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Toa Fraser on Living with Parkinson’s Disease & Directing Netflix Hit ‘Sweet Tooth’

March 09, 202501:13:37
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kiwi's Love at
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First like Finn we're making
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waves generate switch online
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today to appraiser welcome to my podcast
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thank you very much Dom thank you for
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having me so good to have you here you
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recently turned 50 yes how do you know
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that I saw it on Instagram
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uh yeah uh how how are you I'm good
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thank you just recovering from that uh
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that shock of turning 50 and looking
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forward to the next 50 years the
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downside of uh the down slope everything
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gets easier after that big turning point
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I hope that's what they that's what they
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say um yeah how do you how do you feel
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being 50 I feel good yeah I feel at this
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part this particular point in my life I
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feel very Serene and and I'm happy and
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very grateful
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blessed I'm so um glad you've come here
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today to be on the podcast um and I um I
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feel almost ashamed um about saying this
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but um I watched your famous movie
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number two for the first time ever last
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night cool thank you I could have lied
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and said I saw it when it came out 20
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years ago but we made it 20 years ago so
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that was um very major turning point in
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my life back then 20 years ago Mount
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Roso uh when the motorway wasn't there
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and uh lots of stuff hadn't happened and
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the neighborhood still very nostalgic so
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that movie going back and thinking about
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that it's it's really well done and
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we'll get into all that and I really I
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really enjoyed it just the um yeah the
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matriarch the strong female lead and um
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just some of the some of the dry jokes
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in there like her you getting off on the
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violence at the family Barbecue yeah
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there's a lot to a lot to unpack and
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it's very fresh and freshh when did you
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last see it by the way um why ago no a
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long time ago can't remember yeah what's
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very fresh in my mind thank you for
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watching it last night so Co yeah um so
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there's the career stuff to talk about
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with you and there's also and we can
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talk about this stuff as much or as
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little as you want the um the
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Parkinson's aspect um yeah how do you
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how do you feel talking about that stuff
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I feel good talking about that yeah yeah
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very happy to talk about Parkinson's
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disease youve um yeah cuz I know it was
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a brave move for you to post that tweet
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when you when you first came public with
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it and I've heard you do interviews
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where you talked about how there is a
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certain nobility and just suffering in
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silence but you made the decision to
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talk about it and [ __ ] I bet you pleased
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you have CU it's um the the the you the
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torch that you've shown on that is um
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phenomenal thank you yeah I was
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diagnosed nine years ago I think at this
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time of the year so um quite a
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um you know memorable time of the year
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always for that um particular thing and
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for a long time I kept it secret 5 years
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um but towards the end of that 5 years I
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began to realize a I wasn't doing myself
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any favors by keeping it a secret I was
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in a lot of pain at the time the
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medication that I was on was
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um was uh caused me a lot of side
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effects uh and also it was came a point
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where I didn't feel I could hide it
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anymore so I made the decision such as
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it was to um I guess come out and talk
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about it
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and um you know I'm very grateful for
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having done that I'm grateful for the
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way
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the the um you know that most of the
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reaction has been really positive and in
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fact my career has been really
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productive since because that was the
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biggest thing that I was anxious about I
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guess about coming out you know when the
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neur doctor and neurologist first told
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me about it so we're going too much
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detail already Dom no no no no it's good
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no it's good the good thing about these
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long form podcasts is um
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it can weave around the place like tell
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me if I'm Meandering too much because
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that is one of my one of my traits and
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I'm not sure if it's a
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Parkinson's thing or if it's just a tour
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thing well it's it's an it's an
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interesting disease isn't it because
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it's not something I suppose most of us
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know a lot about like maybe we've seen
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the Michael J fox documentary which is
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um alarming and incredible um I'm a big
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fan of Muhammad Ali so I'm aware that he
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had the condition but otherwise my
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awareness about it is very very limited
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as I'm sure it is for most people but
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you you drove here today you drove
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yourself here today you can still drive
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okay yep
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um okay I'm not the B never never been a
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great driver we
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can't no and uh looking forward to my
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young cousins Coco and so forth they we
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getting their licenses so um looking
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forward to uh using them um but yes the
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the Parkinson's is a lot of symptoms
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that people don't know about I think you
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know most people think of the movement
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disorder the Tremor and the um stooping
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and the shuffling and all that sort of
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stuff but also there's a lot of hdden
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stuff uh sleeping and anxiety and
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depression and
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um yeah all the fun stuff y was sleeping
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insomnia can be quite fun I had a good
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time last night I had a good time eating
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chips and tim tams in the middle of the
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night and
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waits
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yeah yeah it's a rough hand to be deal
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yeah um y so for you what does a what
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does a great day look like now and what
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do a what does a [ __ ] day look like huh
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well I can't remember too many [ __ ] days
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actually done in my last you know a long
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time I haven't but um a rough night
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looks like last night when uh we stayed
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up a little bit too late watching one of
