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[Music]
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kiwi's Love at
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First like Finn we're making
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[Music]
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waves generate switch online
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[Music]
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today Dame Julie Christie welcome to my
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podcast thank you I'm very privileged to
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be here you're a bit of a podcast Legend
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now oh stop it stop it the good people
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do Dom's podcast why is that I don't
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maybe because I well you can answer this
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it's because I I pissed of them and Anno
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who's interviewing who yeah we have had
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a few every meeting you you did say that
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so I'm very happily succumbed this has
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been not happily this has been over a
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year in the making by the way I went
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through our text exchange this morning
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and you're um it's quite funny there's
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um there's like a lot of guests I have
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that sort of like put themselves forward
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um which I found quite strange in the
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beginning um but I now I sort of
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appreciate it then there's people like
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you and um Jeff Wilson's another one
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that just think they've got nothing to
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say like I went back through our text
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exchange and one of the most recent ones
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from a few months ago was like I've got
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I've got nothing interesting to say but
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I'm going to Saudi Arabia let's um check
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in when I get back and maybe I'll have
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something to say then it's like you're
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so humble oh no I don't think it's
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humility I think it's kind of the poor
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girl from gy mouth is a bit of a well
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trodden story and so you know you want
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to have something new and interesting to
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say I guess you know I'm a Content
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person as well and just dragging up old
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stuff doesn't seem that interesting yeah
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no but it's um it's a great story though
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and it's a story that's worth sharing
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and there'll be a lot of because you've
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been as far as I'm aware you've only
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done one other podcast that was Paula
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benett did Paul is yeah Paul is a good
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friend of mine like you are so uh yeah
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that's why I did them so one of the Texs
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I found when I was going back through
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our text exchange of me um bullying you
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to come on my podcast um is this do you
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want to read this one out and we can get
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into that later on
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oh my God yes isn't that
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funny goly gosh are you going to bring
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back every text I privately sent you and
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hand to me I can't wait well we don't we
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don't have to read it out if you don't
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want that's all right um the best
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presenters are the most disciplined Mark
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Richardson is the best ever um I was
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talking about Paul Henry in this text
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wasn't I I said Paul's ability to get
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you drunk in the morning is astonishing
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many a time he'd say come and have a
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coffee and you'd end up three bottles of
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red wine before lunch um
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um my homes Henry Ridge Alice Etc as
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stories are he raising and they are he
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raising Stories the most gifted uh
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people are always the most hear raising
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and we we and the most unfiltered we'll
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get into them and do course I actually I
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had Matthew Ridge on the podcast maybe a
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year and a half ago now and he said he
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was um overseas filming one of your
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shows with Mark Ellis when the whole um
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drug charge thing sort of blew up back
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home it did and uh according to to told
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them to tell them yeah according um
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according to Matthew Ridge you tried to
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get hold of Mark couldn't get hold of
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him so you found Matthew and you were
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like um I'm surprised it's the other one
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and not you
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something no was also the way around um
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um M obviously you know Matthew's recent
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um kind of Revelations have shocked even
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me which is surprising because um I
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didn't realize I thought Matthew had
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ADHD but I didn't realize but uh you
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know I I spent a decade with those boys
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and I spent two years was John mackenro
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which was an experience in itself an
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incredibly complex man angry man but um
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you know you can one of the world's
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greatest ever tennis players you can
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only admire him and you say to yourself
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um you know I was I won't say luck
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because lucky I don't I don't believe in
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luck but I was truly fortunate to have
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had that experience with him to have
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seen what a perfectionist is and what
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drives him and you very much see that
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too as Matthew Ridge very much always
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been driven by Perfection especially on
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the sports
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so uh you know and and Paul Holmes the
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same you know Paul Henry driven by
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himself I love him I love him but he's
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it was so fabulously unfiltered which
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obviously we don't have anymore God I'm
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so excited to get into this um yeah one
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thing all those names had in common I'm
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guessing is they're all flawed as well
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but aren't aren't all interesting people
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flawed all the great rulers of the world
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all the all the really interesting you
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know um I guess famous people we've ever
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had in our times are enormously flawed
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there's like it's like being perfect
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isn't um you know isn't that interesting
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anymore um I find flaws is a I think
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flaws now is quite a good word I think
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flaws used to be a little bit derogatory
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now I think it's a it's a it can be a
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really complimentary world word because
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without flaws you know you you don't
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really understand the ups and downs of
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life you know and without a roller
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coaster in life what stories have you
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got to tell I remember another one of my
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favorite FL friends sir Bob Jones said
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to me once he said um I was we when we
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were doing Dragons day I said I'm
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thinking about retiring and he said
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don't I retired when I was 32 he said
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and it was fine for the first 3 months
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cuz people still wanted to lunch with me
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but after that I had nothing to talk
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about and I couldn't find anyone to go
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to lunch with don't retire young that's
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what he said and and obviously Bob has
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had a lot of stories because of his
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flaws would he do a podcast have to get
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you to ask another sure actually but you
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know I I'd let him smoke his pipe in my
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studio if was absolutely love him I
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don't think I know that he sees now he
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doesn't drink but he drinks Cherry I
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don't drink anymore I only drink Sherry
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I'm
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like really yeah but I know I absolutely
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love him last time I went to his house
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and saw him he was showing me the the
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pigeons that are out in his front lawn
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he's a he's a very deep thinker and
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incredible reader Bob he just reads all
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the time what I was most impressed to
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see that he had a computer on his desk
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because for years he fought any form of
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Technology hated cell phones wouldn't
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have anything to do with them um he
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succumbed he succumbed yeah hey um man
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this is going to be so much fun even
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though this is I know this is like your
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worst nightmare I feel
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bit we going to drag up don't forget
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that you too were on Treasure Island Dom
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I've got some stories about you um no
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this this is one thing about my podcast
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is um uh one of my priorities is to to
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make sure the guest always has a really
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good time so you have full edit control
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so there's um I just want you to feel as
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comfortable as possible
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I'm fine you know I'm I'm kind of used
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to it now yeah I just want to know where
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all the red wine that you bestowed upon
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Paul Henry is where's the fridge well
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this is this is T he was an afternoon
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one to be here by the end of his podcast
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I thought he's had at least three
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bottles so i' I've got a quote from by
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the way you're 63 now he you're looking
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great by the way is that is that
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inappropriate to thank you for the
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reminder I'd forgotten yeah do you um
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are you are you funny about your age or
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yeah always have been really yeah I I
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bring that up because um
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anaging I found a quote from you in 2009
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so that's 15 years ago so you would have
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been what's that my math is terrible
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49 um will I be doing it when I'm 60
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absolutely not I'll be living in my
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batch on the west coast of the south
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island where there's no cell phone
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coverage right so where did it go wrong
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so 18 months ago they put in a cell
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phone
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tow that's where it went wrong um well I
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did give up I did give up TV for a
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decade and did boards mostly government
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boards but then I decided that I kept
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hearing Bob Jones in my ear and realized
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that I probably had retired too early so
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3 years ago um I bought Natural History
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New Zealand nhnz um it was just company
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out of den Eden uh expressly to make
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international documentaries because I
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realized that I can't be my best on the
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New Zealand Market that I'm at my best
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on the international market so and they
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were already had a big international
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business it's the oldest production
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company in New Zealand's 47 years old so
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it just made sense and so there I am I'm
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back and you're still working hard but
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not I'm not as hard as what you used to
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work are you were you were maybe the
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hardest worker I've ever met I used to
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do a lot of ours I was crazy ambitious
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you know and and very much alone or we
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were really the only ones pushing that
