows at NHNZ for Animal Planet, The Travel Channel, and Discovery Asia. Job moved to Auckland in 2008 to work for Top Shelf Productions writing and directing the hit TV3 series What's Really In Our Food. National Geographic's iconic series Megafactories saw him back at NHNZ in 2011.

Sina joined NHNZ in 2004, and has worked as writer and director on a wide range of projects. Recent credits include award-winning Orangutan Island for Animal Planet, Bite Me for National Geographic International and Jewels of the World - a groundbreaking 3D series for Discovery Networks showcasing the World’s National Parks. Sina also works as an independent narrative writer and director. Paradise, her first short, was selected as part of the NZ International Film Festival’s Homegrown Digital Works programme.

Lemuel graduated from the New Zealand Broadcasting School with a Bachelor of Broadcasting Communications in Television Production and started his career at TVNZ on the iconic Colour of War: The Anzacs. He joined NHNZ in 2003 and since then has sourced content for over one hundred television documentaries. His rich experience as an historical researcher has enabled him to delve deep into archives and discover footage that has never before been broadcast. Lemuel works across all NHNZ productions, and is also Post Director on Nat Geo Wild's Built for the Kill.

Katie has been working in TV and short film for longer than she cares to remember. She has a wide knowledge of the process of researching, writing and making stories for broadcast, mainly working in children’s television, which included being an animated penguin for ten years. For the last two years Katie has worked at NHNZ as a tape logger and researcher for several productions. Katie is currently specialising as an archive researcher.