John A Givins: Early drama days, Queer Nation, and more...

John A Givins (Johnny) is an actor, director and producer. His independent production company Livingstone Productions is best known for the long-running TV2 LGBT series Queer Nation, and the award-winning TV ONE documentary series Captain's Log.

In this ScreenTalk, Givins talks about:

• Starting out as a TV actor in Children of Fire Mountain, with director Peter Sharp

• How Sharp helped him get a break into TV drama directing a few years later

• Drama directing days with TVNZ in the 1980s, working on series such as Country GP, The Seekers, and Peppermint Twist

• Working on Shortland Street in its early days, and how he was also developing his own independent production ideas at that time

• Where the name for Livingstone Productions came from, and its connection to his Scottish heritage

• Being gay and making gay television, starting with the TV productions of the Hero Parade, and moving on to long-running TVNZ series Queer Nation

• The creation of the Captain's Log documentary series

• The end of Queer Nation and how its demise was the result of an 'assault' by TVNZ

This video was first uploaded on 11 May 2009, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview - Clare O'Leary. Camera and Editing - Leo Guerchmann