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the Netflix documentaries about Vince
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mcmah the
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WWE guy just got up to the bit where the
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rock came along so um you stuck around
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for that but didn't get to bed until
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about 11:00 really late past my bedtime
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had 50 you know and
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uh at that point you know my body is
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starting to uh do this thing where when
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you're trying to go to sleep you get
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this restless legs or Restless limbs so
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body just as I'm falling asleep my body
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says no no no you're not going to do
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that you're going to wake up
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again um and so I've got various tricks
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and techniques that I've tried over the
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years watching uh movies and listening
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to the director's commentary Martin
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scor's commentaries especially uh helped
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me to go to
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sleep if you ever met him don't tell him
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it was my happy place I'm sure you
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wouldn't last night there's no doing
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weights in the middle of the night and
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uh eating chips and stuff yeah so I
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didn't get to sleep in till 4 last night
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so that's a pretty uh normal kind of
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rough night having said that not always
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probably once a week that sort of
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thing um but yeah we had we've had some
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great days over the last few weeks the
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family and uh um just moved into a new
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house so we've been enjoying that really
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enjoying ockland quiet time at this time
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of the year so some something like this
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when where you're in a studio um and
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you're talking about yourself at length
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is like is it exhausting does it take it
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out of you or not not we we shall see
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Dom I haven't
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uh I've not done a podcast before what
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is a podcast any um having said that if
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Studio like this Dom congratulations on
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this space by the way and um Studio like
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this my dad was a broadcaster so I feel
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very comfortable in this environment
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indeed my mom was a sound technician on
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Radio One BBC back in the
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60s so um yeah I grew up in Broadcasting
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House in
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and going to see my dad work and um read
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the news and all that sort of thing yeah
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so so bit of the back story so you're um
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you're Fijian yeah um but Fiji Islander
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I guess born born in uh born in the UK
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spent the first 14 years there I heard
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the the backstory of your dad so your
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dad's Fijian um had a dirty little
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secret growing up which was um like into
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the Arts and into reading like would go
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under the go under the house with a with
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a torch to read books and then sneak off
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to the ballet and stuff why why was that
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um why was that a duty little secret I
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don't know gripping a workingclass
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family Mount Ross school there odonnell
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Avenue 55 number 55 odonnell Avenue and
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um 12 brothers and sisters Grandad Jack
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my grandfather was a WFIE and uh the
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Elder brothers were waries as say
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working-class family and the aspiration
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to read books and go to the ballet
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wasn't kind of wasn't really a uh
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particular thing I guess he also snuck
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off to the dairy to buy Phantom comics
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and um
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that kind of stuff but um he had this
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aspiration in fact I guess he felt like
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it was his Birthright really to um have
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access to the high what he thought in
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those High you know I guess European
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culture and really aspired to that sort
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of thing and with my grandmother's
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encouragement my Fijian grandmother uh
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he moved to England and walked into the
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BBC and said I'm here to offer you my
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services and apparently whoever it was
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in front of him say great when can you
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start and he ended up reading the news
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for 25 years at the BBC different era I
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guess but he was also incredibly
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charismatic and great voice and and that
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kind of thing yeah what was this what
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was this I'm thinking of the BBC in that
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era did he yeah did he sort of like was
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he sort of an actor in a way you know
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what I mean like acting like how a BBC
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news reader would very much so yeah yes
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and he had the great receive
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pronunciation voice and that he still
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does I should say I keep talking about
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the past tense but he's I went and
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visited him in Dorset last year fleeting
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trip really I just decided it was time
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to go and see him and it was a very
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fulfilling moment to go and see Dad
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there he uh I guess he's kind of on his
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last legs was not even really on his
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legs at this point so how how old is he
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now he's 82 something like that yeah
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1942 he was born he was born in vatola
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in the middle of v l in the during the
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War World War II so I believe I believe
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my family had been kind of evacuated
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from soua and my grandfather apparently
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was helping
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um American GIS with wartime stuff and
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they saw out the war there and came to
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New Zealand quite early for Pacific
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Island family they came in
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1949 to um to Orland to make their life
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here so what are your personal memories
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of um moving to New Zealand at the age
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of 14 must have been you had that kiwi
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connection but also the Fijian
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connection but um yeah that must have
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been a weird time so you you felt like
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an outside you had an English accent or
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I had an English accent for about a week
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or even
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less oh then You' been to fit in totally
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the code switching thing is very common
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in uh I guess in our communities as you
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know Pacific island people you know
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we've we get used to walking my my my
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dad's pH actually uh um swimming in
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swimming in different Waters be the fish
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that swims in different Waters so um
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very used to you know fitting in and all
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that kind of thing but yeah I had a lot
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of very tough cousins as well
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so um I still do have a lot of tough
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cousins so yeah I was very grateful to
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them for
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their easing me into the new Ze