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genre I was you know at a time I was
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living in LA and I was coming home every
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weekend to see my kids and and I would
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just by that's a hell of a commute well
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as long as you can sleep on a plane was
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like an overnighter and then back it's
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only 4 hours difference you know I'd get
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on the plane at 7:30 be there at 11:00
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in the morning you know work the rest of
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the day you know like it was I've always
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been a person who gets off the plane and
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goes to work you know so um and travels
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quite well so yeah I I was a crazy hard
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worker but I got that from my mother my
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mother also never believed in um sitting
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down even when she sat down she'd been
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knitting she never believed in rest
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active relaxer active relaxer very much
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and I think I kind of still am really
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that too yeah I heard that to term
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haven't have you not heard it no is that
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a new term is is that a new W term is it
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no I think it's been been around around
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a while cuz I'm like that as well like
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my girlfriend's like just sit down and
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watch a movie but I'm I'd rather be
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watching the movie while wiping the
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bench down or you know multitasking yeah
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you know I'm following Victoria
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Beckham's um lead now she she says she
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only watches um stuff she shouldn't be
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watching when she's on the treadmill so
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when I want to watch all my crappy
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Netflix stuff I have to be on the
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treadmill that's a great way to go about
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it you have run past me in quite a few
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marathons so you know only do halfes you
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do whole ones but um and so when I think
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about that when I'm on the treadmill you
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know it's Dom shooting past me yeah how
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many have you done now I got stop trying
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to turn the tables it's um yeah I don't
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know maybe about 50 or so I have you
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okay yeah I I know what you're doing
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it's like a deflection technique to try
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and eat up the time no it's fine um yeah
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you brought up your mom said we'll get
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into the early years of um Dam Julie
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Christie but first of all um since you
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um we were talking about your work ethic
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just before I did hear a story about you
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and it's probably one of those stor that
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sort of changed over the years but story
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about you when you're involved with um
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this is your life you had something like
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a like a last minute rehearsal in the
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morning went away for a um elective
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cerian at lunch and was back for the
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show that
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night close oh my God that's Savage
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didn't have Electro cerian had had the
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baby induced had the baby induced in the
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morning um two three day three days out
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from this is your life thinking he would
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be there and I could still do it he took
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a very long time to come so I was left
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with a day and a half before the live
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this is your life so yes I did do um
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this is your life the day after my son
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Tim was born but I wouldn't advise
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anyone to do that now and I've seen some
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pictures of me at that time and I looked
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very very stressed and very hagged but
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it was um it was gr Fox's this your life
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it was one of the ones I did with um Bob
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Parker um because obviously I've went
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through three this is your life
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different this is your life host and um
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you know and it was it was a great it
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really was a great episode but yes that
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is true but I wouldn't be that silly now
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no but I think that speaks a lot about
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your your I suppose your drive or your
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work ethic or your desire to you know be
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the absolute best at that particular
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time in your life yeah probably but I
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also was determined that you know having
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children really wasn't going to make um
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any difference you know I to me I never
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saw it stopped my mother you know who
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had seven Under 12 and my father died so
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I just always believed that
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I I could just do it it was just part of
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life yeah okay which brings us to this
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card I took a whole two weeks off for
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the second
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one wow God you must have been bored
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shitless um what was it like medical
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reasons like you must have yeah you must
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have been real I also may have got her
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in Juiced as
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well okay I've got this card I I've
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written early years but I suppose that
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we could call this um the poor little
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girl from Greymouth is that what you C
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it before yeah so you're from Greymouth
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um your dad died uh at the age of 32
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from a brain 47 was 32 okay so she was
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32 at the time he was 47 you were 5
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years old at the time what are your
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memories what are your memories of that
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do you remember anything of your dad oh
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yeah I remember him especially visually
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and I remember him vaguely not nearly
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enough but I also grew up with um a
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picture of my father on the television
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it's probably told you something
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about families like ours there was a
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black and white television and and that
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was kind of that was a centerpiece of
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the lounge in fact it was such a
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centerpiece that I remember the cat
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would catch a bird and bring it in the
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house and put on the television cuz
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that's what everybody looked at all the
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time so I grew up we didn't we didn't
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really have holidays and we didn't kind
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of have any other FM entertainment so I
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grew up watching television I grew up
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watching all those great which you're
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probably too young to remember the great
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um Studio shows which used come out
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Avalon like new faces and Studio One and
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happen in and we used to they used to
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make a lot of variety shows um out of
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Wellington and and and I grew up with
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those and New Zealand television that
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time was so vibrant we used to just
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watch it all the time my mother used to
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watch a soap opera called pton place
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which was terribly supposed to be
00:13:09
terribly adult at the time and I was
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never allowed to watch it so it always
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Mis mystified me but um but he' always
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get sent off to bed so Mom could watch
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pton place but um but yeah th those I
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think it's the that television was such
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a huge part of my life growing up is the
00:13:25
reason I drifted towards it especially I
00:13:28
guess the the common touch um form why
00:13:32
why do you think um that is do you think
00:13:33
there's like a degree of escapism in
00:13:35
there because you know your life was so
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like sort of Bleak and miserable and
00:13:39
well certainly wasn't Bleak and
00:13:39
miserable it was loving and we were
00:13:41
never like cold and starving but you
00:13:44
just didn't you know you didn't there
00:13:46
wasn't money for holidays you know there
00:13:48
wasn't money for jeans there was was
00:13:50
homemade clothes there you know it was
00:13:52
just the way it was um you know it was
00:13:54
an incredible struggle for her she was
00:13:56
on a Widow's benefit she would she
00:13:57
wouldn't take charity but she believed
00:13:59
so much in education so everything was
00:14:01
about getting us educated so we you know
00:14:04
we always you tried really hard at
00:14:06
school because mom wouldn't have it any
00:14:08
other way and you never had any sickness
00:14:10
or any days of school because she
00:14:12
believed so much in education and to
00:14:14
this day I think of parents believe that
00:14:16
much in education we would have a lot
00:14:17
less problems in this country because
00:14:20
it's so important and so that is the
00:14:23
answer to getting out of poverty you can
00:14:24
talk about everything else but it's all
00:14:26
about education because it it it it
00:14:28
changed everything and so for my entire
00:14:31
family we were all educated I mean I
00:14:32
don't have a University degree but um I
00:14:34
went to journalism school only for a
00:14:36
year
00:14:37
but it's the education that changed
00:14:40
everything yes so your mom um so widowed
00:14:43
at 32 um at the time seven kids under
00:14:46
the age of 12 um I believe she raised
00:14:49
you guys on like a diet of like silver
00:14:51
beat and porridge oh I hated porridge I
00:14:53
hate porridge this day I cannot stand
00:14:56
even looking at porridge no she was
00:14:58
great with you know Mom could take any
00:15:00
steak and make a great stew or a great
00:15:02
vegetable soup but she did insist on
00:15:05
porrige every morning and I hated it I
00:15:06
didn't like milk and I didn't like and
00:15:08
therefore you know porridge without milk
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and oh I hated it and I still to this
00:15:13
day cannot stand Silver Beach brussel
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sprouts corn
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beef um yes and I may have once called
00:15:21
them Poor People's food yeah but and
00:15:23
which just sounds really derogatory but
00:15:24
you know when you when you grow up like
00:15:27
that m but at the same time honestly you
00:15:31
know she she also would make some great
00:15:33
stuff too you know Jam sandwiches Jam
00:15:36
jam and cream sandwiches actually you
00:15:37
know things like that but and you you
00:15:40
know every birthday should still make a
00:15:42
cake and it was um it was just it was
00:15:45
just a different life but she did
00:15:47
everything she possibly could for us and
00:15:48
we certainly were never hungry and she
00:15:50
did so well um I I I know your brother
00:15:55
um bit better than I know you four of
00:15:56
them yeah uh and particular your brother
00:15:59
who's um ran forland Mir a couple of
00:16:00
years ago and runs a a bar called HQ
00:16:03
inland's Vu I've known him since like 30
00:16:05
years or so to North boys I believe yeah
00:16:08
yeah I first met him when he was like a
00:16:10
um a mobile bet vet then he opened up a
00:16:13
bar with the fat lady's arms um but um I
00:16:16
believe all the other siblings have done
00:16:17
very well for themselves in their
00:16:18
respective Fields as well they are I
00:16:20
mean my brother um Mike so who's started
00:16:23
working for me in 1995 actually when I
00:16:25
when I not long after I set up touchdown
00:16:28
and when I left um television 2013 he
00:16:31
took over him Greg Heath his co-managing
00:16:33
director at at Warner Brothers
00:16:35
television so he you know he's um
00:16:37
continued on yeah they all have they're
00:16:39
all you know we're we're a really close
00:16:42
family but everybody is very much um a
00:16:44
product of her mother you know because I
00:16:46
guess because Dad Drive died so young so
00:16:49
there's there's a really big work ethic
00:16:51
and there's almost I feel sometimes I
00:16:54
feel there's almost a guilt if you're
00:16:55
not working a guilt over relaxing
00:16:57
because to been driven into me there
00:17:00
some but then I you know even when I'm
00:17:02
relaxing some idea for a TV show is
00:17:04
still winding around in my mind God
00:17:07
there's some parallels hey I'm I'm I'm
00:17:08
much the same like like yeah I do I feel
00:17:11
sort of like guilt or even a little bit
00:17:13
of Shame if I'm like relaxing or not
00:17:16
like progressing my goals or whatever um
00:17:18
there's there's another thing this is
00:17:20
this is certainly the case for me and
00:17:21
I'm wondering if it's the same for you
00:17:22
as well I've always had kind of a maybe
00:17:25
like an unhealthy relationship with
00:17:27
money because I just like I it felt like
00:17:29
I I look back now I think we were very
00:17:31
middle class growing up in palon north
00:17:32
but I felt like we were poor like I'd
00:17:34
run out of a 50 sheet refle pad and I'd
00:17:36
need to buy another one and i' I'd
00:17:38
sometimes let like spend three or four
00:17:39
days plucking up the courage to ask D
00:17:41
for the four bucks to buy it cuz I knew
00:17:42
that had snap at me so it always felt
00:17:45
like there was um like a a definite
00:17:47
shortage of money in our household and
00:17:48
that's made me sort of like money
00:17:50
focused to a degree is do you think it's
00:17:51
the same for you like very I get that
00:17:54
now I didn't see it at the time but
00:17:56
that's been you know Financial
00:17:58
Security's been a huge driver for my
00:17:59
success I saw my mother age from when my
00:18:02
father died she aged very very quickly I
00:18:05
mean I think she went gray within about
00:18:07
3 months she was just and the stress
00:18:09
that of of um excuse me the stress of
00:18:13
earning enough whether she be cleaning
00:18:16
at night or earning enough to ensure
00:18:18
that she could look after her children
00:18:19
definitely aged her and I um I I have
00:18:23
always been driven by wanting to be
00:18:25
financially secure you know money
00:18:27
doesn't buy you happiness but it does
00:18:28
Buy freedom and there is a trap in not
00:18:31
being financially secure so yes it's
00:18:33
it's always been a big driver and and
00:18:36
you know I'm not ashamed to say that
00:18:38