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lifestyle and looking after me there at
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school and did you always want to um
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like into the theat so you left school
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and you go to film school and you have a
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a job at um the multiplex and New Market
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for 4 years yeah um so you seem to have
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the what did you want to do anything
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else uh briefly wanted to be an all
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black um and when in line exactly and
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when that sort of dream obviously was
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not going to happen we had a very strong
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first 15 at Sacred Heart That Year
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Matthew Grace Kin Aly Patty sh is Maka
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four represent Pat yeah I said Patty
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four new Zeal reps in the New Zealand
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secondary schools team so yeah I didn't
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even make the first 15 let alone the All
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Blacks but then I had a moment of
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wanting to be a physiotherapist I guess
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and still have a very strong interest in
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anatomy and and and interestingly you
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know that the background and I guess the
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study that I did back then and the
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interest that I've had in that over the
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years has been really influential on my
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self uh treatment with
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Parkinson's um and indeed on my work you
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know I feel like I'm a very physical
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director and um have enjoyed the that
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aspect of of directing over the years
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too so the all um option has taken off
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the table yeah um so you decide to go
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into into then your film in the Arts
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which is very unusual tempation to to go
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into yeah um not a lot of not a lot of
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options at the time no although
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um how would I say this I I um I started
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writing at University I wrote a couple
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of plays which are very well received I
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say very but you know with within the
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community there and a few actors started
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asking me to um write for them and then
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I ended up writing a play bear that was
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very successful in New Zealand and
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around the world in fact Ian Hughes and
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mine sii's incredible
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performances of that play kind of gave
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me a start but I always remember being
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very um
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um I guess embarrassed or shy about
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telling people that's what I wanted to
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do for a living you know I go to these U
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my my brother my uh my friends had uh
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you know Friday fives or whatever at
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their law firm and you go there and
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people say what do you do and I'm I
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would say I'm a writer and oh yeah you
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make any money from that and Tom was
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actually making really good money good
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money from that so was found a very
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challenging sort of uh situation
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but um I had aspired really to do what I
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do since I was young very small boy you
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know my grandmother took me see raised
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the Lost Ark when I was six years old in
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south end on sea there in
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Essex and um you know she loved the
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movies back in the old days you know and
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she she was a telephonist in the war in
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Essex and south end on sea there and you
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know at the time she would like love
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going to the movies Humphrey Boger and
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all those sort of ones so rers the Lost
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Arc for her was really up uh up her
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alley and very influential on me as a
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boy um you know so I'd collect books and
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read a whole bunch of stuff about how to
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make movies and didn't have a whole lot
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of access to video gear but uh made my
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little James Bond movie when I was 12
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and did you yep it was called The Living
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Daylights the rescript I I cut a whole
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bunch of um you know on Two on Two VCRs
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a whole cut a whole bunch of um footage
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off the TV when 1987 Timothy Dalton's
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first James Bond movie I you know stole
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basically a whole bunch of footage of
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that movie off the TV and cut that into
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my little movie and cut myself in as
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James
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Bond years cut two years later I was
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doing show Penny Dreadful in Ireland
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which Timothy Dalton's in and I didn't
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have the guts to tell him
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that were you just too cool at the time
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or no no no I was I was too shy to be
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honest he was down car I didn't he
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wasn't in my episode but he was he was
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downstairs one evening when I was about
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to go home he was just waiting for his
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car and I saw him out the window and
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froze and went back in my office and
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waited for him to leave went got my car
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that's so adorable so how how old were
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you when you did that 12 12 that was
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like yeah I aspired at the same age to
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get into radio and I was doing the same
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thing with twin dick dubbing you know
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pretending to do radio shows at home
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yeah that's awesome yeah Jack plugs and
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all that sort of stuff so yeah the um I
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mean just the the tools and resources
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you'd have now as a 12y old you know
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with just a couple of apps on your phone
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that's remarkable but back then you may
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do with what you had right yep and you
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know had to be you know had to um a as
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you say make do with what you had but
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also access to equipment was challenging
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so you know you always had to make
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friends with a teacher or something like
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that John K actually this teacher at the
00:16:57
local uh po Tech I guess he was a
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neighbor and we were able to um get into
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his editing Suite where I was for a day
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you know you'd have like the two VCRs
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and you press play on one and record on
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the other and Rewind all that stuff so
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it was good ground good skills you're
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driven um you mentioned the play beer
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before which um I I i' um I'd never
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heard of until I started doing the
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research for this but so you must have
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been it sounds like it was it blew up
00:17:27
massively so you must have been 21 22
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when you yeah I guess 22 and and how old
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was medine at the time you cast 18 and
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she was playing like a whole lot of
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different charact what what's the gist
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of the play the play was basically a
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whole bunch of voices it was based on
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was I say inspired by a New York
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playright Eric beian who um he wrote a
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whole bunch of monologues plays talk