that's why I chose the television genre
00:18:41
I chose because I knew I could take that
00:18:43
internationally and therefore I could
00:18:45
earn a really good
00:18:47
living yeah yeah and you're um God your
00:18:50
mom she must have been so proud of you
00:18:52
like she I she passed away 10 years ago
00:18:55
right she did yeah she was very proud of
00:18:56
me she she was there when I got my own
00:18:57
zum when I got my first honors and she
00:18:59
was so proud um yeah it's isn't it it's
00:19:03
strange because she was also incredibly
00:19:05
loyal when she died very suddenly none
00:19:08
of us saw it coming cuz she was
00:19:09
seemingly so healthy but um when I went
00:19:12
to her house we clearing out her things
00:19:15
to I found um I found a some a letter
00:19:19
she had written to Paul Holmes had um
00:19:21
there was you probably remember well
00:19:24
when um Lana kok got sick on Treasure
00:19:26
Island and um you stood on some Coral
00:19:28
yeah well no one even know how it
00:19:30
happened but yeah POS quite very
00:19:32
possibly and um Paul Holmes kind of
00:19:36
began kind of a bit of a campaign um
00:19:38
blaming me even though I wasn't actually
00:19:40
on that on that series and um mom had
00:19:42
written this letter to him this fiercely
00:19:44
defensive letter of her daughter and
00:19:46
thank heaven she had never posted it and
00:19:48
then she written another one and never
00:19:49
posted that and I found these letters
00:19:50
and it was very insightful and she's
00:19:52
also a woman who she wrote wrote letters
00:19:55
to both of my children when they were
00:19:56
babies and when you read that and you
00:19:58
hear her tell a story of how my father
00:20:00
died and that it's it's um you know it's
00:20:02
it makes you're incredibly close to your
00:20:04
parents that's wonderful imagine if she
00:20:07
was alive now with a Twitter account it
00:20:09
should be I know oh can you imagine we
00:20:12
did not long before she died we finally
00:20:13
taught her how to use an iPad and she'd
00:20:15
write the whole email into the subject
00:20:16
line but um at that time we had a race a
00:20:20
race horse with Leo and and mom was able
00:20:22
to watch the horse when the horse one
00:20:24
mom was able to watch it again and again
00:20:26
and again on the iPad so she was able to
00:20:28
feel like it was winning again and again
00:20:30
so yeah um yes so so you were you were
00:20:34
in your 50s when she passed away so
00:20:35
you're you're a grown ass woman very
00:20:37
well established in your own career um
00:20:40
yeah does the grief still hurt though
00:20:42
well I think it did because I think at
00:20:44
that time I was I was kind of a little
00:20:45
bit more worried about the rest of my
00:20:47
family you know um why are you the
00:20:50
oldest no I'm Fifth Fifth what are you
00:20:53
worried about everyone else a bit of a
00:20:54
matriarch perhaps um I think you know um
00:20:59
um my mother probably saw quite a lot of
00:21:02
personal strength in me and um but yeah
00:21:05
I I was very worried about others and me
00:21:10
my my younger brother and younger sister
00:21:11
both lived in Greymouth when mom lived
00:21:13
where mom lived and they were obviously
00:21:14
very close to her so so I I still now it
00:21:18
still hurts now that it was so sudden
00:21:21
you know it was um the day after um
00:21:24
Mother's Day actually so yeah but it
00:21:26
means everybody bone had spoken to her
00:21:27
in the last couple of days so yeah yeah
00:21:30
yeah was there um yeah was there
00:21:32
anything left
00:21:34
unid oh no I I think Mom knew how much
00:21:37
we all appreciated her you know I tended
00:21:39
to when things got quite stressful I'd
00:21:41
go home wouldn't need to say anything to
00:21:42
her but she'd be making the veggie soup
00:21:44
and making the stew and cooking your
00:21:46
sausages for breakfast and all the
00:21:48
things that she knew you loved and there
00:21:50
was no porridge to be
00:21:52
seen not a silver be inside I'd go down
00:21:54
to KFC and grab her a couple of bits of
00:21:56
KFC cuz she loved KFC
00:21:59
yeah um yeah I guess must must sting
00:22:02
when big things happen like
00:22:04
um the day that we're recording this um
00:22:07
you're you're you're getting an award
00:22:08
this week like a basically a Lifetime
00:22:09
Achievement Award um and you're being um
00:22:12
given the Dame title uh like yeah it
00:22:15
must sting at moments like that that
00:22:18
she's not around to see these things oh
00:22:20
mean my mother was quite a
00:22:21
traditionalist I don't think she would
00:22:22
have cared about the television one but
00:22:23
she would have loved um she would have
00:22:25
loved the damehood her biggest throw
00:22:27
when I got my ownc was actually me
00:22:28
meeting the governor general that was
00:22:29
what she really loved um cuz he was a
00:22:31
good Catholic so um yeah that's what Mom
00:22:34
really loved um yeah but yeah you you do
00:22:37
you know you you care like when I got my
00:22:39
dam Hood I got there was a little bit of
00:22:41
criticism and um you know my mother
00:22:44
would have felt that probably more
00:22:45
deeply than I did oh she would have been
00:22:47
she would have been writing more letters
00:22:49
writing letters hopefully not sending
00:22:50
them yeah we we'll get to some of that
00:22:52
um some of that criticism because yeah
00:22:54
some that was really really personal and
00:22:55
actually you look back now like quite
00:22:57
offensive and yeah un for um yeah can't
00:23:01
you let someone have their [ __ ]
00:23:02
moment you know oh yeah and can't you
00:23:04
actually do a bit of research before you
00:23:07
yeah riping but anyway that's all fine
00:23:09
so early career so um your first job was
00:23:12
um working a hospital laundry yes is
00:23:14
this when you at school is this like
00:23:16
school this was before I between school
00:23:17
and journalism I spent a summer work in
00:23:19
hospital laundry so it was it was it's a
00:23:23
good way to discover what you don't want
00:23:24
to do with your life it is it is and it
00:23:25
was but it was a job you know it was a
00:23:27
job and so I worked there and then I
00:23:29
went off to Wellington to um to just a
00:23:32
one-year journalism School Wellington
00:23:34
poltech for a year yeah why not Teachers
00:23:36
College you wanted to be a teacher I I I
00:23:38
actually applied for journalism which
00:23:40
was one year graphic arts which was two
00:23:42
and and teaching which was three years I
00:23:44
got into all of them but I figured I
00:23:45
could only stand poverty for one year
00:23:47
was literally that's that is literally
00:23:49
why I became a journalist because was
00:23:52
only one year that's how I guess I was
00:23:55
trying to escape my childhood yeah and
00:23:58
yes your teachers College some might say
00:24:00
poverty for 3 years in a lifetime of
00:24:01
poverty exactly and I would have been a
00:24:03
terrible teacher can you imagine I do
00:24:06
not have the patience I admire great
00:24:08
teachers um but I do not have the
00:24:11
patience for teaching you know yeah so
00:24:13
you become a journalist where do you
00:24:15
work is it Ackland start no I started at
00:24:16
the Evening Post and then and then um
00:24:20
went down to Christ Church actually to
00:24:22
the community newspapers down there and
00:24:24
then off to England where I worked on
00:24:25
the London sun and for and on The Daily
00:24:28
male in their Sports departments and
00:24:30
then when I came back I worked at the
00:24:32
Orland star and then the Orland Sun so
00:24:33
I've been through quite a few newspapers
00:24:35
mostly in sub editing by the time um you
00:24:38
know before I went to television and
00:24:40
really you know probably being a
00:24:41
headline writer actually taught me quite
00:24:43
a lot about certainly I've used that
00:24:45
skill many times when thinking of the
00:24:46
titles for TV shows right you have write
00:24:50
headlines you see yes yeah and they're a
00:24:52
great way of summing up a story and
00:24:53
dragging people into the story H well
00:24:56
that's interesting I never thought of it
00:24:57
that way and now with um I've got a
00:25:00
social media going with YouTube like the
00:25:02
the like the thumbnail and the caption
00:25:04
is everything it is yeah yeah it is I've
00:25:06
just done um a series with the nzr plus
00:25:09
um and um it's it's called Poise stories
00:25:13
it's it's where the black Fon I'm not
00:25:15
sure if you remember the women's rubby
00:25:16
World Cup how big po was we gave away
00:25:18
33,000 in this the the stadiums you know
00:25:21
Eden Park was full of poy you know that
00:25:23
was probably at least equally one of the
00:25:26
greatest achievements of My Life The
00:25:27
Women's rby World cup two years ago and
00:25:30
and we and seven of the black ferns
00:25:32
probably the biggest names in the game
00:25:33
have gone back to create a PO troop to
00:25:35
see if they can you know become um great
00:25:38
exponents of Po and um and you know I I
00:25:41
look at that and I you know I I kind of
00:25:46
started out first TV series I ever
00:25:49
produced was m and Glory great rugby
00:25:50
stories and the last one I've done is po
00:25:52
stories you know with the black Fern so
00:25:54
it's gone gone the whole I've gone a
00:25:56
full circle but um certainly yeah when I
00:25:59
I I look at that one and I
00:26:01
see there's there's kind of great
00:26:03
possibilities but when I look at it on
00:26:05
YouTube where where it's it's on the All
00:26:07
Black's YouTube channel I'm like it's so
00:26:10
you know like you say the taglines that
00:26:12
they have to put on it I'm like how's
00:26:14
anyone going to find their way here but
00:26:16
obviously YouTube now the biggest
00:26:17
platform in the world they do and
00:26:19
YouTube is only getting bigger and it's
00:26:22
pretty much going to be the platform but
00:26:24
for me personally still hard to find
00:26:26
stuff that's so go watch po stories on
00:26:29
YouTube the channel on YouTube please
00:26:31
yeah yeah I I don't fantastic I don't
00:26:34
understand it that's why I I Outsource
00:26:36
like it's you when you understand the
00:26:37
importance of the caption and the
00:26:39
thumbnail and everything else it's like
00:26:40
someone else can do that for me I don't
00:26:42
have the band it's brilliant but I mean
00:26:44
obviously under 25s use it more than all
00:26:48
the other platforms put together yeah
00:26:50
absolutely you know wow okay so from
00:26:52
journalism you end up in TV is this
00:26:54
where was you was your first job with
00:26:56
communicado and Neil Robert yeah I got
00:26:58
made redundant for when Oakland Sun
00:27:00
newspaper closed down so the share
00:27:02
market crash in ' 87 was a launch of
00:27:05
that coincided with the launch of that
00:27:07
paper and it closed down 333 Days Later
00:27:09
wow um and um and I tried to freelance
00:27:15
but I end up you know lying on the sofa
00:27:16
and watching soap operas I wasn't very
00:27:18
good at freelancing and I end up getting
00:27:19
off at a a job on a corporate video
00:27:22
actually just doing a bit of research um
00:27:24
for Neil Roberts and um the rest is
00:27:27
history it's like the light came on
00:27:29
suddenly I was like wow this TV stuff I
00:27:31
can do this cuz I suppose it was always
00:27:33
sort of sitting there due to your you
00:27:35
know the impact that TV had on your
00:27:37
growing up and yeah I think the common
00:27:39
Touch Too was always sitting there and
00:27:40
so common touch how do you mean the
00:27:42
ability to create content for a broad
00:27:44
audience is what I'd call it really now
00:27:46
that's the long version I just call it
00:27:48
the common touch definitely had that
00:27:50
because I am part of that audience I
00:27:53
always have been and very few critics or
00:27:56
junos are part of that broad audience
00:27:59
who uses television as an as an escape
00:28:02
as I did when I was growing up so um
00:28:05
yeah I kind of feel like I understand
00:28:08
that audience yeah oh you do better than
00:28:10
anyone else less now cuz they're all on
00:28:12
I'm I don't go to a Tik Tok I know
00:28:15
you're a tweeter I'm not Tweeter no I'm
00:28:18
not not I thought you were a twer just a
00:28:21
rumor I just found it too I I used to
00:28:23
love Twitter but I I just found it too
00:28:25
negative in the end it added nothing to
00:28:26
my life and it's like
00:28:28
so you get to the point you're like why
00:28:30
do I like these aren't people I know in
00:28:32
real life like no one speaks to me like
00:28:34
this in real life like why would I why
00:28:35
would I why would I get worked up and
00:28:37
have my day ruined by someone I don't
00:28:38
even [ __ ] know exactly um so Neil
00:28:42
Roberts what was he like I've
00:28:44
um like I've heard it sounds like he was
00:28:46
tough and uncompromising but did he sort
00:28:48
of shape the person you are or the
00:28:50
person you became as a boss oh no no no
00:28:54
he was um talk about a tremendously
00:28:57
flawed character don't come any more
00:28:58
floyed you know he was a big drinker a
00:29:01
big socializer you know loved women like
00:29:04
he loved life itself um he a product of
00:29:06
the time late ' 80s was quite hedonistic
00:29:08
eh well he spent a lot of time in the
00:29:09
Press gallery and he was kind of like
00:29:10
the anti- Press Gallery guy and I
00:29:13
actually made a documentary with Rob
00:29:14
malun once and Rob malun and my father
00:29:16
were in the same platoon on the Army and
00:29:17
when I mentioned that to Rob malun then
00:29:19
he really you know he loved me then
00:29:20
because you know he remembered my father
00:29:22
um and and S too good you
00:29:25
probably they were all in the same
00:29:27
platoon in the army so so I made this
00:29:30
this um I was part of this documentary
00:29:33
called Magic kiwis and Neil in spite of
00:29:35
spending a lot of time in the Press
00:29:36
Gallery had this kind of begrudging um
00:29:38
respect for Rob mun and um we were
00:29:42
sitting there the Parliamentary Chambers
00:29:44
and Neil was really really nervous and
00:29:46
I'm like wow I've never seen this guy
00:29:47
nervous like he was Mr Suave suits Mr i'
00:29:50
hadn't ever tasted Ballinger until I
00:29:52
worked there you know like I see most of
00:29:54
my time driving him around in his left
00:29:56
hand por because he was was always
00:29:58
losing his license you know when he
00:30:00
decided him and Bob Jones decided to
00:30:02
Belt some taxi with a piece of wood you
00:30:05
know I'm like on pickup when his cat ran
00:30:07
away so they called me I think my number
00:30:10
was on the cat's collar this is how
00:30:12
ridiculous it was really so I wasn't I
00:30:14
ended up being like a crazy 24/7 PA
00:30:18
there but um yeah but he he he kind of
00:30:23
he taught me taught me a lot he used to
00:30:25
say tell them what you're going to tell
00:30:26
them tell them then tell them what you
00:30:27
told them well it's never that simple
00:30:30
but he did obviously being so close to
00:30:32
him um and being I I guess a degree to
00:30:36
to a degree his Protege I just I did
00:30:39
learn an enormous amount uh quickly but
00:30:42
I learned I saw tremendously bad
00:30:45
behavior as
00:30:46
well which I just Shrugged my shoulders
00:30:50
and off I went cuz I suppose at the time
00:30:53
like there's there's words for it now
00:30:54
like toxic Behavior or you know power
00:30:57
imbalance or whatever the the
00:30:58
catchphrase is but I suppose at the time
00:31:00
it's was just you know just get on with
00:31:03
it yeah which I did and I didn't really
00:31:05
think much about it at the time um but
00:31:09
you know I absolutely loved him you know
00:31:11
for what he taught me and the
00:31:13
opportunities he gave me but in the end
00:31:15
you know by after 3 years I I'd started
00:31:18
to get you know I I got the Rachel
00:31:20
Hunter Covergirl documentary up and I
00:31:22
started to bring in more and more work
00:31:24
and I asked for a pay rise and they said
00:31:26
no yeah I heard the story so you were on
00:31:28
um they said no I was 45 which was good
00:31:31
money at the time pretty good and then
00:31:33
you wanted 70 I did I wanted 70 I said
00:31:36
no so you were like they said no and I
00:31:38
was like all right then stamp my foot
00:31:40
off if I went yeah yeah before we get
00:31:42
into the the next chapter because um
00:31:44
yeah I feel like this is a pivotal
00:31:45
moment in the Dame Julie Chrissy story
00:31:47
um the racial Hunter C Cav girl
00:31:49
documentary I um I tried to find that on
00:31:51
en it on screen or YouTube I couldn't
00:31:53
find it anywhere but I I vaguely
00:31:55
remember that that it was a it was an
00:31:57
event
00:31:58
was huge sheive she only be married to
00:32:00
rod for 3 months and I got him do an
00:32:02
interview and he hadn't done one for um
00:32:04
for many years I think at that time I
00:32:06
mean she was you know we were all
00:32:08
obsessed with that story you know she
00:32:09
was marrying the rock star and um yeah
00:32:11
it's like it's hard for people to
00:32:13
imagine now just how famous Rachel
00:32:14
Hunter was it was like and she was like
00:32:16
she' then done like four Sports
00:32:18
Illustrated covers you know her and you
00:32:20
know she was here in ELC first and we
00:32:22
kind of The Girls Next Door and she was
00:32:24
you know and I went to their house in LA
00:32:26
and you know and I absolutely loved her
00:32:27
down to nature and I I you know I
00:32:29
interviewed her her agent who said you
00:32:31
know it's such a pleasure to deal with a
00:32:33
girl who doesn't order crstal you know
00:32:36
you know all every day and you know like
00:32:38
she was so down to earth and and you
00:32:40
know she really was the tip toop ice
00:32:43
cream girl you know and and he was great
00:32:45
I always loved him I'd loved him before
00:32:47
that was a tremendous thrill to me for
00:32:48
me to meet him I was incredibly um
00:32:51
excited when I met when I met Rod um but
00:32:54
yes and I think it's still the highest
00:32:56
rating documentary ever I mean we didn't
00:32:57
have many channels in but it's still it
00:32:59
was it it's huge it was huge everyone
00:33:01
watched it yeah like over a million
00:33:05
people I'll be more would have been more
00:33:06
than that a 37 I don't even know what
00:33:09
that is now but nothing would ever do a
00:33:10
37 now lecture night wouldn't do a 37
00:33:13
now I don't think anything incredible
00:33:14
how did you how did you convince Rod
00:33:16
Stewart to get to come on did you did
00:33:18
you was a man newly in love he was boted
00:33:20
he he came to every shoot I did with her
00:33:23
and I guess he would have he did you
00:33:25
know he would do anything for ra yeah
00:33:27
yeah okay so so after that you leave
00:33:29
communicado did you did you start
00:33:31
touchdown straight away yes on the dummy
00:33:33
spit yes I
00:33:35
did so you're how old at the time I have
00:33:37
to tell you this though when I when they
00:33:39
found out I was serious about leaving
00:33:41
they offered me
00:33:43
120 oh that's so cynically but by that
00:33:45
stage i' already lined up my first show
00:33:47
so it was yeah so so yeah I did and and
00:33:50
you know um tvnz gave me let me use some
00:33:52
offices opposite the ears and you know
00:33:54
gave me a couple of small shows and and
00:33:56
it and it really Grew From there um it
00:33:59
grew reasonably fast for about 4 years
00:34:02
until there was a change of management
00:34:03
at tvnz and then they took all the shows
00:34:06
off me and put them inside in house and
00:34:10
that was my biggest learner because I
00:34:12
learned that I've been signing contracts
00:34:13
where I had no rights to my own shows
00:34:16
and so I never did that again so that
00:34:18
was this the pivotal point where
00:34:21
everything changed if I could own my own
00:34:23
IP own my own shows and then a little
00:34:27
bit later um I started getting criticism
00:34:30
for the genre I chosen to make and I
00:34:32
went to see a woman called Jenny Raina
00:34:34
she was like PR Guru and I said you know
00:34:36
what am I going to do they all hate me
00:34:38
this is after a ridiculous headline In
00:34:40
The Evening Post in Wellington crap TV
00:34:42
thy name is Julie Christi said I was
00:34:44
like oh what am I going to do and she
00:34:46
said to me you know what unless you get
00:34:49
run over by a bus tomorrow they're never
00:34:50
going to see anything nice about you so
00:34:53
she said that you know she had I won't
00:34:56
say who it is but she she quoted a very
00:34:58
very famous client of hers at the time
00:35:01
who had the same problem and no
00:35:03
appreciation in spite of his
00:35:05
achievements and she said you just got
00:35:07
to go overseas just got to do it
00:35:09
overseas and um sure enough you know
00:35:14
then I started to focus on what what
00:35:16
genre what what could I take overseas
00:35:18
and I realized I can make shows in New
00:35:20
Zealand and then reversion them overseas
00:35:22
so I off I went to middle march with
00:35:24
Mark Alice actually uh Middle March I
00:35:26
don't know if you know they have a
00:35:27
single ball there where um cuz there's
00:35:30
not enough women in that area um where's
00:35:32
it like Canterbury Oro no no noo not
00:35:35
couple hours from to Eden and there's a
00:35:37
big shortage of women and they needed
00:35:38
nurses they needed more women for little
00:35:40
farmer boys so the farmer boys don't
00:35:42
leave home you know and so they um they'
00:35:46
run this ball the singles ball and we
00:35:48
took five girls single girls from
00:35:49
Oakland you can see the show before
00:35:52
every show did that and um and and it
00:35:56
was her husband hunt basically and we
00:35:57
spent about four or 5 days there and
00:35:59
came back and made it a TV show and I
00:36:00
looked and I went I could take that
00:36:03
somewhere else so I cut it down um
00:36:06
called a husband hunt and took it to the
00:36:08
states and sold it to Fox who called it
00:36:12
looking for love bachelorettees and
00:36:13
Alaska and next thing it has three
00:36:15
helicopters 11 Crews and a whole bunch
00:36:18
of incredibly beautiful women and bridal
00:36:20
dresses walking up a mountain in Alaska
00:36:23
um they just obviously when you take a
00:36:25
small idea that we have here and take it
00:36:27
to the states it gets super sized and so
00:36:31
that was the beginning really that was
00:36:32
the first and then I thought wow I can
00:36:33
make television I can make television in
00:36:36
New Zealand for the world I just wasn't
00:36:39
that much into making New Zealand
00:36:40
television I wanted to make television
00:36:42
for the world and that's what that's
00:36:43
what it's always been and that's what it
00:36:45
still is and I've I've got nothing to
00:36:48
apologize it's it created all my value
00:36:51
all the value of my company CU you don't
00:36:52
make money making shows you make money
00:36:53
when you sell a company yeah which I
00:36:55
sold twice that's one thing um you just
00:36:58
just um looping back to something you
00:37:00
said before yeah one thing before I um
00:37:02
before I knew you personally I from like
00:37:04
from afar you you just struck me as a
00:37:06
person that wouldn't give a [ __ ] about
00:37:07
what anyone thinks because you're so
00:37:08
self assured and so confident what
00:37:10
you're doing but um those negative
00:37:12
reviews and things they they they really
00:37:14
do hurt you a and and mean mean remarks
00:37:17
about reality TV and things over the
00:37:19
years you've you you you you're way more
00:37:22
sensitive you're like a marshmallow I
00:37:24
guess thanks I better sit up straighter
00:37:27
so I don't look like
00:37:28
no you
00:37:29
know in the middle that used to they
00:37:31
used do much more I think I did care
00:37:35
incredibly what my clients thought so
00:37:38
the client is actually the broadcaster
00:37:39
so I always had very strong
00:37:41
relationships with the broadcasters and
00:37:43
so I would um so I did care incredibly
00:37:46
what they thought I just the just the
00:37:49
newspaper Journey Journal were so whiny
00:37:51
and what I really wanted to say was
00:37:53
clearly it's because you can't make it
00:37:54
on television you got a face for radio
00:37:57
where you to say before lovely people
00:37:58
like you came on and before being on
00:38:00
radio for audio included pictures um
00:38:03
it's what amaz me about podcasts how
00:38:05
come they all have the pictures too now
00:38:06
anyway YouTube YouTube and um but yes uh
00:38:11
was I sensitive
00:38:14
um sometimes when it was very unjust I
00:38:17
was hurt um but then it didn't matter
00:38:19
because in the US they love me and so I
00:38:21
was doing so well overseas it kind of
00:38:23
erased it and then I didn't care and
00:38:25
what do you know I come back having made
00:38:28
it overseas and suddenly I get an ozm
00:38:30
from a labor government like make me
00:38:32
fall over please like so so you know I
00:38:36
um I I was kind of uh and then I started
00:38:39
to do some things like my first
00:38:41
government board was New Zeal tradeing
00:38:43
Enterprise and then New Zealand story
00:38:45
and then I started doing more and more
00:38:46
things in my country cuz I'm so
00:38:48
patriotic and um and the flag
00:38:50
consideration panel when you had to be
00:38:52
crazy to go on that you couldn't win you
00:38:53
were going to get bashed I didn't care I
00:38:55
was like let's get a flag that's doesn't
00:38:58
look like it's Australian and I cared
00:39:01
and and so I I was able to T myself out
00:39:04
of it by um but St myself out of caring
00:39:09
really I mean it's been brought up to me
00:39:11
now we might as well address it sh we
00:39:12
what that Simon Wilson called me a
00:39:14
cultural culture
00:39:16
vulture I've got that I've got cultural
00:39:19
vulture was it a cultural Vandal
00:39:20
cultural vand I mean For Heaven's Sake
00:39:23
when I got my when I got my dam hoodie
00:39:25
wrote this big article about why I
00:39:27
shouldn't have got my dam Hood oh oh
00:39:29
yeah yeah yeah I've got that that's
00:39:30
that's coming up and um and I go you
00:39:32
know nothing nothing like example this
00:39:35
great example you know of a man who
00:39:37
could never make it in television and
00:39:38
has been kind like jealously picking
00:39:40
away at it ever since um but it didn't
00:39:43
bother me but it would have would have
00:39:44
bothered my mother um yeah the headline
00:39:47
nothing like a Dame why why Julie Chris
00:39:49
Christie's honor as an insult to our TV
00:39:52
industry yeah I mean that's that's got a
00:39:54
sting well he missed he missed the four
00:39:57
movies
00:39:58
that my success and unscripted has
00:40:00
funded he missed you know the drama I've
00:40:02
done how can you call this is your life
00:40:04
and the greatest formats ever made and
00:40:05
insults the industry how can you call
00:40:07
fact that I won an AIDS award for the my
00:40:09
Mr and Mr documentary how you so you
00:40:11
ignore all that you ignore all the
00:40:14
government boards all are slaving away
00:40:16
when they pay lousy let me tell you
00:40:18
because I care so much about our country
00:40:20
and just say oh I don't like Treasure
00:40:22
Island so she doesn't deser a Dame Hood
00:40:25
that's just it's just ignorant yeah but
00:40:27
even
00:40:28
take away all all the um all the stuff
00:40:31
the boards and the movies and whatever
00:40:33
and take the reality TV stuff for what
00:40:35
it is it was um your job was to make
00:40:37
like a commercially palatable product
00:40:39
and you kicked ass had to be more than
00:40:41
had to be a lot more than palatable it
00:40:43
had to be incredibly commercially
00:40:45
successful and it was treasure treasure
00:40:47
it's in it's in its 20th season you know
00:40:50
in three countries it's in its 20th
00:40:52
season um you know game toah was 11
00:40:55
Seasons it didn't get 11 season
00:40:58
for no reason it got 11 Seasons cuz
00:41:00
people loved it and um I think my house
00:41:02
my castle was seven seven years you know
00:41:06
like a lot of these show you know you
00:41:08
you make them you don't last five
00:41:11
minutes if a lot of people don't watch
00:41:13
them you know it used to be 9:30 every
00:41:15
morning the ratings would come out and
00:41:17
you lived and died by your ratings we
00:41:18
were judged every single day you know
00:41:20
what radio ratings alike we only had
00:41:22
what twice a year twice a year we had
00:41:24
them every single day and if you're show
00:41:27
went in on Sunday 7:30 or mon or Monday
00:41:30
Tuesday Wednesday at 7:30 if you didn't
00:41:33
win that
00:41:34
slot it was over and how are you going
00:41:37
to pay your staff so actually it was it
00:41:39
was by far the hardest genre to be in I
00:41:42
mean jury Brer who's probably one of the
00:41:44
greatest um drama producers ever out of
00:41:46
the states he also makes Amazing Race
00:41:49
and he will say I'd much rather make
00:41:51
drama because you know what's going to
00:41:52
happen the next day you got a script you
00:41:54
know what they're going to say says as
00:41:55
soon as you go into unscripted which is
00:41:57
no I don't call it reality unscripted he
00:42:00
said you don't know so it's not it
00:42:02
wasn't an Easy Choice it was a choice to
00:42:06
to make things for the broadest possible
00:42:08
audience it's like I'd be really proud
00:42:10
if I invented Barbie you know because of
00:42:13
the joy that she's brought to the widest
00:42:17
possible audience you know why why don't
00:42:19
we celebrate that why are we Nast and
00:42:22
jealous yeah it's weird like I'm I'm I'm
00:42:25
at an age now um you were never nasty
00:42:28
and jealous no I'm at an age now we're
00:42:30
like I I don't understand like my
00:42:32
partner loves love Island and I I I I I
00:42:35
find it tedious and I can't I can't
00:42:37
watch it but I'm I'm not going to [ __ ]
00:42:38
on it cuz I understand there's a market
00:42:40
for I only worry about the parents
00:42:41
watching their children on it imagine if
00:42:44
you're a dad watching your
00:42:46
daughter um so it's not called reality
00:42:50
what did you call it it's not reality
00:42:51
unscripted unscripted you you very very
00:42:54
seldom hear it called reality anywhere
00:42:56
else in the world um
00:42:58
it's pretty much called unscripted yeah
00:43:00
and that's what I think of it as because
00:43:02
it's everything from you know the Chaser
00:43:04
which you probably watch everybody
00:43:05
watches that you know like that's just
00:43:07
wouldn't you just most people just call
00:43:08
that a game show yeah but what's wrong
00:43:10
with her it's fantastic isn't it and
00:43:12
it's gone on for years and it's remade
00:43:14
all over the world it's brilliant the
00:43:16
thing I love about the chase is um first
00:43:17
episode you watch it you're like what
00:43:18
the [ __ ] going on here it's really
00:43:20
hard to follow and then are you only
00:43:21
allowed to make shows which are very
00:43:23
Earnest and bleach at you I mean I come
00:43:25
home from working in a factory and you
00:43:27
know like and I have my dinner and I
00:43:28
want to sit down on the sofa do I want
00:43:30
to sit down and be bleed at or do I
00:43:32
really want to imagine I'm on a Treasure
00:43:35
Island competing for $50,000 and laugh
00:43:38
at everybody else's mistakes and it's
00:43:41
it's it's escapism and we should be
00:43:43
really proud of it yeah absolutely so
00:43:45
what are the keys to making good
00:43:47
unscripted
00:43:48
television finding unfiltered people
00:43:50
which was quite hard in New Zealand easy
00:43:53
in the US market cuz most people
00:43:54
unfiltered in other words they
00:43:57
they um verbalize the every thought they
00:44:01
they say what they think they don't
00:44:03
necessarily think before they say we're
00:44:05
a little bit more guarded but as you'll
00:44:07
know having done Treasure Island um and
00:44:09
you were by the way on the um season
00:44:12
where I think arguably the best
00:44:15
competitor ever and you'll know who I
00:44:17
mean I think Lance oan L Lance and
00:44:20
briard oan yeah they were incredible
00:44:22
probably the best competitors ever prob
00:44:24
closely follow followed by Josh cronfel
00:44:26
but they were I still look at the
00:44:28
winners and think you know Lance and
00:44:29
Bridget would kill it even to this day
00:44:31
um you know you you go you kind of I
00:44:35
can't remember what I was talking about
00:44:36
now you um what would you ask me I got
00:44:38
confused oh what the case yeah so they
00:44:41
unfiltered but also as you know you go
00:44:43
on at thinking I'll never say anything
00:44:44
dumb or that and then two or 3 days in
00:44:47
you forget about the cameras being there
00:44:48
and everybody thinks they can go in and
00:44:50
be really stoic and then two or 3 days
00:44:53
and and you just forget don't you you
00:44:55
know yeah I can't remember what year I
00:44:57
was on Treasure Island but I I remember
00:44:59
very early on I think it was um Greg is
00:45:01
that the guy that was GRE yeah so um he
00:45:04
sent me down for like one of the little
00:45:06
interviews and he was like oh what do
00:45:07
you think of Simon do and I was like oh
00:45:09
well we're on different teams I haven't
00:45:10
had a lot to do with doly but he seems
00:45:12
like a nice guy so yeah and then he was
00:45:14
like cut cut cut he goes hey Dom we just
00:45:16
spoke to Dolly before he thinks you're a
00:45:18
[ __ ] [ __ ] he thinks you're a
00:45:20
backstabber so he goes we can stick with
00:45:23
what you've said but um if it comes out
00:45:25
you you're going to look like your full
00:45:27
of [ __ ] so you want to go again and then
00:45:30
suddenly it's like this like day two or
00:45:31
day three it was like oh okay game on
00:45:34
did he really cuz we what we did used to
00:45:36
do is we were a bit naughty we did used
00:45:37
to we was of our te do you remember in
00:45:39
the A and if you got someone to cry
00:45:41
you'd go 50 bucks you
00:45:43
know but I think um in terms of I can't
00:45:47
you it was it's very emotional your your
00:45:48
your series was a very emotional series
00:45:50
and Dolly had a hard time in that one um
00:45:52
he really did have a hard time um he had
00:45:54
a bad back I think oh yeah back is and
00:45:57
you know we were running all over that
00:45:59
darn Island up that hill there was no
00:46:00
water on that island me we lived on the
00:46:02
island next to you remember was was
00:46:04
Matthew the host when you were there or
00:46:05
was that was John Stevens John Stevens
00:46:07
was the host yeah Rockstar host um and
00:46:10
you know but you really hope that people
00:46:13
you want to bring out the things that
00:46:15
people like doly are incredibly
00:46:16
competitive another absolute favorite of
00:46:18
mine was Eric Murray oh and he poor Eric
00:46:22
Murray was on the edge of woke and the
00:46:24
fact that Eric Murray only knew how to
00:46:26
compete but he had several people
00:46:29
against him who thought that he was
00:46:32
playing on their mental health by
00:46:33
competing too
00:46:35
[Laughter]
00:46:39
hard oh yeah you um you you you'd hate
00:46:42
it now like it's changed quite a lot
00:46:43
like can think we like we were
00:46:45
starving the year that we I did give you
00:46:47
a bottle of wine at night to shut you up
00:46:49
though I think didn't I we
00:46:51
absolutely not yeah I think we went the
00:46:54
first three days without any food at all
00:46:56
like no rice no flour anything now they
00:46:58
have like a camping platform and it's
00:47:02
the whole judia care thing and no one
00:47:04
wears it's a bitsy bikinis all that sort
00:47:06
of thing you know like um you know
00:47:09
recently there was an article published
00:47:11
an old photo from Treasure Island and
00:47:13
there were like there was Nikki Watson
00:47:15
and Sally Ridge and Louise Wallace and
00:47:17
they're all like wearing like you know
00:47:19
cargo pants way down past their you know
00:47:21
hips and bikini tops and big sunglasses
00:47:25
and you know like the whole the whole
00:47:28
everyone very much they would all wear
00:47:30
bandanas they looked like they could be
00:47:32
marooned much more I guess on love
00:47:36
Island yes which is which is a format
00:47:39
that's working pretty well wend sailor
00:47:42
wore one pair of Maron speedos for the
00:47:44
entire month and they had a a hole
00:47:47
ripped in the butt about halfway through
00:47:50
the series but he kept wearing them
00:47:51
anyway that's all he wore so you know
00:47:54
you guys didn't have a lot it was
00:47:55
different now they would say that it
00:47:57
doesn't give you a lot of content
00:47:58
depriving you of things um but I liked
00:48:02
that but when when um when I did the
00:48:05
series of Treasure Island and you were
00:48:06
there I I think had you sold your
00:48:08
company at that that that point you were
00:48:09
very successful and a very rich woman
00:48:11
but you I this is the thing that stands
00:48:12
out to me you were you were Hands-On
00:48:14
like you were there first thing every
00:48:15
morning on the boat that came over from
00:48:17
crew Island you were like overseeing
00:48:19
every every little bit of the operation
00:48:22
I I that was very much off the back of
00:48:23
the chair so the chair was the Big John
00:48:25
Mack Andro game show so John fronted it
00:48:27
in the US and in the UK and Matthew
00:48:29
Ridge did a version of it here here here
00:48:31
um and then it went all around the world
00:48:33
to 29 different countries so were
00:48:34
different hosts in the countries
00:48:36
different countries and it lasted for I
00:48:38
think five years in France and so so was
00:48:40
it I'll just I'll just pause you there
00:48:41
so it's a game show where the contestant
00:48:43
have a heart rate monitor on if you
00:48:45
can't keep your heart under control
00:48:47
you're not allowed to answer the
00:48:48
question and therefore your money starts
00:48:50
going backwards MH so imagine imagine
00:48:53
you're looking you know the host ask you
00:48:55
a question you're so excited your heart
00:48:57
goes pump pump pump if your heart goes
00:48:59
over 120 I don't if you know your normal
00:49:01
is 60 to 80 you probably know that being
00:49:03
an athlete goes over 120 you've got to
00:49:05
get under 120 in order to give the
00:49:07
answer to get to get money if you've
00:49:09
already got money your money starts
00:49:10
sticking backwards so you would see
00:49:12
people on
00:49:13
$250,000 get so
00:49:15
excited and all the money would tick
00:49:17
away so it was great you except in some
00:49:21
countries like I'll never forget Iran
00:49:24
they made it in Iran and it like
00:49:27
people's heart rates didn't go up they
00:49:30
could keep their hearts under control
00:49:32
and also we learned some things like
00:49:33
clearly I won't do it cuz it l really
00:49:35
bad but crosseyed looking at your nose
00:49:37
during various
00:49:38
yoga um tips helped keep your heart
00:49:41
under control we found and then we also
00:49:43
start to drug test people and people
00:49:44
have taken beta blockers in the US they
00:49:47
did all sorts of crazy things so it was
00:49:49
um yeah it was it it was a great time
00:49:52
though and so it was that really that
00:49:54
made the company incredibly successful
00:49:56
that which brought I works for a Dutch
00:49:58
Media company in and they bought the
00:50:00
company in 2007 so that was really the
00:50:04
be you know that was how all of that
00:50:06
unfolded and I stayed for another six
00:50:08
years but I also own the own the living
00:50:10
Channel and food TV the two Sky channels
00:50:12
so um that it kind of rolled on from
00:50:16
there really yes so your your company
00:50:17
your baby touchdown that sold for 40
00:50:20
million no no is that a rumor no did I
00:50:23
it was a really bad rumor no but that's