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radio actually being one which was ended
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up being a movie um and and the play
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itself again it was Ian Hughes and
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meline a whole bunch of characters all
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in the sort of environment of the movies
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in New Market and Venus made the main
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character that mine played was um of Jim
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uh Jim junky I guess and it
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was yeah it was a whole bunch of people
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talking about their lives and um coming
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together and people wanting to change
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and not really being able to connect it
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was
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pre uh Facebook pre any that sort of
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Internet really and pre phones really so
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it was um kind of very analog kind of
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kind of thing i' love to revisit that at
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some point so you how did you um so yeah
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here you are straight out of school into
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Film School you have this play which is
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wildly successful um some might call it
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like beginners like or whatever how did
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you how did you keep your ego in check
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you must you must have thought you were
00:18:56
hot sh I did certainly did and said
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especially well for the first year I
00:19:02
guess not so much because in that first
00:19:04
year um after bear you know I wrote the
00:19:06
play number two as a one woman play for
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Madeline and
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um that had been a uh commission by from
00:19:17
Sharon Duncan who was running The Silo
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theater at the time down there at was
00:19:22
what is now the basement theater in
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Oakland but yeah pretty much as soon as
00:19:26
number two took off my ego went pretty
00:19:29
crazy at that point too I uh had a bit
00:19:32
of a rock and roll kind of time back
00:19:34
then you know I was earning royalties
00:19:36
from um Madeline's and Ian's
00:19:38
performances of the shows going all
00:19:40
around the world and yeah we got invited
00:19:43
to some cool places went to Jamaica
00:19:45
Chris Blackwell invited us to go there
00:19:48
we stayed in his incredible hotels
00:19:49
including gold and I you know you talk
00:19:52
about James Bond talking Ian Fleming's
00:19:55
house back there in uh Northshore I
00:19:58
guess of Jamaica so these kind of things
00:20:01
were kind of um you know very seductive
00:20:05
for a young man at stage and
00:20:08
um you know drank a lot and had kind of
00:20:12
a good time I guess but in the
00:20:15
end you know realized ultimately that
00:20:19
there was the process that um the
00:20:22
process of working on storytelling that
00:20:25
was the fulfilling thing in itself and
00:20:27
not so much the traveling around the
00:20:29
world in the parties I suppose you need
00:20:31
to experience those trappings to know
00:20:33
that they're not the thing that's going
00:20:34
to bring you sort of Joy or happiness I
00:20:37
yeah yep I I guess so I would have loved
00:20:39
to have not had to gone through all that
00:20:42
stuff and I'm sure there's a very few
00:20:43
people around the place that would have
00:20:45
preferred me not to have gone through
00:20:46
that stuff too but um why so it sounds
00:20:49
like it was a very de time yeah was not
00:20:53
so uh great for the home life and all
00:20:56
that stuff yeah well you
00:20:59
though yeah I watched um sure do I
00:21:02
watched a um a piece you did with the um
00:21:05
it's no longer going but the Sunday TV
00:21:07
show um I watched that a couple of days
00:21:09
ago you yeah you said you were a [ __ ] in
00:21:11
your 20s and even in your 30s is that is
00:21:13
that what you're talking about yeah and
00:21:15
also look back on that time now
00:21:17
obviously and think man if i' been
00:21:18
training when I was 20 that would have
00:21:20
been preferable situation but these um
00:21:24
the these um you know partying a bit and
00:21:26
you know being a [ __ ] it's got nothing
00:21:28
to do with Park right no but
00:21:32
um not taking advantage of your good
00:21:34
health when you do have it with
00:21:36
something you a lot of 20y olds and
00:21:38
people young people as just you know lot
00:21:41
of people in their 20s think they're
00:21:43
invincible and so did I but we we all do
00:21:46
like I'm um I'm a year older than you
00:21:48
and there's that saying youth is wasted
00:21:49
on the young and you have this fast
00:21:52
metalism you don't get a hangover and
00:21:55
everything's fine you think it's going
00:21:56
to last forever yeah
00:21:59
so so number two
00:22:01
um yeah as I said at the beginning I
00:22:03
watched that last night incredible movie
00:22:05
I loved it I I had a very good sleep
00:22:07
last night after watching it it brought
00:22:09
me a lot of Happiness so you um so you
00:22:11
wrote that as a play initially how much
00:22:13
of it was um autobiographical from your
00:22:16
own experience as being pan it was very
00:22:19
uh inspired I guess by my family
00:22:23
background certainly and um a lot of the
00:22:26
family anecdotes and all that sort of
00:22:28
thing but it's a collaboration always um
00:22:32
and you know it wasn't just and
00:22:34
especially by the time we got to make
00:22:35
the movie 5 years of
00:22:38
writing um you know a whole bunch of
00:22:40
other people had had input and kind of
00:22:43
morphed in
00:22:44
something less autobiographical I guess
00:22:48
but it certainly was inspired by my uh
00:22:52
my upbringing in my family inspiration
00:22:55
there in Mount rth School Al the the
00:22:57
play number to um resembles very little
00:23:00
to do with the movie uh no the
00:23:02
characters and stuff are the same it it
00:23:04
was a whole another generation and
00:23:06
obviously um you know meline performed
00:23:08
the play as a one woman show and the
00:23:11
movie wasn't like that at all so um by
00:23:14
the time um yeah um by the time the
00:23:19
movie had got made it was a pretty
00:23:21
different thing so how many characters
00:23:24
did mein play in number two can't
00:23:26
remember it was like 12 or something
00:23:27
[ __ ] it was incredible
00:23:30
performance it's quite funny like she's
00:23:32
um She's So wildly successful but the um
00:23:34
the stuff that she did early on with you
00:23:36
and be and number two probably led her
00:23:37
to do like super City and those other
00:23:39
things that she did later on in her
00:23:41
career definitely Yeah well yeah what
00:23:43
what what attracted you to her as an
00:23:45
actor uh well I went to her audition for
00:23:49
bear and you know she's this incredible
00:23:51
kind of Mercurial Live Wire and um you
00:23:55
know just fit perfectly with my kind of
00:23:58
multi voiced approach to
00:24:02
storytelling
00:24:04
um you know as I said bear was this
00:24:07
mixture of all kinds of people from all
00:24:09
around Oakland characters from all over
00:24:11
the place and
00:24:13
um I you know felt very strong
00:24:17
um I felt very strongly that her
00:24:20
performance was going to be able to give
00:24:23
a voice to um to my characters and she's
00:24:27
incredibly athletic as well
00:24:29
um why did it take so long to um for to
00:24:33
become a a movie from a player you said
00:24:35
four years five years 5 years uh well
00:24:38
for one thing I was only really seen in
00:24:40
New Zealand as a writer at that point I
00:24:42
hadn't directed anything you know my
00:24:44
obviously my James Bond 12year old thing
00:24:47
aside I hadn't really hadone any short
00:24:50
films or anything like that so you know
00:24:52
to convince people that um you know I
00:24:56
was going to be able to handle doing a
00:24:57
major
00:24:58
you know budget feature film was a big
00:25:02
thing and um it took a while to meet the
00:25:05
right people and um and get that off the
00:25:08
ground I'm very grateful to my friend
00:25:10
Lydia Livingston who's no longer with us
00:25:14
and Tim White Philipa Campbell the
00:25:16
producers of the movie who you know
00:25:18
really backed me and put their own
00:25:20
reputations and um skills and um Talent
00:25:26
on the line to be able to support me
00:25:28
doing that what why didn't you and and
00:25:30
on reflection and in hindsight why
00:25:32
didn't you Outsource as the Director cuz
00:25:34
I wanted to direct movies and number two
00:25:36
is my kind of golden ticket I guess I
00:25:38
had uh sold the rights or at least the
00:25:41
option uh to Bear within the week of
00:25:43
that so bear came out and I got
00:25:46
approached about the rights and I sold
00:25:48
the option very quickly you know they
00:25:51
gave me three grand for a for the option
00:25:54
for a year and I thought that's pretty
00:25:57
awesome 23 year bought new stereo
00:26:01
and regretted it immediately you know
00:26:04
and I can't remember what happened to
00:26:05
that
00:26:06
stereo
00:26:08
um
00:26:10
but with number two I remember very
00:26:12
clearly saying in my back my cousin's
00:26:15
backyard there in Freeland Avenue Mount
00:26:17
rth school I'm going to write this we're
00:26:19
having a barbecue in the summertime at
00:26:20
that time I hey guys I'm going to make
00:26:22
this going to write a new play and this
00:26:24
time I'm going to keep the rights and
00:26:25
we're going to make a movie and they're
00:26:27
like okay sounds cool but tup Paca just
00:26:31
died so that was kind of the main sort
00:26:32
of issue that particular time and sound
00:26:36
cool but then um then we did we did do
00:26:38
that and the family were very involved
00:26:40
because um we ended up shooting the
00:26:42
movie just on the same street just
00:26:44
around the corner from we had that
00:26:46
barbecue in fact we did make the movie
00:26:48
and Ruby D blessed us by coming from New
00:26:51
York to uh Mount rosull to make the
00:26:54
movie we held a you we did a barbecue in
00:26:57
the backyard Mount Rosco 4 her in her
00:26:59
honor really um so yeah Ruby day yeah
00:27:04
incredible so she's the um the the very
00:27:06
very strong female lead um she was 85 at
00:27:09
the time 85 and she's incredible she's
00:27:11
got so much energy like there's a scene
00:27:13
where she's you know running around
00:27:15
chasing the pig um so much she love that
00:27:18
stuff she she said she always did her in
00:27:20
stance and yeah see but as a as a guy in
00:27:23
your you would in your 20s at the time
00:27:25
30 were you not like [ __ ] yourself
00:27:28
making your directorial debut like uh
00:27:30
you know um with someone like her that's
00:27:33
in her 80s and had this amazing career
00:27:35
going for decades no I felt and you know
00:27:39
I felt really honored to that she came
00:27:41
you know as I said from New York to make
00:27:43
the movie with us and um you so blessed
00:27:47
and grateful that she did do that and so
00:27:50
um I don't really feel intimidated by by
00:27:54
that situation but I do remember not
00:27:57
liking the lunch during uh when we're
00:27:59
shooting the movie because when you're
00:28:00
in the minute you're in the moment
00:28:02
actually
00:28:04
directing that always felt very cool
00:28:07
like doing that and problem solving as
00:28:08
you go and doing it but then as soon as
00:28:10
you sit down for lunch that's when the
00:28:11
pressure sort of seeps in and I remember
00:28:15
thinking it's like being a a test a
00:28:18
batsman and test match cricket you know
00:28:20
directing is like everybody's watching
00:28:22
everybody sees that your weaknesses and
00:28:25
your strengths there's no
00:28:26
hiding um
00:28:28
and you just got to kind of keep mental
00:28:30
focus and uh keep your head down and try
00:28:35
to keep hitting those runs play each