00:50:26
that's reason you should never believe
00:50:27
the NBR rich list cuz it was so far not
00:50:30
true there's no production company in
00:50:32
New Zealand anything like worth that
00:50:33
sort of money but how much how much did
00:50:35
you get out of it do you say or no I did
00:50:37
all right you know it set me
00:50:40
up it set me up well I went bought an
00:50:43
EST Martin DB9 found that actually
00:50:46
wasn't very good on the roads because
00:50:47
our roads are so bumpy keep scraping
00:50:49
along the roads but I mean as you as you
00:50:51
said at the beginning like money you
00:50:53
know the the stress of money is not a
00:50:54
good thing to have but money doesn't
00:50:55
actually buy your happiness I you need
00:50:57
to make a lot of money to realize that
00:50:58
it doesn't it does buy you it does buy
00:51:00
you a degree of freedom but you know it
00:51:01
came at a lot of at a lot of cost I you
00:51:04
know my kids would say to this day I
00:51:06
wasn't you know that I wasn't around
00:51:07
enough when they were growing up and you
00:51:09
can out end up having regrets but at the
00:51:11
same time they've also had privileges
00:51:12
they traveled the world with me because
00:51:14
of the fact that I was able to afford it
00:51:16
so it's kind of you can't have all mom
00:51:19
and being a school teacher they would
00:51:21
have had a different life so um and I
00:51:25
think only now they really appreciate
00:51:27
that you know that they that they had
00:51:29
that privilege but at the same time they
00:51:30
would say like my daughter told you know
00:51:32
told the story that you know they um
00:51:35
they'd hear the garage door open they go
00:51:37
rushing down the hallway hoping it would
00:51:38
be me and it' be their father and they
00:51:39
go oh you know so I know and like break
00:51:42
your heart especially when she tells it
00:51:44
to the woman's weekly then it really
00:51:45
breaks your out oh my God that is
00:51:47
heartbreaking it was do you CU you
00:51:50
you've never been like a a work life
00:51:51
balanc person um no I am now yeah but um
00:51:55
I mean times time's non-renew you can't
00:51:57
you can't get those moments or that that
00:51:58
time back actually I had but Dom you
00:52:00
can't achieve like decisions you I
00:52:04
couldn't have I couldn't have been a
00:52:05
normal mother we always had a living
00:52:07
Nanny um we always had you know right
00:52:09
from the very beginning in the same
00:52:11
Nanny all their children's lives so I
00:52:13
don't think you know the children were
00:52:14
never lacking in love especially with my
00:52:16
big close family but but at the same
00:52:18
time I I did make compromis especially
00:52:21
with working in the states yeah I found
00:52:23
this photo online oh yes yeah they are
00:52:27
yeah what do you think when you Timothy
00:52:28
and Lexie I think how thin am
00:52:32
I no I think yeah I know that time yeah
00:52:35
they were they were 9 and 11 yeah yeah
00:52:37
what's what's your relationship like
00:52:39
with them now do they do they res resent
00:52:41
you not being there enough for no no
00:52:44
they they'll tend to remind me at
00:52:46
convenient times but no now they're both
00:52:48
great I mean my son's um 30 so he's a
00:52:51
he's a cardiac scientist he lives in um
00:52:54
in um Colorado he's about to come home
00:52:57
for a month actually so I'm really
00:52:58
excited and my daughter is um she's
00:53:02
still here in Oakland and she's
00:53:03
fantastic she's a chip off the old block
00:53:06
though she has absolutely no filter so
00:53:09
she'd be a fantastic contestant on a
00:53:11
reality show but they they're both great
00:53:14
you know we have a really very very
00:53:15
strong relationship oh that's cool I'm
00:53:17
sure they
00:53:18
understand um yeah I think they do they
00:53:22
understand now the Privileges they've
00:53:23
had you know um and they understand the
00:53:25
places that been and honestly they used
00:53:28
to say mom can we just I'm not a person
00:53:30
who like I don't go to Fiji because I
00:53:32
don't like lying in the sun I'm a person
00:53:34
who I like to go places I love theme
00:53:36
parks I love doing stuff kids would say
00:53:38
man can we just do
00:53:39
nothing so that to them it was like oh
00:53:42
no here she goes again you know we'll be
00:53:44
going on holiday and I used to make them
00:53:45
write a diary every night of what they'd
00:53:47
done you know here she goes again she'll
00:53:49
just have activities every day so I'm
00:53:52
like we had great experiences didn't we
00:53:54
cuz your mother forced you to yeah to go
00:53:56
to every Disneyland in the world yeah um
00:53:59
so the chair getting back to the chair
00:54:01
so that was that the chair is your most
00:54:03
successful show financially by far I
00:54:06
think how many countries was it sold to
00:54:08
29 wow at that time that's the format of
00:54:11
course so that's to make the the show in
00:54:13
all those different countries and that
00:54:16
was that was the sort of Television I
00:54:17
wanted to make and we sold a lot we sold
00:54:20
um so you want to be a pop star which B
00:54:22
celebrities into to try and be a pop
00:54:24
star and that became a finalist and Rose
00:54:26
to which is the biggest um International
00:54:29
um unscripted um Awards and we you know
00:54:33
we we kind of we you know Treasure
00:54:35
Island was made in austral an Australian
00:54:37
version and an Irish version um as well
00:54:40
as New Zealand and to me that was always
00:54:44
the idea is that I'd be able to make a
00:54:46
show in New Zealand and then sell
00:54:48
versions of it overseas did the money
00:54:50
game here in um Australia in South
00:54:53
Africa you know same with going straight
00:54:56
here and and also in South Africa and
00:54:58
and what's going straight so that was a
00:55:01
um that was a game show where you had to
00:55:03
follow a straight line no matter what
00:55:04
you just had to go over or under or
00:55:06
whatever but you couldn't leave the
00:55:07
straight
00:55:10
line random how does that work I have to
00:55:13
find that maybe it's on New Zealand on
00:55:14
screen it is it is it's quite
00:55:16
hard um um the cheer though yeah so 23
00:55:20
million in royalties is that a figure or
00:55:22
no yeah yeah would that be about right
00:55:24
[ __ ] wow I think that was one year this
00:55:27
best year that doesn't happen again no
00:55:31
um so that does show you know that does
00:55:33
show but you know I I mean I read a
00:55:35
story that um that you know I think ITV
00:55:39
is it ITV collected was it might be BBC
00:55:43
um represented Who Wants To Be A
00:55:45
Millionaire internationally and
00:55:46
collected 200 million in one year for
00:55:48
who Wants To Be A Millionaire so it's
00:55:51
the chair came on the back of the huge
00:55:53
success of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
00:55:54
which is why it was relatively easy to
00:55:55
sell into the states um but I loved I
00:55:59
loved working in the States because to
00:56:01
them unscript is at least as important
00:56:03
as drama and it's very very respected
00:56:06
and very much a store wart of every
00:56:08
television schedule because you you have
00:56:10
to have it because drama cost so much
00:56:12
money so you have to have you have to
00:56:13
balance it out so yeah and the same in
00:56:16
England it's obviously really important
00:56:17
we don't really have a game show
00:56:18
mentality here but there do we not no
00:56:22
how long since we've had a local G show
00:56:24
Family Feud maybe would that have been
00:56:25
the that would in the last one you're
00:56:27
right and we hadn't had one for a long
00:56:28
time before that whereas in England
00:56:29
they're all all all the time and it
00:56:31
slightly annoys me that we see them in
00:56:33
our prime time we got English why are we
00:56:35
seeing so many English game shows and
00:56:37
we're seeing a lot of Australian content
00:56:38
too now and I think the issues in our
00:56:42
television mean that's pretty much all
00:56:44
we're going to see we will have more
00:56:47
Australian and English content and we're
00:56:49
going to have far far less local like
00:56:52
things that we need we need the block we
00:56:55
need Treasure Island you know it's great
00:56:58
to have a local Married at First Sight
00:56:59
we need a lot of those shows many
00:57:01
critics will say no we don't we can just
00:57:03
have worthy documentaries shall we no
00:57:06
but it's nice to have them there and you
00:57:07
don't have to watch you don't have to
00:57:09
watch any of the stuff that's the thing
00:57:11
some people love it like me yeah that's
00:57:13
right yeah and but we are you know we
00:57:16
are going to have a lot less local and
00:57:17
that's that's a tragedy and I can't see
00:57:19
a way out of that because there is no
00:57:22
more money coming into New Zealand
00:57:23
television unless we go a bit more down
00:57:26
on my track which is to say okay why
00:57:28
don't we take every concept and say how
00:57:30
can I internationalize that and that
00:57:33
could be a game changer that's certainly
00:57:34
what they've done in Australia and
00:57:36
Ireland they've created a a Content
00:57:37
image for themselves which is very
00:57:39
salable to the world we haven't done
00:57:40
that did you um was was pop stars yours
00:57:44
the you know the the making of true
00:57:46
Bliss do you wish it was I wish it was
00:57:48
and it's fantastic because you know what
00:57:50
that was the beginning of idol yeah 100%
00:57:52
so they ripped it off so yes I was um it
00:57:55
it went from New Zealand to Australia
00:57:57
the right the rights were actually sold
00:57:59
to Australia and then it went to England
00:58:01
and then it was successful in England
00:58:02
and they ripped it off and called it pop
00:58:04
Idol and um and look at you know I think
00:58:07
that was Jonathan darling pop stars and
00:58:09
I actually that was really was the
00:58:11
beginning you know I see Joe Cotton
00:58:13
quite often you know as you know since
00:58:15
you got HQ the half of um half of true
00:58:18
Bliss still sing together and um yeah it
00:58:22
was it was a fantastic time but at that
00:58:24
time that's what New Zealand was doing
00:58:25
we were we were punching above our
00:58:27
weight we were creating these things for
00:58:29
the world we don't do that now did did
00:58:31
um in a hindsight like Jonathan what's
00:58:34
his name Jonathan daring yeah did did
00:58:36
did he did he Fu up by like selling the
00:58:38
rights too early or could he not see the
00:58:40
vision you said that but it's really
00:58:42
hard to take would he be kicking himself
00:58:44
it's hard to know how big something can
00:58:46
be I don't know I don't really I don't
00:58:47
know really but I it's also scary CU
00:58:52
like I got ripped off when I to my first
00:58:54
one to the states I ended up still
00:58:56
earing just 25% of it that's when I was
00:58:59
looking for love bachelorettes in Alaska
00:59:02
and I didn't really know how a deal
00:59:03
should be done by the time I got to the
00:59:05
chair I was a bit more Savvy and I kept
00:59:08
all the rights but but also you know you
00:59:11
don't necessarily I don't know if
00:59:13
Jonathan that went in into it with a
00:59:16
vision for the world whereas I went into
00:59:18
everything with a vision of if I if I
00:59:21
can get my content around the world I
00:59:24
don't have to go bigging for money from
00:59:26
New Zealand on air which was my worst
00:59:29
nightmare why was it your worst
00:59:31
nightmare because I'll tell you I okay
00:59:35
this is get it's probably going to be
00:59:36
really boring but I I bought a format
00:59:39
out of England called Pioneer house I
00:59:41
remember that it was filmed just around
00:59:42
the corner from me on richond roide I
00:59:44
bought a house we stripped it all back
00:59:46
to what it would have been in 1860 I
00:59:49
think it was it was it 1900 it was 1900
00:59:51
it was called 1900 house in the and we
00:59:54
called it Pioneer House and we put a
00:59:57
family in there you know to live right
01:00:00
anyway I went to New Zealand on air
01:00:02
asking for funding to do it and at the
01:00:04
time a man called um the late David
01:00:06
beatson was the chair and anyway they
01:00:08
let me um it was a reality TV show so
01:00:12
they were struggling it wasn't worthy
01:00:13
enough for them even though what it was
01:00:15
doing it was bringing history to life
01:00:17
they could only have the same
01:00:19
food the same everything we didn't even
01:00:21
let them have real toilet paper they
01:00:22
were living as they would have lived in
01:00:24
um 1900 the family who were fantastic
01:00:27
and I went to them they let me talk to
01:00:29
the board and um at that time the board
01:00:33
thought they were very groovy because
01:00:35
they had just appointed their first
01:00:36
young person to the board and he said uh
01:00:40
and I'm trying to remember his name now
01:00:41
because you will know him he said um are
01:00:44
you concerned that the children are
01:00:45
going to suffer mentally from being
01:00:47
deprived of deprived of
01:00:53
PlayStation and I was like stopping my s
01:00:56
from saying what the and I was like um
01:01:00
in my experience my children haven't
01:01:02
suffered from being deprived of
01:01:03
PlayStation and then and then David
01:01:06
beatson piped up with what would you
01:01:08
know about being deprived and I stopped
01:01:10
myself from turning and
01:01:12
going you try my childood but I didn't
01:01:15
say it I said nothing but being me I
01:01:19
didn't forgive them for that stupid
01:01:23
Behavior are you a bit of a grudge
01:01:24
holder like that or you just don't
01:01:25
forgive things I don't forget yeah but
01:01:27
but being me I didn't give up I was like
01:01:29
well you know you can do and off I went
01:01:31
and we made it anyway in in fact the
01:01:33
bizarre things I think they funded it
01:01:35
after all of that after putting me
01:01:36
through this torture but that sort of
01:01:38
niggly torture um is is something that
01:01:43
you know I I think was a bit emic at
01:01:47
that time in in television and we made
01:01:49
it and was hugely successful and
01:01:51
actually so much so that buses of people
01:01:53
would come along that street and the
01:01:55
family would sit out on their on their
01:01:56
front deck on Su cuz it was it was
01:01:58
showing on air at the same time and they
01:01:59
would sit out on their deck on Sundays
01:02:00
and wave to the people there were buses
01:02:02
of of you know people from Hamilton
01:02:04
coming to see the Pioneer House people
01:02:07
so yeah it was that was great
01:02:09
breakthrough television yeah it's a
01:02:11
great show and and um just the the um
01:02:13
exponential um advances in technology
01:02:16
since that show was made in now um it'
01:02:18
be fantastic to do it again now you
01:02:20
think like kids without their Vapes and
01:02:22
their I know their phones wouldn't it no
01:02:25
Wi-Fi in house but you'd have to give
01:02:27
them 3 years counseling mental health
01:02:28
counseling after it of course which I
01:02:30
think they do on marit at first side
01:02:32
Australia I heard that now they get
01:02:33
three years counseling are you you what
01:02:36
do you when you watch TV now do you do
01:02:38
you watch it with a critical eye like do
01:02:40
do what shows do you watch and think
01:02:41
[ __ ] I I wish that was my show like
01:02:43
mared at First Sight love Island no The
01:02:47
Voice Lego wars Lego wars Ninja
01:02:51
Warrior oh Ninja Warrior is great don't
01:02:54
you love Ninja Warrior I love it I just
01:02:56
love Lego WS cuz it's so simple and and
01:02:58
you know I love heish I love the host
01:03:00
this Australian
01:03:02
Legos absolutely love him but I just I
01:03:05
love the the Simplicity of the concept
01:03:07
oh you know what I really think is I
01:03:09
wish I wish I i' thought of that that's
01:03:11
how I that's how I think about a lot of
01:03:13
those shows um but you know when it
01:03:15
comes to some of the more emotionally
01:03:17
charged shows you know even treasure
01:03:19
iseland is quite hard to handle the
01:03:21
mental health of contestants behind the
01:03:22
scenes they must be very very difficult
01:03:25
to handle and that is always the hardest
01:03:27
thing about making real television is
01:03:32
you know handling the the effect that it
01:03:35
can have on contestants who go in with
01:03:38
their eyes wide open especially now they
01:03:42
know exactly what they're doing you know
01:03:43
usually it's their dream to become an
01:03:44
influencer
01:03:46
but you know people are way more fragile
01:03:50
than they were then yeah because back
01:03:53
when I did Treasure Island with you like
01:03:55
I don't think the phrase duty of care
01:03:57
was even like a thing yeah we we knew
01:03:59
how far to push you cuz we had a lot of
01:04:01
um medical advice and as you know we had
01:04:04
a medical team on there um and which is
01:04:06
why I'll never forget I think we came
01:04:08
down to a semi-final and we had I think
01:04:11
it
01:04:11
was coxy the late John Cox the Builder
01:04:15
and um Josh corfield and um Brent Todd I
01:04:20
think they were and I looked at Josh
01:04:22
conord and Brent Todd and I saw two big
01:04:25
men who had got really skinny in a
01:04:26
matter of a month you know and I gave
01:04:29
them quite a lot of meat to eat
01:04:30
overnight just to try and we we were
01:04:32
very conscious of it um but really you
01:04:37
know no one was ever I don't think no
01:04:40
one was in danger like that but it
01:04:43
was people were just expected I guess to
01:04:46
be
01:04:47
more I think people took more
01:04:49
responsibility for their for themselves
01:04:52
and for their own behavior and their own
01:04:53
decisions now people are very quick to
01:04:56
want to offload that
01:04:58
responsibility yeah I'd agree with that
01:05:00
I think that's very fair that would make
01:05:01
me worry yeah you know but something I
01:05:04
love irland all I can think about is oh
01:05:06
my God don't hope that little hope that
01:05:08
girl's dad isn't watching this what does
01:05:10
he think you know oh what about what
01:05:13
about merid first merid first side
01:05:15
Australia um some of the the best
01:05:17
non-scripted in the world yeah do do you
01:05:20
that's like I feel like that's that's
01:05:22
what that's what that's what you'd be
01:05:23
doing if you were doing this no no
01:05:26
they need three years counseling after
01:05:28
that but do you watch then and go my God
01:05:30
this is I wish this was mine I watch it
01:05:33
and I go this is brilliantly brilliantly
01:05:35
cast it's hard for me to watch a TV show
01:05:36
and just watch it for enjoyment like
01:05:38
other people I I can see how things
01:05:40
happen I can see how I mean people think
01:05:43
it's not real but actually it is real
01:05:45
the way um people react to things is
01:05:47
real but in those constructed reality
01:05:48
shows what they do is they'll put an
01:05:50
obstacle in front of you and they get
01:05:52
the content from how you handle that
01:05:55
obstacle it's no different from the
01:05:56
Kardashians you know they only shoot two
01:05:58
days a week but they just load all the
01:06:00
obstacles in one day you know here your
01:06:02
sister's doing this get you know what
01:06:03
are you going to do so it's so it's not
01:06:06
faked what is introduced is the obstacle
01:06:09
or the hurdle and that creates all all
01:06:11
the content you know as you can see and
01:06:13
that's what they do in Mar First Site
01:06:14
some of those you know they'll ask them
01:06:17
a question which is
01:06:18
completely crazy um that's just to
01:06:21
create content so yeah but I believe the
01:06:24
reactions it's not nearly as faked as
01:06:27
some people think it just
01:06:29
isn't um yeah what what are some of the
01:06:31
trick tricks they use like the
01:06:32
Australian one it's like you see the
01:06:34
dinner party and often it'll start and
01:06:36
it's daytime outside and then it's night
01:06:37
time oh really there right yeah have you
01:06:41
noticed how much they drink yeah on
01:06:44
merid on love Island I think it's I
01:06:46
don't know if they have alcohol or maybe
01:06:47
they have like one one drink I think I'm
01:06:49
not an ID Watcher yeah cly you are or
01:06:53
your girlfriend my girlfriend always has
01:06:54
it on but it's just feels like the same
01:06:56
I I don't even understand the concept as
01:06:58
well how they decide who wins anyway I
01:07:00
they shoot it in Fiji right too yeah um
01:07:03
it's yeah there are there are lots of
01:07:06
things um but there are little things
01:07:09
really but human nature pretty much
01:07:11
delivers you don't have to you
01:07:14
definitely put obstacles in their way
01:07:15
otherwise people would just lie around
01:07:16
the pool all day or do nothing all day
01:07:18
but human nature um even if people have
01:07:20
got nothing to do especially if you take
01:07:22
away their devices they won't be able to
01:07:23
stop themselves from talking gossiping
01:07:26
and then somebody said he said she said
01:07:28
and then you know you've got content I
01:07:30
can see some of that now but you know
01:07:34
when I watch television so many amazing
01:07:36
techniques have you watched Martha the
01:07:37
Martha Stewart docko on Netflix no I've
01:07:40
been meaning to you yeah why they was
01:07:44
probably 80 or 90 minutes long they've
01:07:46
done a master interview one interview
01:07:48
with Martha the whole rest is they she
01:07:50
clearly gave them her archive so there's
01:07:52
a bit of archive um video footage and
01:07:54
rest is still
01:07:56
everybody else is Audio Only it's like
01:07:58
they mixed a podcast so they've
01:08:00
interviewed everybody else in her life
01:08:02
including her daughter but you never see
01:08:04
them you don't see them you know an
01:08:06
interview you just hear them talking
01:08:07
over these Stills and I look at and go
01:08:09
how clever is that you know Netflix
01:08:11
keeps raising the bar all the time for
01:08:13
documentary makers how clever is the way
01:08:15
it's constructed so when I watch Martha
01:08:17
not only did I love the content and I
01:08:20
must say I saw a little bit of myself
01:08:22
and there perhaps not a I'm not extreme
01:08:26
but um I did relate very much to her
01:08:29
kind of loner the way she was a loner
01:08:30
which I've kind of been a loner um but
01:08:33
when I watch the techniques and go wow
01:08:36
you know how the bar has been raised on
01:08:39
documentary Making now why why is that
01:08:41
CLE just have the audio only with some
01:08:43
images playing because you know if
01:08:44
you've done a a flash you know what we
01:08:46
see now we see beautiful Talking Heads
01:08:47
in every documentary don't we they
01:08:49
thought no we'll just say there's only
01:08:50
one star here everybody else will just
01:08:52
hear them talking like they've called up
01:08:54
on the radio station that's how it
01:08:55
sounds right and they're talking over
01:08:58
still photos and it works so beautifully
01:09:00
right and you you watch this and you
01:09:01
think [ __ ] why why did I never think of
01:09:03
that through my really do you you
01:09:06
struggle to watch TV for fun
01:09:09
yeah yeah except I I must confess to
01:09:12
having watched all series of Queen of
01:09:14
the South have you seen that oh the drug
01:09:16
dealer one yeah yeah yeah yeah a strong
01:09:19
female lead uh I and I and I sometimes I
01:09:23
drift in and out of Virgin River good
01:09:25
old Martin Henderson isn't it good he's
01:09:27
fantastic oh and isn't he just getting
01:09:29
older and handsomer handsome is a word
01:09:32
aging very well he and and so I I
01:09:35
sometimes I watch a little bit of that
01:09:36
so but um like you say if you want to
01:09:39
get on the treadmill you need those long
01:09:41
running
01:09:42
series oh we even got I mean there's so
01:09:45
many shows we could we're not going to
01:09:46
be able to bring up all the shows you've
01:09:47
been involved with but another one
01:09:48
that's actually just been bought back
01:09:49
for a reboot game of two halves that's
01:09:51
one of your shows yes yeah God you
01:09:53
created a lot of careers didn't you
01:09:56
those two Matthew and Mark so I think
01:09:59
their Brilliance is
01:10:01
underrated I think and and I'm not sure
01:10:05
did I say to you that I had to make my
01:10:07
own show real for this um honor last
01:10:09
night so I had to go back and find all
01:10:10
those old shows so I got to see a lot of
01:10:12
them again Matthew and
01:10:14
mark the very first shoot I did with
01:10:17
them they said what do we do and I said
01:10:19
there's only one rule there are three of
01:10:20
you you you and the camera is your third
01:10:23
mate you will always treat the camera
01:10:25
like your third mate it'll never be
01:10:27
inward it'll never be about you and we
01:10:30
still have problems with New Zealand
01:10:31
television with people making TV for
01:10:33
themselves not for the audience Matthew
01:10:35
and Mark always treated the camera like
01:10:37
the third person and that was their
01:10:38
absolute gift and it remained their gift
01:10:41
the whole time and that's why they were
01:10:43
brilliant but you know I found the
01:10:46
episode the famous episode and there's
01:10:47
all sorts of Facebook pages about them
01:10:49
the famous episode where the the walk
01:10:51
out you know where Matthew where they oh
01:10:54
from the episode of gam 2 yeah mat
01:10:56
Matthew's marriage had broken up and
01:10:58
they played back footage of Sally
01:10:59
talking about him and they teased him so
01:11:01
much and replayed it so much he you know
01:11:04
dropped his chair had a Hy fot and
01:11:05
walked out and he could do that then cuz
01:11:07
that's what they used to do and the Mike
01:11:09
King and Martin J were screaming with
01:11:11
laughter and it I can't stop myself from
01:11:13
laughing about it and so many people
01:11:14
talk about it you know um they could do
01:11:18
that and then one episode I remember now
01:11:20
Matthew had a new love of his life and
01:11:23
so every Qui question the answer was
01:11:27
either her first name or her last name
01:11:29
this is I must to say this is Nikki
01:11:31
Watson so the answer to every question
01:11:32
was either Watson or
01:11:34
Nikki and we did that we did that sort
01:11:37
of stuff now you couldn't do you
01:11:40
couldn't do the sort of stuff we did now
01:11:42
so the why because it's bullying or it's
01:11:45
defamation or no I just think it's like
01:11:48
people are too sensitive yeah people are
01:11:50
not actually sensitive people would
01:11:52
think oh I'm not I I just I'm not sure
01:11:55
they their humor probably wouldn't
01:11:58
travel as well it we be seen as as as so
01:12:01
bloky but it was a lot um when I listen
01:12:04
to Matthew talk about as it just
01:12:05
happened it didn't just happen you know
01:12:07
he was very disciplined um Mark probably
01:12:10
less so but he was very disciplined he
01:12:11
was always on time and all that like as
01:12:14
I said at the very beginning how much I
01:12:16
love Matt Richardson you know always on
01:12:17
time and always well prepared and um and
01:12:21
I think that it looked chaotic and it
01:12:24
was recorded like it was half hour show
01:12:26
was recorded in like 40 minutes they
01:12:28
were incredibly efficient but they
01:12:30
really knew what they were doing and
01:12:31
they knew what that sometimes didn't
01:12:34
know what was acceptable and what wasn't
01:12:35
they pushed their luck um but they
01:12:39
really knew how to entertain they were
01:12:42
you know they they were exceptional and
01:12:44
I think you know we should look back at
01:12:46
them and and realize that really how
01:12:49
exceptional they were but we don't you
01:12:50
see because I don't think the Dan show
01:12:52
ever won an award because people were
01:12:54
too shitty and jeal
01:12:55
you know like people were people are
01:12:57
terribly um you know and I think that's
01:13:00
s yes very much yeah very much
01:13:03
especially amongst th you know in those
01:13:05
two but yeah there were lots of careers
01:13:07
like Jeremy cit's first show was with me
01:13:11
he cl play Clark CL B on the
01:13:14
paradise yes um April yir Bernard Oliver
01:13:19
Kirby um even Andrew sevil his first TV
01:13:21
show um with me so there was there've
01:13:24
been lots of them you know I I kind of
01:13:27
came from an era when I was executive
01:13:28
producer rugby at tvnz where we were
01:13:30
trying to get more and more ex players
01:13:32
to talk about it and so you know I I
01:13:35
introduced a lot of those um ex players
01:13:38
into into um television but it's been a
01:13:43
great ride yes so TV careers you started
01:13:46
um Mark and Matthew definitely right um
01:13:49
yeah Mark had um done Mark was doing
01:13:52
Sports Cafe it was originally Matthew
01:13:54
and Brook and then zenan pulled out and
01:13:57
so that's how Mark came in that was anet
01:13:59
New Zealand time of your life um with
01:14:01
Petra beist
01:14:03
um yeah h m you started her career from
01:14:07
palon North yeah that's the second time
01:14:09
the first time he was supposed to be
01:14:11
doing Mountain jaw on the edge but he
01:14:12
was too
01:14:13
scared so it became Lana and Wendy Botha
01:14:17
because hch was too scared he was he's
01:14:20
like we got him to the first bungee jum
01:14:21
he's like I can't do this I'm going to
01:14:23
wet myself so he never made it so he got
01:14:26
a show and then lost it on on day one of
01:14:28
shooting because he didn't he wasn't
01:14:29
brave enough but um yeah so he got taken
01:14:33
over by two girls and then Jan Carie
01:14:36
joined the cast and there were three of
01:14:37
them so yeah you so for for anyone that
01:14:40
doesn't um remember the mark and Matthew
01:14:42
stuff think um like Hamish and Andy
01:14:45
before Hamish and Andy John B before
01:14:47
John B so they were these two ex Sports
01:14:49
STS that just had this amazing Charisma
01:14:51
and oning chemistry and it was like they
01:14:53
they dare each other to do stuff they
01:14:55
would and you know they always they
01:14:57
always laughed with people not at people
01:14:59
um and send themselves they were
01:15:01
actually at the same time as havoc and
01:15:02
news boy but they were very different um
01:15:06
and yeah they were they were and the
01:15:08
Australians quite often say to me some
01:15:09
Australians say to me you know what
01:15:10
Matthew Mark were the precursor to heish
01:15:12
and Andy they started when they saw
01:15:13
Matthew and mark the Australians started
01:15:15
looking for their own Matthew and Mark
01:15:17
um but you know they did um and you said
01:15:20
on time of your life and then they did
01:15:22
um obviously we doing game and then they
01:15:23
did Rocky Road all over the world you
01:15:26
know um and I went to some places with
01:15:29
them India and I probably clearly should
01:15:32
have gone to Japan with them Matthew
01:15:33
might not might might have got might not
01:15:35
have gone as astray um but he but what
01:15:38
he did say that in that recent article
01:15:39
he did say that he that's where he first
01:15:41
uh found the drugs but um he he did say
01:15:44
that Treasure Island saved him which is
01:15:46
kind of nice how yeah how did how did
01:15:48
you Wrangle all these all these people
01:15:49
did you just turn a blind ey I think
01:15:51
like I've had Mike King on the podcast
01:15:53
and he talked about how much coke he was
01:15:54
doing during game of two halves did you
01:15:57
see this stuff going or was it all sort
01:15:58
of secretive or well well I did actually
01:16:01
I looked back and I I did the same thing
01:16:03
actually with Paul Henry who was
01:16:05
somebody who needed a lot of discipline
01:16:07
to get the best out of them I was kind
01:16:09
of like their friend but I always held a
01:16:12
little bit of fear so that when I said
01:16:16
don't don't they didn't and I think
01:16:19
that's
01:16:21
because I I I never got too close to
01:16:24
them I was probably closer to Matthew
01:16:25
and all the rest them put together
01:16:27
because our families were friends but he
01:16:29
um but yeah they knew that there was a
01:16:33
line that never cross and I guess they
01:16:36
also all thought that I would probably
01:16:39
cut
01:16:40
them if I wanted to I mean I I was you
01:16:44
know Mike worked for me on I did a chat
01:16:45
show Mike hang chat show with Mike
01:16:47
during the worst time he was very he was
01:16:49
a very difficult man to Wrangle too and
01:16:50
we argued a lot you know but we still
01:16:53
had that I think they had respect that I
01:16:55
knew what was going to work and you know
01:16:59
Martin develin as well and you know
01:17:03
and they used to give poor Tony Vach
01:17:05
such a hard time you know when I heard
01:17:07
Gamu hares coming back I was like holy
01:17:10
moly you really need a host who's going
01:17:12
to be able to take every slap because
01:17:14
that's what they used to do but it was
01:17:16
good nature yeah the the reboot hasn't
01:17:19
um really worked that well do you I
01:17:23
don't know is that fair to say I feel
01:17:25
hasn't had the cut through I wonder if
01:17:26
that's just because of you're where
01:17:27
things are at now with I'm I'm not sure
01:17:30
really I I know that um I know
01:17:33
that it's really important in the format
01:17:35
to make the sports stars look like stars
01:17:37
so what we used to do is we used to give
01:17:39
them give the sports star some answers
01:17:41
because when you're competing against
01:17:43
Devin and King and Regin Alice the those
01:17:47
boys their Sports knowledge of All Sport
01:17:51
they were like encyclopedias they they
01:17:54
knew everything
01:17:55
you know American sport any sport so no
01:17:57
sports star who had a real job could
01:18:00
compete with them so we just give them a
01:18:03
few answers so they felt
01:18:05
better um otherwise you would find
01:18:07
yourself that you'd paid all this money
01:18:09
for a sports to be the third
01:18:11
person and they didn't get a
01:18:14
word in
01:18:16
one one famously gave all the answers to
01:18:18
the write them all over their hand and
01:18:20
then when we asked a question about
01:18:22
themselves they couldn't they didn't get
01:18:24
the answer H certain Olympic um twins
01:18:27
that was certain Olympic twins one of
01:18:30
the yeah but also very hard being in
01:18:33
that environment where these these
01:18:34
established relationships and you know
01:18:36
they could finish each other's sentences
01:18:38
and being thrown sport Stars love sports
01:18:41
STS that's what I've discovered um and
01:18:43
and so so these people that you work
01:18:45
closely with and whose careers you sort
01:18:47
of help shape um yeah what's your sort
01:18:50
of role when when Scandal hits whether
01:18:52
it's a drug scandal or um Brent Todd
01:18:55
with um there was a poking machine scand
01:18:58
when he ended up on home D at Matthew
01:18:59
R's house or V with domestic violence
01:19:02
yeah like how do you um well vichi that
01:19:04
was long after me um and I wasn't close
01:19:07
to beichi but I was very close to Brent
01:19:09
Todd um and you know you have no idea
01:19:12
but in the end you
01:19:13
can't I I don't dump people because they
01:19:16
made mistakes you know um and yeah
01:19:19
you're fastly loyal aren't you I am
01:19:21
really loyal and I'm loyal to people who
01:19:22
have been incredibly loyal to me you
01:19:23
know um around that time Brent Todd who
01:19:25
was probably just about the most popular
01:19:28
you know New Zealand League player we'd
01:19:30
ever seen with a thousand friends when
01:19:32
he was on home D he had Matthew and me
01:19:34
they just disappeared into the sunset
01:19:36
you know and and and I saw that people
01:19:38
think Home D is really easy but I saw
01:19:41
how incredibly isolating it was for him
01:19:44
you know um it was just him and Matthew
01:19:47
and Matthew was always out but you know
01:19:49
Matthew would go away for a week and he
01:19:51
would be home alone he was allowed to I
01:19:53
think they allowed him to go on a run
01:19:54
once a day on a specific route um but it
01:19:59
it's I would argue it's could be well be
01:20:01
harder than prison because you are so
01:20:04
alone and it's so isolated so I mean I
01:20:07
you know and he's he's done really well
01:20:08
since then and he volly learned his
01:20:10
lesson and and in the
01:20:12
um celebrity drug scandal is it was
01:20:15
called oh For Heaven's Sake what was it
01:20:18
that marked couple of tablet procuring
01:20:21
pills whatever so basically H hooking up
01:20:22
your mates would you four I mean you you
01:20:25
look back you look back now now I think
01:20:28
the way the way policing changed like it
01:20:30
wouldn't even be a thing actually you
01:20:32
can take your pills to a festival and
01:20:33
get them tested that's right they would
01:20:34
have got them they wouldn't have got
01:20:35
charged but also um they would have
01:20:36
looking be looking for who supplied them
01:20:38
more than anything but um yeah there's
01:20:41
been plenty of scandals but well that
01:20:44
seemed like a particularly hard time for
01:20:45
Mark
01:20:47
um Mark's Mark's got real personal
01:20:50
strength and Incredible family um you
01:20:52
know he's an only child he's got really
01:20:54
really strong strong strong family ties
01:20:55
and and also he had you know business
01:20:57
confidence marks incredibly confident
01:20:59
and and really sure of himself so like
01:21:01
none of those neither of those boys and
01:21:04
I may be wrong I don't think either of
01:21:06
those boys suffer greatly from
01:21:07
self-doubt and they and they have a lot
01:21:10
of personal strength which enabled them
01:21:12
to get over things like
01:21:14
that well thanks for sharing that yeah
01:21:16
reminds me of um there's a documentary I
01:21:18
saw about Lance Armstrong you know the
01:21:20
disgraced cyclist and he talked about um
01:21:22
people leaning in or leaning out and
01:21:23
he's like when they the fan you will be
01:21:25
surprised at how few of your circle
01:21:27
actually lean in that's right you're a
01:21:29
leaner in I always lean in well you know
01:21:31
you I mean I've got I mean I know that
01:21:34
shit's never going to hit the fan with
01:21:35
someone like Matt Richardson and I only
01:21:37
see him once every six months but to me
01:21:39
he was always he helped me make the
01:21:41
block what it was you know when I
01:21:42
started the block he he was always and
01:21:45
actually the network wanted Mark Alice
01:21:47
to be the host of the block and I chose
01:21:48
M Richerson because I was like I need
01:21:50
someone who's always going to be there
01:21:52
on time you know lines learned and he's
01:21:54
so disciplined and he was like that so
01:21:55
he made my life better he made the show
01:21:57
better and he was someone who was always
01:21:59
looking to you know what else can I do
01:22:01
to make the show better and and I you
01:22:04
know and now I have nothing but
01:22:06
admiration for him but the ones I admire
01:22:08
are always always the ones who gave me
01:22:09
something you know
01:22:12
um homes um B
01:22:15
hry just cuz he makes me laugh you know
01:22:18
you you know that old game Who Would you
01:22:20
like at a dinner party I mean who
01:22:21
wouldn't want him you know yeah he's
01:22:23
he's fabulous did he try and talk you
01:22:25
into being a
01:22:27
nudist he tries to talk everybody into
01:22:29
becoming a nudist no but he's um yeah he
01:22:32
he just has no people are like um oh
01:22:35
Paul Henry would Tun Up to the opening
01:22:37
of an envelope but he wouldn't like he
01:22:38
actually it was hard to get him on my
01:22:39
podcast actually he doesn't like people
01:22:40
that much yeah but also he says I bought
01:22:44
a boat cuz I can I can't can't exactly