00:28:37
play each ball as it comes y um yeah are
00:28:40
you familiar with the term imposter
00:28:41
syndrome yes yeah yeah did you have any
00:28:44
of that at the time or uh probably not I
00:28:48
wouldn't have thought so um I have done
00:28:52
a lot over the years though subsequent
00:28:53
to that I guess my start with number two
00:28:56
is such a kind of incredible blessing
00:28:58
and I I guess I also felt like I had the
00:29:00
backing of the co community and family
00:29:02
around the movie
00:29:05
um
00:29:07
so by the time I got to make Dean
00:29:11
spanley my second movie it was a very
00:29:13
different thing over there in England
00:29:15
Peter tul and Sam Neil um and during
00:29:19
that that time see I certainly had a bit
00:29:21
of imposter syndrome during it sh isn't
00:29:25
that funny like the more experience you
00:29:27
get and the older you get the more you
00:29:29
the more you start you realiz realize
00:29:31
what you don't know the more the more
00:29:33
yeah uh yes in some cases it's like the
00:29:35
least you know the better in a way you
00:29:37
just crack on with it um is just still
00:29:39
on number two for a couple more if if is
00:29:41
there anything you do different if you
00:29:42
made it today I wouldn't make it today
00:29:44
it was it was completely uh it was of
00:29:47
that that time the whole um the
00:29:53
whole thing it was pretty as I said it
00:29:56
was completed before Facebook and and it
00:29:58
was before I don't think there's even in
00:30:00
the movie there's no phones I don't
00:30:02
think so so yeah right
00:30:05
that's true is a there's a landline
00:30:08
that's seen I don't it's crazy so cell
00:30:10
phones in that movie like only 20 years
00:30:13
ago and the whole thing is about you
00:30:14
know family trying to organize this
00:30:16
feast and nobody's texting each other so
00:30:20
there's even um yeah at one stage a
00:30:21
battery run to get batteries for the
00:30:22
tape recorder right yeah and a um a
00:30:26
calendar on the wall in the cat from
00:30:29
2005 right um yeah it's it's really God
00:30:32
I'm getting Goosebumps just um yeah it's
00:30:34
a great movie I think you should be
00:30:35
proud of it it's aged really well thank
00:30:37
you y I should watch it
00:30:40
again yeah can can you can you um like
00:30:43
watch it and enjoy it or do you just see
00:30:44
the flaws in it or no I can watch it
00:30:47
enjoy it definitely you know it's very
00:30:49
nostalgic for me some great friends and
00:30:53
great stories and great behind the
00:30:55
scenes stuffff it was um you very very
00:30:58
happy um time in our lives making that
00:31:01
making that movie how many how many pigs
00:31:03
were harmed on the making of number two
00:31:05
uh five
00:31:06
pigs I say if they're harmed but
00:31:10
certainly they're certainly eaten I
00:31:12
didn't see them get slaughtered but the
00:31:15
great thing was we were making it in the
00:31:17
mount Rosal community and my family were
00:31:20
able to distribute the pork to local
00:31:22
family so very popular for 5 days during
00:31:25
that [ __ ] and then there was crane day
00:31:27
so we had we had five days of the feast
00:31:29
so five pigs went to families around the
00:31:31
place and then on crane we had one crane
00:31:33
day where we had massive it wouldn't
00:31:35
even been a tech Crane in those days we
00:31:36
had a massive crane at
00:31:38
nighttime um and that was a kind of big
00:31:41
event
00:31:43
too Doug howlet was living in the
00:31:45
neighborhood at the time and I remember
00:31:46
they used to do like driveby in his uh I
00:31:50
had like Cadillac or something at the
00:31:51
time very cool douget yeah the top all
00:31:54
black Tri scorer of all time is that
00:31:56
right yeah I messaged him Wards the end
00:31:58
of last year asking him to do a podcast
00:31:59
like his I messaged his wife on
00:32:00
Instagram and she gave me his number he
00:32:02
politely declined it where is he at the
00:32:04
moment he he's just he's in Oakland just
00:32:07
yeah I don't know what he's doing but
00:32:08
he's just very very low profile by sign
00:32:12
um yeah what about the song bath in the
00:32:15
river one of the most successful New
00:32:17
Zealand songs ever Don mcglashan wrote
00:32:18
it Holly Smith sung it did you how does
00:32:21
that collaboration come about does so
00:32:24
don great man he helped my friends and I
00:32:28
when we were in summer Shakespeare there
00:32:30
at Oakland
00:32:31
University um he came by and helped us
00:32:34
with the music for that you know that
00:32:36
was in 1995 or something like
00:32:40
that um and when I was thinking about a
00:32:44
composer for I can't remember how my
00:32:46
collaboration really started with Dawn
00:32:49
for number two but I remember the fact
00:32:52
that in the play the song at that
00:32:54
particular moment we used uh the there
00:32:57
can be Miracles you know by Whitney sung
00:33:00
by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey in a
00:33:03
very catch thing and you I played that
00:33:06
to Don and he said yeah I'd like to
00:33:09
write something and he wrote a bathe in
00:33:13
the river and he came and played it to
00:33:14
me in my tiny little office there at the
00:33:17
uh production office West ockland you
00:33:20
just him on his guitar and it was just
00:33:22
an incredible mind-blowing moment where
00:33:24
it
00:33:25
was yeah such a beautiful song
00:33:29
and at the time I was really into
00:33:31
Homeland and sea which is actually on
00:33:33
the end of the movie you know Trinity
00:33:35
Roots beautiful song and I said to Don
00:33:39
how about whoever's singing that backing
00:33:42
vocal
00:33:43
on on homeland and sea
00:33:46
and he introduced me and us to Holly
00:33:49
Smith and the rest of his history with
00:33:51
that that song always felt A tingle of
00:33:54
Pride at the old blacks wherever when
00:33:56
the when we when that song got played
00:33:59
randomly um
00:34:02
and Don and Holly have both performed at
00:34:06
in Mai as well recently
00:34:09
and got married last year and
00:34:12
Don's not wasn't in New Zealand at the
00:34:15
time but he sent a little video and of
00:34:16
him playing it again on the guitar so oh
00:34:19
you got married last year I did yes
00:34:21
congratulations thank you very happy
00:34:23
about that very happy do yeah thank you
00:34:25
yeah that's cool oh I I didn't drop that
00:34:28
one and my extensive research I miss
00:34:30
that little L um I know so how does the
00:34:33
song Come about does he see like rushes
00:34:35
of the movie or does he read the script
00:34:37
because um he needed to write that in
00:34:39
advance CU it was the one song really
00:34:41
that we
00:34:43
were it wasn't um we we needed it you
00:34:48
know before the movie started so um he
00:34:52
wrote it came to my office as I said
00:34:54
played it as a demo just h on his guitar
00:34:56
and and we ended up recording
00:34:59
it and um yeah phenomenal song one of
00:35:02
the one of the greatest New Zealand
00:35:03
songs of all time I think would be fair
00:35:05
to say I think you're probably right
00:35:08
about that Dom yeah and I can say that
00:35:10
quite objectively really CU it was
00:35:12
nothing you know I guess I inspired the
00:35:15
situation but Holly and Don blue blew it
00:35:18
out of the park well I I I didn't like
00:35:21
it at the time I was I was on Commercial
00:35:22
radio so I was playing two times every
00:35:24
morning for maybe the best part of a
00:35:25
year but watching yeah watching the
00:35:28
movie last night when it came on again
00:35:30
yeah made me feel really good actually
00:35:31
the whole soundtrack's good sha War as
00:35:33
well did you have a hand in that or yeah
00:35:36
yeah yeah brilliant um and it cleaned up
00:35:39
at the the New Zealand screen Awards and
00:35:41
um you did very well at the Sundance
00:35:43
Film Festival as well what are you yeah
00:35:44
what are your Recollections of that
00:35:46
Sundance yeah that place looks insane
00:35:49
yeah it was kind of you know it was very
00:35:51
insane I had not really seen past uh
00:35:54
number two at that point and I guess you
00:35:58
know there's a part of me that thought
00:36:00
hey we made it to Sundance Film Festival
00:36:02
cool I'm going to be a millionaire and
00:36:03
in fact uh um well yes obviously not the
00:36:08
case and I wasn't really prepared for
00:36:09
the um
00:36:12
the attention and all the meetings and
00:36:16
all that sort of Hollywood kind of stuff
00:36:19
that um came after that although out of
00:36:23
that came my relationship with my
00:36:24
manager in the states Mo zakai who um
00:36:27
has been my manager ever since I'm
00:36:30
incredi incredibly grateful for that
00:36:34
chance and um oh this this place seems
00:36:36
like a trivial question but um what
00:36:38
about the the free stuff room at
00:36:39
Sundance the free stuff not a trivial
00:36:42
question at all at the time was really
00:36:44
important to me how you yeah 30 I've had
00:36:48
um Cory Gonzalez muron who went over
00:36:50
there with um T movie what we do in the
00:36:52
shadows and Cory was very young at the
00:36:54
time and he just talking about taking an
00:36:56
obscene amount of watches and things
00:36:59
yeah well I was looking very much
00:37:00
looking forward to the free stuff I
00:37:02
didn't get very much of it at all meia
00:37:03
Blake who was there with us she got most
00:37:06
of it I have to say you know she looks
00:37:08
glamorous and all they just I guess they
00:37:10
just thought I was like a bodyguard or
00:37:12
something but there's people in this
00:37:14
world that need free stuff Dom and
00:37:16
there's people in this movie that don't
00:37:19
and Y I don't know I think it's it's
00:37:23
it's a kiwi thing I don't know if it's
00:37:24
like a scarcity mentality or something
00:37:26
but we yeah we we are most new
00:37:29
zealanders I think are a sucker for um a
00:37:33
free I love that about us um you just
00:37:36
can't can't let it go did you meet
00:37:38
anyone anyone really cool over there
00:37:39
that was um impressed by your movie that
00:37:41
was like a sort of pinch myself moment
00:37:42
for you the pinch most moment really was
00:37:44
meeting Nick Noti on the street cuz
00:37:47
there was no reason he was just coming
00:37:49
down the road and he spotted me and Mark
00:37:51
K who's you know they they're doing
00:37:53
story on us for Sunday and I know just
00:37:57
came down already said are you guys
00:37:58
Canadian and we no but shook his hand
00:38:01
that was pretty cool that was that was
00:38:04
that was about it what the [ __ ] that's
00:38:06
insane it was I've got another my
00:38:09
another James Bond kind of moment though
00:38:12
so when number two was at the London
00:38:14
Film Festival same year later on in the
00:38:16
year Spike Lee his movie Miracle of St
00:38:20
Anna was on at the same venue same movie
00:38:23
theater the night after number two and
00:38:25
so there therefore I knew where the bar
00:38:27
was and all that kind of stuff I really
00:38:28
wanted to go say hi to Spike Lee and say
00:38:32
thank you for the inspiration and Ruby D
00:38:35
you know obviously work with him and do
00:38:37
the right
00:38:38
thing she uh inspired my whole kind of
00:38:42
thing with number two so we wanted to
00:38:43
shake his hand so went there a little
00:38:46
bit early snuck into the bar where I
00:38:48
knew he'd be coming out of the cinema
00:38:51
and there wasn't anybody in the bar
00:38:55
except for AA green
00:38:58
and I froze and ran away
00:39:03
again having said that having said that
00:39:06
a and I worked on Penny dread fi
00:39:08
together years later and she was very
00:39:10
kind to me so did you tell her about the
00:39:12
moment you walked into a
00:39:13
[Laughter]
00:39:16
bar what what is it are you just are you
00:39:18
painfully shy or is it like a social
00:39:21
awkwardness thing a little bit yeah a
00:39:23
little bit was also um a little bit
00:39:26
like it's a New Zealand thing as well
00:39:28
isn't it that you don't really want to
00:39:29
just Bowl on up to famous people say hi
00:39:31
I'm tour so here's my you want Arnold
00:39:35
schz [ __ ] story so last year last year
00:39:37
I was making this TV show in Toronto I
00:39:41
was a producing director on that show so
00:39:42
it's quite a big like level kind of
00:39:44
position there's only three other two
00:39:47
other shows shooting on the same quite
00:39:49
large studio lot and Arnold's show Fubar
00:39:53
to was shooting there at the time people
00:39:56
are saying all through the whole shoot
00:39:57
hey I saw Arnold in the car park today I
00:39:59
went up and I talked to him and I
00:40:00
touched his Pig and all this sort of
00:40:02
stuff and I'm okay well I don't I
00:40:06
haven't seen him but if you say so
00:40:08
that's cool before I go home I really
00:40:10
want to you know just go up to him and
00:40:12
say
00:40:14
hello in uh North America for a director
00:40:17
to be carrying his own chair you know
00:40:19
the chair backs with your name on you're
00:40:21
not supposed to do that in the state you
00:40:23
know as a director it's not your job to
00:40:25
carry your own chair in the state and
00:40:27
Canada I should say having said that my
00:40:29
last day to shoot I really wanted a
00:40:32
chair where I was going from one Studio
00:40:33
to the other so I just picked up my
00:40:35
chair I was on the way to the next
00:40:38
studio and I saw there out of the corner
00:40:39
of my eye Arnold
00:40:41
Schwarzenegger talking to the Caterers
00:40:44
and saying hello and shaking their hands
00:40:45
and everything so man there's my moment
00:40:47
to go make a beine for Arnold carrying
00:40:50
my chair walked over and the trailer ad
00:40:53
somebody came cut me off like I was only
00:40:55
like 2 M 4 M away from
00:40:57
the great man and uh she said to me
00:41:01
you're crew from that movie from the
00:41:03
other show you can't come here and I'm
00:41:05
like yeah I'm crew but I'm not crew I'm
00:41:07
the producing director I've got look
00:41:08
there's my name my
00:41:11
chair it's like a business card Jo card
00:41:14
and she's like no you you're carrying a
00:41:17
chair you can't be a producing director
00:41:19
so get the hell out of here so I never
00:41:21
got to meet Arnold that's my Arnold oh
00:41:23
got it got it don't worry he'll be
00:41:25
back nice
00:41:27
loow hanging fruit um yeah got this um
00:41:31
[ __ ] if we if we picked apart your work
00:41:33
like every single we'd be here we' be
00:41:34
here for days but um you something
00:41:36
recently you've done um which I I adored
00:41:39
uh Sweet Tooth Netflix show which was
00:41:41
massive right like number number one
00:41:44
worldwide on Netflix 60 million people
00:41:46
watch that show at some point yeah so I
00:41:49
I I started watching and and we it had
00:41:51
any kiwi connection at all and then you
00:41:52
see the you see the zone and you see
00:41:54
some other bits and pieces and uh it's
00:41:56
quite comforting how did that come about
00:41:58
I was on my way back from Rhode Island
00:42:01
at the beginning of 20 well end of 2019
00:42:04
my friends Axel patteron and Mel turn
00:42:07
New Zealand producers who are involved
00:42:09
in Sweet Tooth here gave me a call uh to
00:42:12
say that they're putting together this
00:42:14
show here and they're looking for a
00:42:16
producing director so
00:42:19
um as I say I was on the way back from
00:42:21
Ro I was doing a show over there and
00:42:24
just very lucky to be coming back here
00:42:25
for summertime you know I imagined I was
00:42:28
going to be coming back here for in a
00:42:29
couple of weeks but then got offered
00:42:31
Sweet Tooth and we started work on it
00:42:33
within a few weeks of me being back at
00:42:35
the beginning of 2020 and then suddenly
00:42:37
the world changed and the pandemic hit
00:42:39
and we shut down production as so many
00:42:41
Productions around the world did but
00:42:46
uh towards the end of that year we uh
00:42:50
production took off again and we were
00:42:53
sad this incredibly blessed time when
00:42:55
New Zealand didn't have any covid so we
00:42:57
were able to make this sort of weird
00:43:00
serendipitous show about um a
00:43:03
post-pandemic kind of story set in
00:43:06
post-apocalyptic world where uh a whole
00:43:09
bunch of new species has come into
00:43:12
existence animal hybrids and yeah
00:43:15
Christian convery the young man played
00:43:18
uh theonomous Sweet
00:43:21
Tooth and yeah there's definitely um
00:43:25
elements of like art imitating life in
00:43:27
it totally it's
00:43:29
crazy they made the pilot here before
00:43:31
the pandemic so and Jeff Lam's comic
00:43:34
that is based on you he wrote that
00:43:37
several years ago it was kind of very
00:43:40
crazy that it all happened at the same
00:43:42
time yeah what what are your Reflections
00:43:44
on that making a TV show like during the
00:43:46
pandemic even though yeah like in ter in
00:43:49
terms of I suppose as well as the you
00:43:51
know being in and out of lockdowns and
00:43:53
traffic light systems and different
00:43:54
levels and whatever um yeah just getting
00:43:57
cast and I suppose all the cast had to
00:43:59
do two weeks and yeah quarantine M and
00:44:02
some of the directors as well my friend
00:44:04
Carol Banker she came and she had to uh
00:44:08
do the miq in so she got pretty sick of
00:44:11
Kuma by the end of
00:44:13
that and uh then she came out and then I
00:44:17
think she got covid or somebody so she
00:44:20
ended up doing like a month in in
00:44:23
quarantine there's a lot of those sort
00:44:24
of stories um but yeah that first season
00:44:27
when as I say most of the world there
00:44:29
was you know covid all over the place
00:44:31
but none at that point here end of 2020
00:44:34
was you know we were wearing masks and
00:44:38
that was a thing for me at the time that
00:44:42
I found it really easy to hide behind
00:44:44
the mask as a director and also a
00:44:47
director that was dealing with a whole
00:44:49
bunch of Health a whole bunch I was
00:44:51
dealing with the fact I had Parkinson's
00:44:53
disease and still trying to hide that so
00:44:55
I was this you know I had many levels of
00:44:58
hiding at that point how was s how how
00:45:01
was that helpful when the the master
00:45:03
covers youd let your nose and mouth
00:45:05
hiding I mean in terms of
00:45:08
uh do you mean helpful for Parkinson's
00:45:11
yeah yeah no I mean more I was I was hi
00:45:14
I was trying to hide the Parkinson's
00:45:17
symptoms and
00:45:20
um I also found in a kind of different
00:45:23
kind more metaphorical way I guess I was
00:45:25
hiding behind the mar right you know um
00:45:29
but yeah if I'm going up to an actor and
00:45:32
saying you giving them Direction
00:45:35
whatever it became kind of difficult to
00:45:38
do because of the difficulty of speaking
00:45:40
through the mask and um you know with
00:45:43
Parkinson's again one of the less unnown
00:45:45
symptoms is the effect it has on your
00:45:48
voice or can have on people's voices so
00:45:51
you know
00:45:52
obviously I am I've I've ended up
00:45:55
speaking quite Softly
00:45:58
um so you trying to project through the
00:46:00
mask became a challenging sort of thing
00:46:03
I mean for everybody it was tricky and
00:46:05
then season two and season 3 you know
00:46:06
we're doing spit tests every day we had
00:46:09
our own little Community going down
00:46:11
there and W it was incredibly um
00:46:14
controlled yeah um and very challenging
00:46:17
you know be doing these Skype or sorry
00:46:20
Zoom calls at 10:00 every night
00:46:22
basically asking each other who's who's
00:46:24
available tomorrow which cast has got Co
00:46:27
today and who
00:46:28
hasn't um wow yes God yeah it's a lot to
00:46:33
navigate isn't it it was yeah stressful
00:46:36
very stressful at the time but yeah but
00:46:38
you got through it and you made this
00:46:39
incredible show yeah very it's really
00:46:41
cool you proud of it so proud so proud
00:46:43
I'm grateful to Jim MLS showrunner
00:46:45
incredible dude and cast nonso noer and
00:46:49
Christian convery and everybody that was
00:46:51
involved such an incredible opportunity
00:46:54
well there's that saying in your line of
00:46:55
work like never work with children or
00:46:57
animals we're kind of working with
00:46:58
children who are animals and animals and
00:47:01
children um yeah as on a Netflix show
00:47:05
like that what sort of impact does that
00:47:06
have on like the you the New Zealand
00:47:08
economy and the New Zealand film
00:47:09
industry must be massive right like
00:47:11
there's so many keyways that you see you
00:47:13
each it's like oh this Jody
00:47:15
R was awesome in it yes that was one of
00:47:18
the great Joys making that show is in
00:47:21
the casting new zealanders in some kind
00:47:23
of key roles Jody r with her
00:47:25
flamethrower coming out the door and
00:47:28
Robin Malcolm is a very influential
00:47:31
scientist
00:47:33
um yeah it was just an incredible great
00:47:36
time what's um next for you career
00:47:39
careerwise what like what are you
00:47:40
working on at the moment or what have
00:47:41
you got coming up that you're excited
00:47:42
about I'm working on a book at the
00:47:43
moment DM I'm working on a
00:47:46
autobiographic
00:47:48
novel so it's called eulogy it's about
00:47:51
uh I guess it's about Parkinson's really
00:47:55
so it's uh my story from diagnosis to
00:47:59
brain surgery so deep brain stimulation
00:48:02
surgery this time two years uh March 20
00:48:06
two years two years ago in
00:48:08
March and uh that's sort of not for the
00:48:10
fainthearted that kind of surgery it was
00:48:13
incredible again you I felt so blessed
00:48:16
it was just after Sweet Tooth we went in
00:48:18
so um I
00:48:21
had been sort of hoping to get it done
00:48:24
for a long time and then the opportunity
00:48:27
came up they're at ockland City Hospital
00:48:30
very grateful to them and
00:48:34
um has has it made an impact yep very
00:48:37
huge huge difference I was on a whole
00:48:40
lot of medication with a whole lot of
00:48:41
side effects and really nasty as well I
00:48:44
was on this thing called
00:48:45
aporphine which I think is the sort of
00:48:48
stuff they give to dogs to make them
00:48:50
vomit um so I was on this um needle and
00:48:55
pump thing that you had to replace every
00:48:56
St very cumbersome as well didn't really
00:48:58
go for a swim ad all during that whole
00:49:00
three years I was on that very
00:49:03
tricky um so not on as much medication
00:49:07
anymore and at the time when I when I
00:49:10
was on that medication I couldn't
00:49:11
imagine ever really traveling
00:49:13
again but had an incredible year of
00:49:16
travel and work last year as I alluded
00:49:19
to with my Arnold Schwarz story there
00:49:22
you did you did yeah anold Schwartz nak
00:49:25
a story where you didn't actually get to
00:49:26
meet him exactly uh but it was um it was
00:49:28
a very well-crafted story even though
00:49:30
even though the end was a little bit of
00:49:31
a let down very much so but that happens
00:49:33
sometimes in movies and storytelling
00:49:35
it's a journey isn't it that's right
00:49:37
yeah hey um okay since we're on the
00:49:39
Parkinson stuff should we yeah we chat
00:49:41
about that a little bit
00:49:43
um so you diagnosed in 2016 um how long
00:49:47
before that were you aware that
00:49:50
something wasn't quite right or you went
00:49:52
100% I felt like my body was pretty [ __ ]
00:49:57
I have to say for about at least 2 years
00:50:00
prior to that I was making a movie six
00:50:04
days in
00:50:06
um in the six I guess in the six months
00:50:09
leading up to the diagnosis and at that
00:50:11
time I was you know very shaky and very
00:50:15
aware that there was something seriously
00:50:16
wrong 2013 really I think I started
00:50:20
making I was making documentary or
00:50:22
documentary concert film really B with
00:50:24
raw New Zealand ballet with Ethan Ste
00:50:26
and Jillian Murphy down there in
00:50:29
Wellington we were on stage with the
00:50:31
lead dancer chian and I remember
00:50:34
pointing in know director you everybody
00:50:37
expects one of the director to be able
00:50:38
to point very strongly but pointing in
00:50:42
my hand having that sort of Tremor and
00:50:45
hiding that as quickly as I
00:50:48
could um and uh not really thinking very
00:50:52
much of it got misdiagnosed a few times
00:50:57
I guess I was still pretty young at that
00:50:58
point so not Parkinson's wasn't
00:51:02
necessarily the obvious um the obvious
00:51:06
thing and then we were making the
00:51:09
deadlands a year after that I had done a
00:51:12
whole bunch of training with Josh
00:51:14
Randall and Lawrence
00:51:16
mcui um and I very strongly believe that
00:51:19
the training that I did with Lawrence
00:51:21
and Josh at that time kept my symptoms
00:51:25
at Bay for an another year at least but
00:51:28
by the time I made the movie 6 days
00:51:30
after that was very much in the throws
00:51:32
of
00:51:33
um the symptoms being pretty pretty bad
00:51:37
but looking back on it you know they say
00:51:38
with Parkinson's that if you by the time
00:51:40
you get diagnosed 80% of the 80% of your
00:51:45
body or your brain's ability to produce
00:51:47
dopamine has died so um the chances are
00:51:52
that you've had the condition for a good
00:51:55
20 years prior to the DI nosis and
00:51:57
certainly looking back on things that I