01:22:46
go to no speeches because of who I am so
01:22:48
bought a boat I'm I I absolutely uh you
01:22:51
know when they have talent and um and
01:22:54
that great company it's a it's fabulous
01:22:56
I mean April you're May we're still
01:22:58
great friends that she's another person
01:23:00
so he's she's director of sport at
01:23:01
Westlake girls high now W so she's out
01:23:03
of Television but she's another person
01:23:05
who had something incredibly special you
01:23:07
know and was never there was never any
01:23:09
tokenism there you know she was um
01:23:11
obviously Simon but she was she was
01:23:13
great at what she did and um so you get
01:23:16
a bit proud and only I'm feeling that
01:23:18
now because with this Legend thing I've
01:23:21
had to look back on all the all the old
01:23:23
shows and see um and see those shows and
01:23:27
just realize you
01:23:29
know there were so many people who who
01:23:32
passed through our company in those
01:23:34
early days yeah and so many careers that
01:23:37
you had a hand in in in in making it
01:23:39
should fill you with pride um are there
01:23:41
any shows that you're you look back now
01:23:42
and you're regret making what are the
01:23:44
ones you what I'm laughing because when
01:23:48
I made the show real about myself I put
01:23:49
on the two that got canceled as well so
01:23:51
I thought let's just lay it all out
01:23:53
there shall we what two got canel you
01:23:54
could easily leave them out the foot
01:23:56
show the Footy Show got cancelled oh
01:23:57
right like a New Zealand version of that
01:24:00
and um do you not remember why I'm not
01:24:02
going to tell you and then the second
01:24:03
one that got cancelled was called you be
01:24:05
the judge we did a DNA test live on
01:24:08
here Oprah had done it the week before
01:24:11
Jerry Springer it's okay for Oprah it
01:24:13
was Oprah yeah yeah a lot of people
01:24:15
forget before Oprah was Oprah she was
01:24:17
like a trashy show like along with Phil
01:24:19
donu and Ricky Lake and hey that little
01:24:21
boy's got a father now but anyway we we
01:24:23
did do
01:24:24
[Laughter]
01:24:27
not everything's good and I what
01:24:29
happened with the footage show how many
01:24:30
episodes oh was terrible so we we we
01:24:33
actually borrowed a little Challenge
01:24:35
from a British game show where two
01:24:39
players would be blindfolded and they
01:24:41
would touch another player to work out
01:24:43
who it
01:24:44
was probably shouldn't have done it with
01:24:47
two former all blacks and a female
01:24:51
cricketer there was no inapo nothing
01:24:53
inappropriate about it but you were
01:24:55
strictly
01:24:56
where but you could work out who it was
01:24:59
from I know bet you live in should never
01:25:02
have done that you live and learned AR
01:25:04
you well you know everybody saw it
01:25:07
everybody saw it you know the network
01:25:10
had seen it it was and it went to air
01:25:11
two weeks later and suddenly Everyone's
01:25:12
an uproar I'm like you all saw it and
01:25:14
you didn't say anything we could we
01:25:16
could have cut it out but anyway um but
01:25:18
to be honest in the hundreds of shows to
01:25:20
have now I laugh at those shows it's
01:25:22
funny cuz you know 10 years ago if You'
01:25:23
bought that up I would have bked at it
01:25:25
and refused to talk about it now I like
01:25:27
go you know nothing ventured nothing
01:25:29
gained you know nobody died yeah and
01:25:32
there's that saying fortune favors the
01:25:34
brave like you yeah for it does actually
01:25:36
that's a good oldfashioned saying and
01:25:38
you know now I do feel Brave you know
01:25:41
even um going back um even you know
01:25:45
obviously I own a company that um has
01:25:47
been based in natural history and even
01:25:49
though now we're doing True Crime we're
01:25:51
doing all sorts of stuff um and and to
01:25:54
Sports stocks we're doing one with
01:25:55
Auckland FC you know the new football
01:25:57
club which has been fantastic they have
01:25:59
they are just wonderful and I don't know
01:26:01
if you've seen if if you see much of the
01:26:02
port their fan base is amazing um and so
01:26:06
they done they've done an incredible job
01:26:08
eh Wonder it's wonderful to see and
01:26:10
because Allie Williams you know allly
01:26:11
and Anna and you know Allie's absolutely
01:26:13
determined that he's going to do it
01:26:15
right and and I love seeing that um and
01:26:17
and then to do po stories with the black
01:26:19
F so still doing a little bit in New
01:26:21
Zealand but really almost impossible to
01:26:24
survive a company be a good employer be
01:26:27
able to pay your staff you know over
01:26:29
Christmas when there's no work coming in
01:26:31
being able to invest in people we have
01:26:34
to um have a lot of programs from
01:26:36
overseas with bigger budgets what um
01:26:39
yeah what needs to be done to um to save
01:26:41
the future of New Zealand TV like do
01:26:43
does like can the government Force
01:26:45
Netflix to spend more money in New
01:26:47
Zealand or is there anything that can be
01:26:48
done like that to make more local the
01:26:50
Australian government was successful in
01:26:51
that which is why Netflix I don't think
01:26:53
Netflix isn't doing virtually nothing in
01:26:54
New Zealand now they took all the money
01:26:55
to Australia to satisfy the Australian
01:26:57
government I don't think I I think if
01:27:00
our government said to Netflix um either
01:27:03
put more into production or you have to
01:27:04
leave the
01:27:06
country I think they leave the country
01:27:09
oh my god um or actually actually there
01:27:11
an outrage and it wouldn't happen I
01:27:14
that's not going to happen our only way
01:27:15
forward and this is just my personal
01:27:17
opinion is we need to stop Naval gazing
01:27:20
as much and make much make all our shows
01:27:25
with more International
01:27:27
appeal we can do it what we've done it
01:27:31
what would give us show more
01:27:32
International appeal how do you mean um
01:27:34
making salability and like what you did
01:27:37
with the cheer and yeah yeah well not
01:27:39
that's that's formats but you know think
01:27:41
carefully about will will will the
01:27:43
international audience understand this
01:27:46
understand what's going on you know or
01:27:47
is it just an inward joke you know um
01:27:51
how can I um how would I make this
01:27:53
appeal to America if Americans are
01:27:55
watching this show what would they think
01:27:57
you know even on PO stories for example
01:27:59
we use a lot of even basic translation
01:28:02
just because even though um because the
01:28:05
black funs naturally use too in their
01:28:07
everyday conversation we make sure that
01:28:09
it's in context so it's really easy to
01:28:12
understand what they're talking about um
01:28:14
and that's that's really important
01:28:15
because anything on nzr plus is for an
01:28:17
international audience at the same time
01:28:19
we've made a um 30% Terr version of it
01:28:21
for For Cami um which is
01:28:24
of the same show but we definitely have
01:28:26
our eye on the international audience
01:28:28
even something is you know as kind of
01:28:31
like you'd think is New Zealand as po um
01:28:35
we do that and I think you there's there
01:28:37
many things you know our funders have
01:28:39
got to be more commercial and funding
01:28:41
you know we we've got a if we look at
01:28:43
what what what does the world want now
01:28:45
the world wants dating shows and True
01:28:46
Crime True Crime oh my God the massive
01:28:50
pod most massive podcast genre
01:28:53
right are you are you a podcast lady oh
01:28:56
yes oh yeah what are you into I do
01:28:58
listen to quite a few um I listen to a
01:28:59
few True Crime ones I listen to the BBC
01:29:01
ones because I like when they push the
01:29:02
boundaries like I I'm I'm more into um
01:29:06
audio documentary so I like um there's
01:29:09
one the Sha shamima ban one from the BBC
01:29:12
now she's one of those three girls from
01:29:14
Birmingham who went off to thinking they
01:29:17
could become Isis Brides you know um and
01:29:21
I don't know if you know that they're
01:29:22
quite famous it's quite a famous story
01:29:24
15 years old and three of them went off
01:29:26
um to Iraq and became brides and two of
01:29:29
them I think are dead and one lived and
01:29:31
she's now still in a refugee camp in
01:29:33
Iraq and and England has said has got
01:29:37
rid of her citizenship um raised it or
01:29:40
whatever so she's got nowhere to go
01:29:41
she's sitting there um jamaa B and she's
01:29:43
now gone from wearing the full burer
01:29:46
back to you know the baseball caps and
01:29:47
the Lululemon and that and um I know
01:29:50
where the Lululemon came from but um and
01:29:52
and so and you can feel feel him walking
01:29:54
through that refugee camp you can hear
01:29:56
him you can the kids come up to him and
01:29:58
he talks you know I'm I'm kind of into
01:30:00
that adventurous sort of thing and then
01:30:02
also into some other ones which changed
01:30:04
the genre like do you know who Lucy leby
01:30:06
is so Lucy leby is a British nurse who's
01:30:09
been oh yeah they killed all the babies
01:30:10
yeah of all the baby killing well two
01:30:13
actually daily male journalists followed
01:30:15
it every day but they weren't allowed to
01:30:17
give their opinions they were only
01:30:18
allowed to tell you what actually
01:30:19
happened in court and I found that
01:30:22
actually as a different way of doing a
01:30:24
podcast quite fascinating um and then
01:30:27
there's other ones like one of my famous
01:30:29
is um one of my favorites is up in
01:30:31
Vanishing out of the states which is a
01:30:34
true crime one where they um there's a
01:30:37
Tara grinstead their first series where
01:30:39
they actually 10 years later they solved
01:30:40
the crime they solved the crime and so
01:30:44
you I I quite like those ones too but
01:30:46
I'm a bit of a audio documentary kind of
01:30:51
you know person when you listen to them
01:30:53
do are you I listen to yours of course
01:30:55
which most people say did you just hear
01:30:57
what Paul Henry said about you you I
01:30:59
think you've been you you've probably
01:31:00
been mentioned in more podcast episodes
01:31:02
than anyone else uh yeah Mark Richardson
01:31:05
Paul Henry Matthew Ridge yeah you you've
01:31:08
come up a lot oh you Paul Henry told a
01:31:10
story about you about um something that
01:31:12
he why did you raise an eyebrow it's not
01:31:14
a bad story cuz we had a we had a text
01:31:16
interaction about the story which I read
01:31:17
out to you of course I love Paul Henry I
01:31:20
love the way he embellishes stories he's
01:31:22
fabulous Storyteller isn't he but he
01:31:24
wasn't throwing you under the bus the
01:31:25
the if my memory serves me correctly
01:31:27
it's something like he was he was on
01:31:28
hosting this as your life and there was
01:31:30
something wrong with the curtain and the
01:31:31
background and you're like oh we need to
01:31:33
get that changed um and the the one of
01:31:36
the stage hands said oh that's
01:31:37
impossible and and you were like no it's
01:31:39
not impossible and sure enough they they
01:31:41
got the curtain change to your
01:31:42
satisfaction by the end of the day they
01:31:44
did and that was probably true I don't
01:31:46
spec I can only vaguely remember that
01:31:48
but Paul I mean it was very nice that
01:31:50
Paul said it you know that that taught
01:31:52
him that actually he should always
01:31:53
demand high standards in his own shows
01:31:55
and that is kind of nice but
01:31:58
um him saying he was scared of
01:32:01
me I don't think Paul was ever ever
01:32:04
scared of anyone do you love that though
01:32:06
do you do you love um knowing that
01:32:07
you're terrifying to some people no I
01:32:09
laughed I know I'm not terrifying to him
01:32:12
I laughed I I I found it funny I mean it
01:32:15
was the old saying when you do this as
01:32:17
your life it's the hardest show ever to
01:32:18
produce you've spent two months delving
01:32:21
as deep as you can into someone's life
01:32:23
without them
01:32:24
you have tried to get their wife not to
01:32:27
tell them and I know at least half the
01:32:28
times the wives couldn't stop themselves
01:32:30
and definitely told the subjects you're
01:32:32
trying to keep everything secret you're
01:32:34
trying to manage people like Michael
01:32:35
Jones's mother the day before said
01:32:37
unless you bring 30 rallies from sore
01:32:39
we're pulling out of it we're not doing
01:32:41
it and I'm like oh you know you get all
01:32:43
these stresses on doing it and then you
01:32:47
you know there's about a I think it was
01:32:49
about a 20 minute delay between when we
01:32:51
shot it and when it came on air and then
01:32:53
once Paul
01:32:54
poor holes might have had a few the
01:32:56
night before and not being a very good
01:32:58
nick and called
01:32:59
Lance K's a hockey player instead of a
01:33:02
cricket player when he surprised him
01:33:04
which didn't help and then we bought Ian
01:33:07
both of them from England for the same
01:33:09
one and may have got way laid in Sydney
01:33:12
when he met someone on a plane and you
01:33:14
know and like suddenly this is your
01:33:17
life's tonight and where's both of them
01:33:20
oh he'll be on the
01:33:22
3:00 you know like so the stress and
01:33:25
then zinan Brooks it starts hailing on
01:33:30
the cloud in Oakland and you can't hear
01:33:32
the show and I don't know if you he much
01:33:35
about Zam he's got about seven kids and
01:33:37
all the kids go into po home's dressing
01:33:39
room and start playing around and Paul
01:33:40
Holmes has Paul Holmes was it yeah had
01:33:43
hery fit because he all his kids in the
01:33:45
dressing room so you're managing all
01:33:46
sorts of things and then you finally get
01:33:48
to the end of it and the person is so
01:33:51
happy
01:33:52
usually and you look at them and you go
01:33:54
I know so much about you and you don't
01:33:55
even know who I am or or they're unhappy
01:33:57
the biggest problem always was you know
01:34:00
kids would say I'm not coming unless my
01:34:01
mom comes on well your dad left your mom
01:34:04
for his current wife and so we're going
01:34:06
to have maybe a little bit of friction
01:34:08
here how do you manage that friction you
01:34:10
know so you're always a lot of ex-wife
01:34:13
management um a lot of wives who didn't
01:34:16
love their husbands that much management
01:34:18
a lot of you see a lot of flaws um and
01:34:22
great in the face famous Grant Fox one
01:34:24
the one where I'd had the baby two days
01:34:26
before Alan Dale who's a very famous
01:34:28
American non-american Australian actor
01:34:31
he he judged Miss Universe or something
01:34:34
with Grant Fox we bring him on big
01:34:37
Australian actor Grant Fox can't
01:34:39
remember him there no idea who he is
01:34:42
can't remember any of it and they had a
01:34:44
big night out and it was all like Ellen
01:34:46
Dale thought they were buddies for life
01:34:47
gr Fox can't remember we surprised
01:34:50
Michael Jones Michael Jones says isn't
01:34:52
the show Just for Old and dead people
01:34:54
like what so like you and then we
01:34:57
surprised Jonah Lomo who was absolutely
01:34:59
horrified um and hated every minut but
01:35:02
of
01:35:03
course so yeah it exhausts you no wonder
01:35:06
the format isn't I have tried to bring
01:35:08
it back a few times but it's very
01:35:10
expensive and quite hard to make did you
01:35:12
did you love that um period of your life
01:35:14
though like like white knuckling it you
01:35:16
know just yeah the qutool levels
01:35:18
constantly being redly on that show yeah
01:35:21
yeah yeah yeah and you
01:35:24
knew what they thought of the and I
01:35:26
chose to do some um quite different ones
01:35:28
like Scott Dixon after he won his first
01:35:31
the first the IND 500 which is if you
01:35:33
realize it's the biggest live sports
01:35:34
race in the world and you know that was
01:35:36
10 years ago before he was a super super
01:35:38
superstar like he is now so you know you
01:35:40
could tell by the choice of um of
01:35:43
subject what they'd think like Melina
01:35:45
major who was an operate opera singer
01:35:47
was like you could tell within 5 minutes
01:35:49
you know well the next you could see the
01:35:51
audience what the audience thought about
01:35:53
the subject so it was incredibly
01:35:55
important who that first person you
01:35:56
brought up was you know but it was it
01:35:59
was um I me made made a few mistakes in
01:36:02
it but it was fantastic television you
01:36:05
know very exciting why doesn't it come
01:36:08
back like think of the great new Zanders
01:36:10
like oh money really it's really
01:36:12
expensive to make it's a lot of a lot of
01:36:14
prep you quite a few quite often you
01:36:17
have to pay the people to come now I
01:36:18
know it's astonishing but you do when I
01:36:20
first started doing it we didn't pay
01:36:22
anyone but you do you know if you're
01:36:24
going to bring a superstar from overseas
01:36:25
you're G to pay first class aairs is
01:36:27
you've you've you know it's a big it's a
01:36:29
lot of cameras big kind of studio um
01:36:34
it's yeah it's
01:36:38
probably now it would be close to
01:36:41
400,000 an episode to make M yeah no
01:36:45
one's got the appetite for that do they
01:36:47
well you know we could do it once a year
01:36:49
yeah but you know now now you've got to
01:36:52
be sure you get the adverti in it and
01:36:55
you know what's the sponsor going to you
01:36:57
know we used to have great deals like in
01:36:58
New Zealand used to fly people in we
01:36:59
were always scrambling for the last
01:37:02
sense to make it but it is one of the
01:37:04
world's greatest ever formats um and you
01:37:07
know I had the pleasure of having
01:37:10
starting with Bob Parker then Paul
01:37:12
Holmes and then Paul Henry so had the
01:37:15
pleasure of kind of doing it with all of
01:37:16
them we had a lot of arguments along the
01:37:18
way with TN said they always were trying
01:37:20
to change the presenter on me and plenty
01:37:22
of times thank heaven I owned the rights
01:37:24
I would say
01:37:26
no no no and well who who did they want
01:37:30
just whoever they were pushing at the
01:37:31
time you give me a look like I should
01:37:33
not like who like Simon Del no who he
01:37:35
was Simon Del was mentioned once yes he
01:37:37
was yeah but um but they were always I
01:37:40
don't know why they didn't get it that
01:37:42
how important the host was cuz the host
01:37:44
is mostly talking to amate talent and
01:37:47
and therefore the host has rehearsed the
01:37:49
story with the talent we you rehears the
01:37:51
show you spend all day rehearsing the
01:37:52
show so if it's Emma to tell them the
01:37:55
host needs to know the story back to
01:37:57
front so when the person completely
01:37:58
forgets the story The Host carries them
01:38:01
along yeah holds their hand you know
01:38:03
know and Holmes particularly was a
01:38:05
brilliant listener and so Holmes would
01:38:07
always carry along Paul Henry I was
01:38:09
never quite sure if he was listening
01:38:11
but um and what about um like well from
01:38:15
a personal level like criticism over the
01:38:16
year about being like a hard female boss
01:38:19
I feel like well you know how like if
01:38:22
you're a hard male boss the the '90s of
01:38:24
the 2000s you know you'd be just called
01:38:26
like a a boss but you know you would
01:38:28
have been called like a ball breaker or
01:38:31
at that that was the desperate pursuit
01:38:33
of affection I think we always wanted to
01:38:36
always wanted to be the best and
01:38:38
probably was too hard on people then not
01:38:41
nearly as much now you don't think think
01:38:43
it was like um highlighted or extra
01:38:46
unfair for you you're based on your sex
01:38:48
no no when I was SE to producer rugby at
01:38:51
tvnz in the mid 90s and I didn't really
01:38:54
see it then um and I just I had never