00:51:59
used to do like fall asleep really
00:52:01
easily on the bus and always get a hard
00:52:03
time about
00:52:06
that it's a skill well and in movies
00:52:11
especially um always having restless
00:52:14
legs trying to way way back in my
00:52:18
20s you know you hear my voice on some
00:52:20
of the behind the scenes stuff on number
00:52:22
two I definitely feel like it was
00:52:24
happening then as well so of symptoms
00:52:27
bubbling away that you don't really pay
00:52:29
much attention to but and then you know
00:52:31
when I got the Tremor I guess one of the
00:52:33
first things I should have done was
00:52:34
Google
00:52:36
trema and made a connection because my
00:52:39
grandfather granded Jack who uh my my
00:52:42
dad's father he had Parkinson's as well
00:52:45
but didn't make that connection for
00:52:47
whatever reason yeah what do we what do
00:52:50
we know about it or what have you
00:52:51
learned about it like is there is there
00:52:52
any signs that we can be looking out for
00:52:54
is there anything people can do to avoid
00:52:56
it
00:52:58
I was it a genetic or her it's not gen
00:53:00
well there's I believe there's a genetic
00:53:02
component or it can be a genetic
00:53:04
component but nobody really knows at
00:53:05
this point so the search for cure so is
00:53:08
incurable that's one thing at the moment
00:53:10
there's no cure also there's no
00:53:12
biomarker which is to say there's no
00:53:15
thing where they can say you're going to
00:53:16
get Parkinson's in 20 years time
00:53:18
whatever because nobody's found out what
00:53:21
causes Center of brain research here
00:53:24
they're doing great work um
00:53:27
and research and obviously Michael J fox
00:53:29
foundation in the States has been doing
00:53:31
incredible work
00:53:32
too um uh you know looking for biome
00:53:36
looking for cures but also at the same
00:53:38
time looking for ways to support people
00:53:40
with Parkinson's for me personally it's
00:53:43
been challenging in the sense I'm young
00:53:46
my kids
00:53:49
have uh you know it's been a very major
00:53:51
challenge in their lives as well and um
00:53:56
at the moment you know I'm grateful to
00:53:58
say the main symptom that is
00:54:01
causing the main symptom of that
00:54:04
everybody in my house is talking about
00:54:05
at the moment is Dad falling asleep at
00:54:07
the
00:54:08
table which has been a thing for a long
00:54:11
[Laughter]
00:54:13
time but yeah it's had a massive impact
00:54:16
on my children over the years can you
00:54:18
remember the um the the day the
00:54:20
diagnosis yeah yeah so you hadn't you
00:54:22
had an inkling something was wrong well
00:54:25
I went to take my young at the time she
00:54:28
was my youngest daughter so my middle my
00:54:29
middle girl taleno she had Weis in her
00:54:32
chair so I took her to GP and he was a
00:54:36
older man he was on the edge of
00:54:40
retirement and he was he was like a non
00:54:43
nonsense kind of a guy treated my
00:54:45
daughter that's was fine went away and
00:54:48
but he had um he was obviously a kind of
00:54:52
I I admired him so I went back and we
00:54:54
had a chat and he told me I think you
00:54:55
need to be thinking at
00:54:57
parkings with ghost I would say you know
00:54:59
he kind of ghost in his eyes when I
00:55:01
walked in the door cuz kind of knew what
00:55:03
I was there for he told me later because
00:55:06
he said at the time um uh the time that
00:55:09
I went with my daughter that he kind of
00:55:11
knew there's something wrong with me but
00:55:12
he didn't want to say cuz that's not
00:55:14
what we were there for but yeah so he uh
00:55:18
he said I think we should be talking
00:55:19
about Parkinson's and then luckily
00:55:20
enough I was able to get into a
00:55:23
neurology appointment there and the uh
00:55:26
Oakland City hospital again and have a
00:55:29
chat about it
00:55:33
and um yeah it was January
00:55:36
[Music]
00:55:38
20 the day after the day after the
00:55:41
diagnosis I went to wck to interview s
00:55:44
Graham Henry for a movie I was doing
00:55:48
documentary
00:55:50
and I was kind I never forget at that
00:55:53
time because you know he was talking a
00:55:55
lot about performance psychology and
00:55:58
health and he's been very inspiring to
00:56:00
me over the years with the psych
00:56:02
psychology stuff that they did with the
00:56:03
O especially between the years
00:56:06
207 2011 exactly Dr K Evans and go NOA
00:56:11
yeah exactly um but I didn't talk to him
00:56:14
about the Parkinson's at all but very
00:56:16
many how were you able to focus on work
00:56:18
that day at that time yeah well it was
00:56:20
that I mean that par so I made this
00:56:22
documentary the free man at the time and
00:56:23
that was very kind of again s pity the
00:56:27
the fact that I was making a movie about
00:56:30
extreme sports or at least the the
00:56:32
psychology behind people that do extreme
00:56:36
sports you know it was incredible thing
00:56:39
that I was at the same time dealing with
00:56:41
this
00:56:42
uh uh news and condition that has so
00:56:45
much to do with movement at the same
00:56:47
time I'm going to Hawaii to interview L
00:56:49
Hamilton and hang around with him
00:56:52
and go to Iceland to hang around with
00:56:55
whim half
00:56:57
and learn so much about you his
00:56:59
incredible breathing techniques and cold
00:57:01
water immersion this was a long time ago
00:57:03
would learning about this stuff had
00:57:05
massive impact on my Parkinson's journey
00:57:09
I remember sitting because at the time
00:57:10
you I wasn't really telling anybody
00:57:11
about that stuff but we uh hanging
00:57:14
around with whim half in a in a
00:57:17
restaurant in um in Iceland and I just
00:57:20
remember him looking at me from across
00:57:21
room saying to have you got any kids and
00:57:25
I was like yeah I got three
00:57:26
[Music]
00:57:27
and it he he I could just tell by the
00:57:31
way he was looking at me he knew what
00:57:32
was going on for me and a couple of
00:57:34
weeks later he sent me an email with a
00:57:35
whole bunch of tips and techniques to
00:57:38
deal with Parkinson's and dopamine
00:57:40
production uh from his
00:57:44
research oh wow I um I love whof yeah
00:57:48
that's cool super inspiring yeah yeah
00:57:51
yeah does um cold water I mean I'm sure
00:57:54
there's no medical proof but yeah water
00:57:56
remion help a lot yep definitely so um
00:57:59
and there is apparently but I mean you
00:58:01
just anecdotally from my own point of
00:58:02
view I certainly can see the impact if I
00:58:05
have a cold shower the um dopamine level
00:58:10
in my brain goes up and is sustainable
00:58:13
in a way that having doine from tim tams
00:58:17
doesn't
00:58:19
quite yeah um yeah cold chers are are
00:58:23
like amazing you feel you feel so alive
00:58:25
for for such a long time afterwards um I
00:58:28
was I was unaware of the um connection
00:58:29
with um um Parkinson's and dopamine
00:58:32
until you mentioned it before that's dop
00:58:35
like the feel good chemical in your
00:58:36
brain so without that like hard to find
00:58:39
Joy exactly um it's interesting because
00:58:43
dopamine has become part of a kind of in
00:58:47
U our our current uh lexicon you know
00:58:51
really only the last 10 years you know
00:58:52
people talk about dopamine addiction and
00:58:54
talking about scrolling you know
00:58:56
scrolling what do yeah and uh dopamine
00:58:59
fasting and all that kind of stuff but I
00:59:02
don't think 10 years ago I'd even heard
00:59:04
of dopamine and I'm sure it wasn't as
00:59:06
commonly talked about um so that's I
00:59:10
guess
00:59:12
um you know from from a Parkinson's
00:59:15
point of view that's directly what
00:59:16
causes Parkinson's is the lack of
00:59:18
dopamine really lack of your brain's
00:59:20
ability to produce it so the kind of key
00:59:24
uh the key medication that people take
00:59:27
generally for Parkinson's is this Cinema
00:59:30
which is or lopa which is
00:59:33
um artificial dopamine
00:59:37
basically and how was your yeah how how
00:59:40
was your mental state through that time
00:59:41
like um coming to terms with um the
00:59:44
diagnosis lots lots of Tears Lots was it
00:59:47
anger the stages of um what of the stage
00:59:51
you know the stages of you grief denial
00:59:53
acceptance um I accept person Al
00:59:56
accepted it quite quickly but then I
00:59:58
guess from then on it was difficult with
01:00:00
personal relationships became quite
01:00:02
challenging you know and um especially
01:00:06
close family the impact again that I had
01:00:08
on my kids was difficult
01:00:12
um
01:00:14
but
01:00:18
the fact that I was working again you
01:00:21
know this very fulfilling incredible
01:00:23
kind of as I say serendipitous almost
01:00:25
almost
01:00:26
kind of weird spiritual moment
01:00:30
that kind of lost my track of train to
01:00:33
thought I like it like a nice
01:00:34
distraction or something there's yeah
01:00:36
way more than a nice distraction I think
01:00:42
um I think
01:00:54
that I feel and it's a weird thing to
01:00:56
say I guess but I certainly feel blessed
01:00:59
that I have this disease and I really
01:01:03
can't think of having my life any other
01:01:04
way now the challenge that head has put
01:01:07
in front of me and the challenges that I
01:01:09
have been able to
01:01:11
uh face and deal with and again go back
01:01:15
to gra the day that with graah Henry he
01:01:17
talked about um expect the unexpected
01:01:20
and handle it you know sort of
01:01:22
psychological stuff you know this is
01:01:24
kind of like that's kind of like exactly
01:01:27
what I was going through at that time
01:01:28
expect the unexpecting Handler you don't
01:01:30
expect to get a diagnosis like this in
01:01:31
your
01:01:32
40s um but you know it's taught me
01:01:36
resilience and toughness and all those
01:01:38
great things but it's also taught me
01:01:39
compassion and
01:01:41
empathy
01:01:42
[Music]
01:01:44
and an openness to the world you know
01:01:47
the last few years has been a time where
01:01:49
I've really realized that the more I
01:01:51
pushed the world like really want to
01:01:53
like want to push push push the universe
01:01:56
and get stuff out of the
01:01:58
universe it doesn't really work but just
01:02:01
letting the universe come to me in a way
01:02:03
that has um been really uh fruitful and
01:02:08
yes we're very
01:02:10
grateful it's a [ __ ] tough way to
01:02:12
learn all those things
01:02:13
though yeah yeah and and even um even
01:02:18
you know I don't know like unfair it's a
01:02:21
it's a [ __ ] hand to be dealt I yeah I've
01:02:23
never said like why me I I know have you
01:02:26
not no I don't
01:02:29
um
01:02:32
it's I I don't I know something about
01:02:35
that particular thing saying it's not
01:02:36
fair like I've got this and they don't
01:02:39
that's that's just just the way my
01:02:42
life's going to turn
01:02:43
out there was um a quote that I I think
01:02:46
this was on the Sunday documentary or
01:02:48
something online um [ __ ] it it was felt
01:02:51
like a real gut punch for me and I I had
01:02:52
even met you at this point um how do I
01:02:54
love when I feel feel so ashamed [ __ ]
01:02:58
that's well it's a hell of a line yeah
01:03:01
thank you it was
01:03:04
uh I mean there's so there's so much
01:03:06
about Parkinson's that uh is beneficial
01:03:10
just for normal life things like you
01:03:14
know trying to be still how do we move
01:03:17
how do we move fast how do we be still
01:03:19
how do we take advantage of our bodies
01:03:21
how do we how do we um how do we
01:03:24
experience the world in a way that our
01:03:27
bodies you know we're here in the world
01:03:29
in this particular body and that's all
01:03:30
we got so what are we going to do with
01:03:32
that and all those kind of um
01:03:35
philosophical things are important for
01:03:37
everybody so at the time that question
01:03:40
of how do I love when I feel so
01:03:43
ashamed that was um very powerful for me
01:03:47
at the time why did you feel
01:03:50
ashamed
01:03:54
I I mean it does make you feel a bit
01:03:57
stink the condition when um you know you
01:04:01
doing a whole bunch of it's very
01:04:04
difficult for you know for you to be
01:04:07
a a father for one thing it's very you
01:04:10
know I've said before that um doing the
01:04:12
dishes is hard like all those kind of
01:04:14
daily daily things very challenging and
01:04:18
they do have an impact on your
01:04:20
um on your self-esteem and all that kind
01:04:24
of all that kind of thing however I'm
01:04:27
very grateful to say that in the
01:04:29
subsequent years after that particular
01:04:31
Sunday interview that I have uh grappled
01:04:34
with that
01:04:36
particular um
01:04:39
beast and have um learned how to love
01:04:43
again very grateful for for that there's
01:04:47
a twinkle in your eye when you say that
01:04:49
yeah you mentioned earlier um yeah you
01:04:51
got married last year yes
01:04:53
congratulations thank you so so you your
01:04:56
your your part we don't have to talk
01:04:57
about your partner if you don't want but
01:04:58
you met her post diagnosis well nae and
01:05:01
I have known each other for 34
01:05:04
years when I used to walk up to tvnz of
01:05:06
my school shorts to go and visit my dad
01:05:08
in the mar Department she was a young
01:05:10
assistant there at the time she was also
01:05:13
a very uh highly regarded pop star as
01:05:16
well with her songs Toe with love
01:05:19
exactly what the [ __ ] I yeah so um and
01:05:24
over the years she has
01:05:26
uh worked very uh fastidiously and hard
01:05:29
at the uh for the Pacific Island
01:05:32
community especially Tong out to Pastor
01:05:34
fer and produced that show over the last
01:05:36
I guess 20 years so um she's a person of
01:05:41
incredible Renown and respect so I'm
01:05:44
just so
01:05:45
grateful yes to have her come back into
01:05:49
my life and as uh my children she's been
01:05:54
incredible
01:05:57
incredible um you know I just have so
01:05:59
much respect for her at the time she was
01:06:02
literally peeling me off the floor I was
01:06:03
in the middle of sweet to season 2 she'd
01:06:06
come around and I'd be on on the floor
01:06:07
trying to in the kitchen floor like
01:06:09
having trying to you know do my needle
01:06:12
and the pump and everything like that
01:06:13
she would come around
01:06:16
and um as I say literally peel me off
01:06:19
the floor at that point so we had a
01:06:22
great year last year in the leadup to
01:06:24
the wedding I went to Toronto for 5
01:06:26
months and left her at home with my
01:06:30
children um but she came for a couple of
01:06:33
visits and then I went to LA for screen
01:06:35
of her movie and we had a great time and
01:06:37
then uh on the way back I had been
01:06:40
offered to show in Hawaii so just went
01:06:42
did a little Sidetrack there with Robbie
01:06:44
did a show rescue High Surf there with
01:06:46
Robbie mager on the North Shore of
01:06:48
Hawaii of of Wahoo I should say and at
01:06:51
that point Na and the kids were like
01:06:53
well if you're going to go to that show
01:06:55
we coming to so did that and then on the
01:06:58
way back I I I I got two flights one to
01:07:02
Melbourne jet star flight from hon Lulu
01:07:04
to Melbourne Melbourne to Oakland got
01:07:07
married 12 12 hours
01:07:09
later wow amazing oh congratulations
01:07:13
thank you yeah what about your
01:07:15
perspective on life and work how's that
01:07:16
changed yeah my perspective on life has
01:07:19
completely changed since diagnosis and
01:07:21
then I alluded to that a little bit
01:07:23
before by saying you know what I was
01:07:24
saying about the Gratitude yeah
01:07:26
gratitude but also pushing against the
01:07:28
universe and just letting it come to
01:07:31
you um you you know I when I was in my
01:07:35
20s I was like I must have this I must
01:07:37
do that and very ambitious I guess but
01:07:40
at the same time I do remember saying
01:07:42
that by the time I turned 50 I want not
01:07:44
to be as ambitious and just have that
01:07:46
sort of that
01:07:48
particular um thing go away a little and
01:07:52
certainly I feel like that too I just
01:07:55
feel like everything from now On's a
01:07:57
bonus yeah at the very beginning of this
01:08:00
chat when you came in and I um
01:08:02
congratulated you on turning 50 recently
01:08:04
you said 50 more to go how how how do
01:08:07
you see the future
01:08:09
looking I see the future looking very
01:08:13
Rosy which is kind of crazy because you
01:08:16
I've got an incurable brain disease that
01:08:19
is degenerative
01:08:21
and but yeah if optimistic very optimis
01:08:26
MH I feel optimistic in the sense that
01:08:29
um you know the research and the um
01:08:33
incredible work that people around the
01:08:34
world are doing on this particular
01:08:37
disease
01:08:41
um you very optimistic from that point
01:08:43
of view but also you know just from
01:08:47
personally I just feel
01:08:52
that I know just feel a very good very
01:08:54
happy place right
01:08:56
now that's wonderful in terms of stigma
01:08:59
and stuff you experienced match or has
01:09:01
it just all been good people that know
01:09:04
you know I think people that know and
01:09:07
have heard me talk about I think it's
01:09:08
been good it's the tricky thing is like
01:09:10
in the supermarket when I shuffling and
01:09:13
I can't stop you know walking on my
01:09:16
tiptoes and I go a little bit too far
01:09:17
and crash into the cheese or
01:09:19
whatever you know often I think it looks
01:09:22
I can imagine that looks like I'm drunk
01:09:24
or
01:09:26
inebriated in some way
01:09:28
yeah
01:09:31
um so those kind of things are tricky I
01:09:34
wear you know I wear this around my neck
01:09:37
you know so when I'm meeting people I
01:09:39
can introduce myself
01:09:41
with with with that rather than um with
01:09:46
a name tag rather than having to say it
01:09:48
cuz it's
01:09:50
tricky if you could give advice to
01:09:52
someone that um you may have even done
01:09:54
this actually since you've been um you
01:09:56
know so public about your diagnosis if
01:09:59
you could give advice to someone that's
01:10:00
been recently recently diagnosed with
01:10:02
Parkinson's what would you what would
01:10:03
you say or what would you
01:10:06
do
01:10:08
um so yeah I have I have well that's
01:10:11
that's an honor um yeah you put yourself
01:10:14
in that position and um you have people
01:10:16
reaching out to you y that's very true
01:10:19
it is an
01:10:20
[Music]
01:10:24
honor I mean it's diff different for
01:10:26
everybody and you know
01:10:28
to I'm really lucky to have incredible
01:10:31
support especially now that um you know
01:10:34
with na but you know not everybody's in
01:10:39
same fortunate position as I am so
01:10:45
um yeah I going just take it one day at
01:10:48
a time is the main thing I
01:10:50
think yeah so it depends completely
01:10:52
depends on the person that I'll be
01:10:54
talking to
01:10:56
JZ you're a good dude are you PR you
01:10:57
proud of
01:10:59
yourself you ask who did you ask that of
01:11:01
I don't know you that of was
01:11:04
it I get to a lot of gu it's um it's
01:11:07
funny funny thank you for saying that
01:11:10
and uh yeah I am I remember thinking
01:11:13
what when you're talking to Josh am I am
01:11:15
I going to when I to say do any ask me
01:11:17
that question but you know pride is a
01:11:19
tricky thing I I don't feel like proud
01:11:21
proud but uh I am grateful and I feel
01:11:26
a lot of gratitude but at the same time
01:11:28
yeah I I've I've seen some stuff in my
01:11:31
time I don't think you know many many
01:11:33
many many times prior to Parkinson's
01:11:35
even though I didn't think I'd be making
01:11:37
it to 50 so you to be on the other side
01:11:41
of 50 my uh my my um as I said before
01:11:47
the sort of it's all downhill from here
01:11:49
in a good way you know on down slope
01:11:50
it's easier walking down conquered that
01:11:53
particular con that particular
01:11:56
Hill um and my unsolicited advice from
01:12:01
The Far Side of 50
01:12:05
is take care of yourself I guess yeah
01:12:08
not sure I reckon that's a good place to
01:12:10
end it is there anything that we haven't
01:12:11
touched upon that yet we've touched on
01:12:14
Plenty yeah thank you very much for
01:12:16
having me mate it's been it's been an
01:12:18
absolute honor to meet you and I'd urge
01:12:20
anyone that hasn't seen your movie
01:12:21
number two yet to watch it on tvnz on
01:12:23
demand it's a bloody great on demand
01:12:25
that's cool yeah um you you should be
01:12:28
proud of yourself I mean there this the
01:12:29
work stuff but you know work schirk but
01:12:31
also the um the stuff you've done as um
01:12:33
an advocate for Parkinson's um I don't
01:12:35
think that can be underestimated it's
01:12:38
it's it's cool and it's unfortunate that
01:12:40
you know this gift has fallen into your
01:12:42
lap but um I'm so pleased that you're
01:12:44
doing something with it thank you and
01:12:47
you know still learning so much about it
01:12:50
and learning about language around
01:12:51
health issues and disabilities but one
01:12:53
of the things that friend of mine in the
01:12:57
states uh inspire me to do was think
01:13:00
about how am I going to make this easier
01:13:02
for somebody else coming behind you
01:13:04
coming in later in this
01:13:06
thing um you know so hopefully me
01:13:10
talking about it might make it easier
01:13:12
for somebody else more t phraser
01:13:17
faka m Dom thank you for having
01:13:24
me for

Podspun Insights

In this episode, the conversation flows like a gentle stream, weaving through the life and experiences of a celebrated filmmaker who recently turned 50. With a mix of nostalgia and humor, he reflects on his iconic film, "Number Two," and the journey that led him to create it. The host and guest dive deep into the emotional waters of Parkinson's disease, a diagnosis that reshaped the filmmaker's life and perspective. The candid discussion reveals the challenges of living with a chronic condition, the importance of community, and the unexpected joys that come with embracing vulnerability. As they share personal anecdotes and insights, listeners are treated to a rich tapestry of humor, heart, and inspiration, making this episode a delightful exploration of resilience and creativity.

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  • 90
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  • 90
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  • 90
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Episode Highlights

  • Turning 50: A New Perspective
    Reflecting on life at 50, he shares feelings of serenity and gratitude.
    “I feel very serene and happy and grateful.”
    @ 00m 57s
    March 09, 2025
  • Going Public with Parkinson's
    He discusses the bravery of sharing his Parkinson's diagnosis and its impact on his life.
    “I wasn’t doing myself any favors by keeping it a secret.”
    @ 03m 07s
    March 09, 2025
  • The Journey of Storytelling
    He reflects on the fulfillment found in storytelling over the trappings of fame.
    “You need to experience those trappings to know they’re not the thing that brings joy.”
    @ 20m 33s
    March 09, 2025
  • The Journey of Number Two
    The evolution of the play 'Number Two' into a film was a collaborative effort, inspired by family anecdotes and experiences.
    “It was a collaboration always.”
    @ 22m 32s
    March 09, 2025
  • Creating 'Bathe in the River'
    The collaboration with Don McGlashan led to one of New Zealand's most iconic songs.
    “It was just an incredible mind-blowing moment.”
    @ 33m 25s
    March 09, 2025
  • Sundance Film Festival Experience
    The filmmaker reflects on the whirlwind of attention and opportunities that came after attending Sundance.
    “I thought, hey we made it to Sundance, cool!”
    @ 36m 02s
    March 09, 2025
  • Creating 'Sweet Tooth' During a Pandemic
    The production faced numerous challenges due to COVID-19, yet thrived in a unique environment.
    “We were able to make this sort of weird serendipitous show about a post-apocalyptic world.”
    @ 43m 00s
    March 09, 2025
  • Writing an Autobiographic Novel
    The director is working on a book about his experiences with Parkinson's and brain surgery.
    “It's called eulogy, it's about Parkinson's really.”
    @ 47m 48s
    March 09, 2025
  • The Impact of Parkinson's
    The director shares his journey with Parkinson's and how it has shaped his life and work.
    “I feel blessed that I have this disease.”
    @ 01h 00m 59s
    March 09, 2025
  • Learning to Love Again
    Navigating the complexities of love and shame after a diagnosis.
    “How do I love when I feel so ashamed?”
    @ 01h 03m 40s
    March 09, 2025
  • A New Perspective on Life
    Embracing gratitude and optimism after turning 50 and facing challenges.
    “Everything from now on’s a bonus.”
    @ 01h 07m 52s
    March 09, 2025
  • Hope Amidst Challenges
    Finding optimism in the face of an incurable disease.
    “I feel optimistic in the sense that...”
    @ 01h 08m 26s
    March 09, 2025

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • Storytelling Fulfillment20:25
  • Sundance Experience36:02
  • Production Challenges42:39
  • Post-Apocalyptic Story43:03
  • Writing Journey47:48
  • Life Lessons1:00:59
  • Optimistic Outlook1:07:52
  • Hopeful Perspective1:08:26

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