01:38:58
seen kind of a glass ceiling of being
01:38:59
female I've I've always had male mentors
01:39:02
my mentors have been males and I've
01:39:04
always just if I couldn't get in the
01:39:06
front door i' go on the window I was
01:39:08
always one of those people who was so
01:39:09
tenacious I wouldn't give up on anything
01:39:11
so um yeah I probably was but I never
01:39:13
never expected anyone to work harder
01:39:15
than me and I um you know we used to
01:39:19
have touchdown used to have the best
01:39:21
parties you know when I show we'd have
01:39:23
champagne and and sausage rolls you know
01:39:27
for for um morning tea you know they all
01:39:31
there's a song which um You the monkey
01:39:33
song I'm a Believer used to be our theme
01:39:35
song and you know if you believed in
01:39:37
that company you stayed there so it used
01:39:39
to be a Work Hard Play Hard company and
01:39:41
I mean you know what it was like when
01:39:42
you used to have your parties your raing
01:39:44
parties especially when you and JJ were
01:39:45
absolute top of the pile you know how
01:39:47
important it was that's exactly the
01:39:49
culture we had was work hard play hard
01:39:52
and that's why so many people stayed
01:39:53
there so long there's people who are
01:39:55
there then who are back working for me
01:39:57
now there are people who stayed on at
01:39:58
Warners ever since worked you
01:40:01
know um even when Warners bought it
01:40:04
those there was still there so you could
01:40:07
you could say that but if I hadn't been
01:40:10
I don't know what would would would
01:40:13
there have been as many as much success
01:40:15
if I hadn't been tough no but I feel
01:40:17
like there's like a culture now or an
01:40:19
expectation where no one wants to work
01:40:21
this is a sweeping generalization I
01:40:23
remember when Elon mus took over Twitter
01:40:24
and tend it to ex he said he he doesn't
01:40:27
want people working from home he wants
01:40:28
people that are going to be there be
01:40:29
their first thing in the morning and be
01:40:31
their last thing at night and it was
01:40:32
like raised eyebrows for for people but
01:40:35
I don't believe in working from home
01:40:37
anymore I think working from home is um
01:40:40
is not good in Creative Industries I'm
01:40:42
absolutely anti working from home yeah
01:40:44
going forward I mean I have the pleasure
01:40:45
now going forward of knowing having had
01:40:47
so many people work for me over all
01:40:49
these years I can really pick and choose
01:40:50
now and that's fantastic you know so now
01:40:53
I pretty much know that I've got a
01:40:56
wonderful um you know staff now of you
01:40:59
know one of them one of them who's just
01:41:01
come back to work for us actually was a
01:41:02
contestant and I we used to quite often
01:41:04
employ contestants you know um was a
01:41:06
contestant and um in uh Miss Popularity
01:41:09
was which a show we made many years ago
01:41:12
and you know that was her big break to
01:41:13
have ever gone on a reality show and
01:41:15
then came in come and work for us and
01:41:16
now she's still working for us so oh
01:41:19
yeah actually on the the series of
01:41:21
Treasure Island that I was on there was
01:41:22
um a guy there working on that like
01:41:24
building sets called Sam and he was he
01:41:26
was a contestant on a like a Truman Show
01:41:28
living the dream yeah living the dream
01:41:30
so it was a reality show but he was the
01:41:31
only contestant and it was all actors
01:41:33
around him yeah in this house yeah that
01:41:35
was a great that was my house actually
01:41:37
we did that in my house it was a yeah
01:41:38
that was a really great um format we
01:41:40
actually bought that from the states it
01:41:41
was called the joeo show and um yeah Sam
01:41:44
went on to continue I think he's I'm not
01:41:46
sure if he did the last Treasure Island
01:41:47
but he's done the last few Treasure
01:41:48
Islands he's a police dog handler now in
01:41:51
pal to North he lives in Fielding he's
01:41:54
he's a police dog handler now but yeah I
01:41:57
mean that sort of that show was such a
01:42:00
risk and we don't have those sort of big
01:42:04
risks anymore we haven't even talked
01:42:06
about the government stuff yet how how
01:42:08
much of a hurry are you in have you got
01:42:09
um I'll just what's your next thing
01:42:11
probably got another 15 okay yeah it be
01:42:14
good to talk about this the um hold on
01:42:16
second being on the board for the 2011
01:42:18
World Cup the women's Rugby World Cup
01:42:19
and also the flag I love the women's
01:42:21
Rugby World Cup do do you get paid for
01:42:22
these things or is
01:42:23
you so I started the first one was um
01:42:26
New Zealand trading Enterprise um which
01:42:29
obviously helps New Zealand companies um
01:42:32
um get into the overseas market and then
01:42:33
next one was Rugby World Cup 2011 where
01:42:35
I was the only female on the board and
01:42:38
quite a lot younger than anyone else um
01:42:40
so I've always
01:42:42
been I I sat out on boards I was still a
01:42:45
working CEO and that's very different
01:42:46
when you're doing governance cuz most
01:42:47
people are retired so and I liked that
01:42:50
because it makes you match fit you know
01:42:51
what it's like to have to pay findy pay
01:42:53
the wages and things like that so that
01:42:55
worked quite well and then um New
01:42:57
Zealand story which helps New Zealand
01:42:59
companies Market themselves overseas and
01:43:01
then World exposed to by 2020 and it
01:43:02
kind of went on and on and the flag
01:43:04
consideration panel and yeah what was
01:43:07
that I had um Sir John ke on the podcast
01:43:09
recently and um he talked about the flag
01:43:11
thing and I think the country he gave as
01:43:13
an example was Canada where they just
01:43:15
changed it without a referendum and he's
01:43:16
like no said I should have just changed
01:43:18
the flag he should have you know what
01:43:20
and you know what we I was so I I I
01:43:23
walked in there I walked into that
01:43:25
committee with an open mind I left
01:43:27
thinking we missed a great great
01:43:28
opportunity and there was so much
01:43:30
bitching about the $21 million you know
01:43:33
cost what I what knowing got was that
01:43:37
actually 14 million of it was a paper
01:43:39
trans transaction to New Zealand post to
01:43:41
deliver the you know it was actually all
01:43:43
about to deliver the ballots it was
01:43:45
actually all about you know it's
01:43:46
government Department essentially
01:43:48
government to government right so so
01:43:50
that was all rubbish um but I you know T
01:43:53
said I think did that poll in New York
01:43:55
and they showed the flag to 50 people
01:43:57
and 50 people said it was Australian and
01:43:59
that to me was like what are we doing at
01:44:00
that time our economy was in great shape
01:44:02
we were we were you know we were really
01:44:04
showing Australia up on the world stage
01:44:06
and we missed our chance H Insanity I so
01:44:10
wanted that silver Fern on the flag but
01:44:12
mostly I didn't want that Union Jack on
01:44:14
the flag do you do you think part of the
01:44:16
issue in hindsight was um just people
01:44:18
voting against John ke people that
01:44:19
didn't like John ke saying no it's a
01:44:21
John ke vanity project
01:44:23
the difference was only 4% we forget or
01:44:26
was it a design thing cuz the design
01:44:28
they were going with was kind of well we
01:44:30
you know we we looked at hundreds and
01:44:31
hundreds of designs laser kiwi was the
01:44:33
winner yeah we had you know the one I
01:44:36
see quite a lot still the white on black
01:44:39
the the the the white fern on the black
01:44:42
that's one I loved in the end you know
01:44:44
but um you see those flags around all
01:44:45
the time you still see them and I went
01:44:47
to the following World Cup and I had the
01:44:49
one I liked you know like I like I've
01:44:52
still got all the flag you know it was
01:44:54
our chance it it really didn't matter
01:44:55
which one but it was our chance to come
01:44:58
out from under the shadow of Australia
01:45:00
and what are we doing with the Union
01:45:02
Jack on our flags still I mean I'm in
01:45:04
spite of bless your dear heart I got my
01:45:06
damehood from the queen on that um I'm
01:45:09
not much of a royalist these days I
01:45:11
don't and I relate that to you know to
01:45:14
the RO to to being a royalist so um yeah
01:45:18
I I that that was I was I was
01:45:21
disappointed but not devastating
01:45:23
and then um obviously I applied for the
01:45:27
applied for the New Zealand Rugby board
01:45:28
and they gave me a job in their
01:45:30
commercial committee and then I applied
01:45:31
again they and they offered me um uh I
01:45:34
was chair of the All Blacks experience
01:45:35
which was set up in Sky City and then
01:45:37
they offered me the women's Rugby World
01:45:38
Cup and that was the most amazing
01:45:41
experience of my life you know we had a
01:45:43
big strategy three words Phil Eden Park
01:45:46
and it worked and set world records for
01:45:48
women's rugby the feeling really gave
01:45:51
rugby huge lift and man I was so so
01:45:55
proud um of that yeah and you didn't
01:45:58
have to like give away tickets gave away
01:46:00
none no because we didn't want to we we
01:46:04
felt like you know it was kind of no one
01:46:06
had never ever paid to be in a woman's
01:46:08
rug to be women's rug B so we didn't
01:46:10
want to and I think the lease were $10
01:46:12
but we gave away 33,000 Po and you know
01:46:15
it
01:46:16
was for so many of those players we not
01:46:19
the show recently made po stories four
01:46:22
of those those women were in that team
01:46:24
and they look at that footage I made
01:46:26
them look back at it and they cry now
01:46:29
they like when they see you know the
01:46:31
crowds the PO and Stacy Walker said an
01:46:33
interesting thing she said they actually
01:46:35
knew our names people were calling out
01:46:37
our names she said we who cheering
01:46:39
before but they were calling out our
01:46:40
names so I think they will we get that
01:46:43
Euphoria back into
01:46:45
rugby probably rugby needs to look a bit
01:46:48
deeper at why it
01:46:51
worked yeah that must be like just
01:46:53
immensely satisfying though because it's
01:46:55
easy to take for granted in hindsight
01:46:57
what what happened with that tournament
01:46:58
but uh yeah before that women's rugby
01:47:00
was kind of a token thing it was like
01:47:01
the curtain Razer in the afternoon
01:47:03
before the men's yeah and it sort of
01:47:06
really showed them up but you know
01:47:07
Michelle Hooper was a t director was
01:47:09
incredible she an incredible team I was
01:47:11
just the chair but very much on the
01:47:13
strategy you know when you're on boards
01:47:15
it's actually all about um the strategy
01:47:19
and the strategy was to feden park and
01:47:21
then we thought if we do that then
01:47:22
they'll all come and they did and what
01:47:24
about Rita Ora's outfit do you remember
01:47:27
that no no I don't it'll be on YouTube
01:47:30
I'll look you need go and have a look
01:47:31
and you go wow well clearly taer saw her
01:47:34
and went wow were they together then or
01:47:36
was that they were yeah yeah they
01:47:38
definitely were um what about um biggest
01:47:41
adversity and challenges like personal
01:47:43
and professional you you've had a couple
01:47:45
of marriages eh is that the biggest
01:47:47
adversity well I know what I'm no not
01:47:49
good at put it that way but you're not a
01:47:52
quter won't be going again oh really
01:47:54
really yeah that's true so your first
01:47:56
one was is that the your the baby daddy
01:47:59
no second one John chrisy was the first
01:48:01
s was where I got my last name right how
01:48:03
long was how long did the first one last
01:48:05
well I me I was with him for
01:48:07
um N9 years yeah and the second second
01:48:10
one 13 yeah and the second one you know
01:48:12
he's always been a great dad to my to my
01:48:13
two kids so they have have a great
01:48:15
relationship with him so yeah I mean I I
01:48:18
know that my job put stresses on my
01:48:21
marriage M you I've been told your
01:48:23
work's more important than me more times
01:48:25
than you can count but you know did that
01:48:28
hurt like a gut punch at the time or you
01:48:30
s like well yeah I actually is I think
01:48:33
my fear of poverty was probably
01:48:36
greater H which I don't have so much now
01:48:40
but yeah the fear of poverty yeah was
01:48:42
probably a driver there but you know I'm
01:48:46
you know I appre you know the
01:48:47
relationship I've been in the last 10
01:48:48
years he knew me you know long before we
01:48:51
had a relationship so he's he knows what
01:48:53
he's getting it doesn't matter how many
01:48:55
shopping bags I walk in the house with
01:48:57
he's never going to say how much that
01:48:59
cost well it's your your money as well
01:49:02
but also um yeah I think you're you're
01:49:03
probably a calmer person now than what
01:49:05
you were oh yeah yeah you know the the
01:49:08
sting goes out I don't know apart from
01:49:10
your brother I think he's the exception
01:49:11
to the rule but I think people mellow as
01:49:12
they get into the you know sort of
01:49:15
mellow that's mellow for him he M um
01:49:18
yeah what about um yeah so you've just
01:49:21
won this award that like basically
01:49:23
Lifetime Achievement Award the legend
01:49:24
award um there's the damehood The Verve
01:49:27
Cleo entrepreneur of the Year award um
01:49:29
You've Won lots of stuff what about
01:49:31
Legacy what are your thoughts on that um
01:49:35
the moment I feel like the legacy is the
01:49:37
people that have learned from our shows
01:49:40
and my experiences and there are so many
01:49:42
of them not just the front of the the
01:49:45
the presenters but much more the people
01:49:46
behind the scenes there literally
01:49:48
hundreds of people have worked on those
01:49:49
shows you know and I went through the
01:49:51
awards I I had a last night who's
01:49:53
nominated for awards so many of those
01:49:55
people were part of the early touchdown
01:49:58
and ey works and that's why that's
01:50:01
probably the Legacy I think um but you
01:50:04
know I also I mean one of the stupidest
01:50:08
things I've has ever happened to me in
01:50:09
my life is I was asked to speak at a a
01:50:12
conference and I followed Steven Tinder
01:50:14
which is always a hard act to follow and
01:50:16
Kim Hill was the um host and she said we
01:50:19
all know what Steven Steven Tindle
01:50:21
contribut to this country what good are
01:50:23
they going to say about you and I
01:50:25
thought which shows of the deeply bitter
01:50:28
woman that she was anyway right more
01:50:29
than it says anything about me and I
01:50:31
couldn't think of anything and I was
01:50:33
like and she went what will I say on
01:50:35
your grave and I I'm hopeful I'll say I
01:50:38
entertain some people and I was a good
01:50:40
mother and I was like I can't believe
01:50:42
that I was flabbergasted you know um but
01:50:47
they asked me to do the next one and I
01:50:48
said who's who's uh hosting it who's the
01:50:51
MC I said
01:50:53
no yeah well um well you sort of covered
01:50:57
this off I guess in a roundabout way but
01:50:59
um I I had uh this guy dug Ellen on the
01:51:02
podcast who's like a part of Team New
01:51:04
Zealand um that just won the America's
01:51:05
Cup and he's done some adventure sports
01:51:07
races with Richie mcco and he said I'm
01:51:08
one of the adventure races with Richie
01:51:10
in the middle of the night Richie came
01:51:11
up with a game that everyone had to give
01:51:13
three words that they'd like to be used
01:51:15
about them at their funeral wow and one
01:51:17
of Richie's words was integrity and DG
01:51:19
was like that's funny cuz that's what I
01:51:20
would have said about him what about you
01:51:22
three words at your
01:51:24
funeral loyal
01:51:28
yeah loving probably um especially
01:51:31
towards my family and generous I
01:51:34
guess three great words yeah I mean I
01:51:38
don't I I just care more about myself as
01:51:40
a person than I care about myself as a
01:51:43
TV producer you know the older I get the
01:51:45
more I care um you know about being a
01:51:49
good person I mean I always have because
01:51:51
I was brought up that way but now I'm
01:51:53
not um you know I'm not intimidated
01:51:55
honestly you could say what you like now
01:51:57
you could call me a um a cultural
01:52:00
Vandal yeah that's another one so gez
01:52:03
they sting they stick with you these
01:52:06
these they don't stick with you to to
01:52:07
get an award like this and everyone
01:52:09
brings them
01:52:09
up no I was I had them to bring up but
01:52:12
you bought them up you front footed it
01:52:14
oh I might as well you know I laugh you
01:52:16
know well I've always found you a very
01:52:18
good person you you must have found over
01:52:20
the years there's a lot of people that
01:52:21
um like a lot of ass kisses that you are
01:52:24
nice to you because they feel like you
01:52:26
can give them a job or something or oh
01:52:28
yeah not so much I mean I'm I'm um you
01:52:31
know I I have a lot of mean I've made
01:52:34
some great friendships most of my
01:52:35
friendships about television and then I
01:52:37
have a whole friend group of women of
01:52:40
about 15 women who have nothing to do
01:52:42
with television who who I spend a lot of
01:52:45
time with and they never pitch me a TV
01:52:47
show which is really good ever they
01:52:49
never say don't you know so I have two
01:52:52
sides my life cage never pites me cage
01:52:54
pitches me all the time yeah well I yeah
01:52:57
I think those words those words are
01:52:58
great you are definitely one of the most
01:52:59
loyal people I know and um yeah and
01:53:01
you're kind and you're sensitive and
01:53:03
it's finally got you in how's it been
01:53:05
not too punishing it's good and it's
01:53:07
been really good and I actually I meant
01:53:08
to bring this up but you know we talk
01:53:10
about storytelling and I hope this
01:53:11
doesn't hurt you Dom but one of the
01:53:14
greatest current affairs story I've ever
01:53:15
seen on television was the story about
01:53:18
you and JJ in your fertility battle you
01:53:20
know at a time when you know we it was a
01:53:21
Sunday night current affairs show I
01:53:23
think it was Sunday Sunday yeah yeah
01:53:24
John HS I'll never forget that story you
01:53:27
know and how you know and I kind of you
01:53:30
know I knew you obviously but you know
01:53:32
when it's a bit of a Pity with Cent Fair
01:53:35
stories they don't stay out there
01:53:36
forever because that was one of the
01:53:37
great stories they ever did about a
01:53:39
relatively soft and you know a subject a
01:53:42
lot of people have been through but it
01:53:43
was absolutely brilliant I remember
01:53:46
seeing it and going oh my God that is
01:53:49
phenomenal storytelling and it was
01:53:50
really about your honesty and I I think
01:53:53
in radio maybe it was radio that enabled
01:53:55
you to show your real selves and you
01:53:56
showed your real selves and not a lot
01:53:58
not a lot of people do um maybe you do
01:54:01
less as you've got older but um but yeah
01:54:04
certainly in that and then you know I
01:54:06
used to listen to you you guys on the
01:54:09
edge every morning when I was driving to
01:54:11
work just to see what stupid thing you
01:54:13
would do I think one day you had a mass
01:54:16
in the um Studio or something and you
01:54:18
were describing in great detail what was
01:54:20
going on and I was screaming with laugh
01:54:22
in my car so so you two have made a
01:54:25
great contribution to to the business I
01:54:27
don't know I think we're cultural
01:54:28
vandals as
01:54:30
well God wouldn't life be boring if we
01:54:32
didn't have cultural vandals hey this
01:54:34
this has been wonderful Dame Julie
01:54:36
Christie um thank you so much thanks St