John Harris: Longtime Greenstone owner...

Interview – 2011

John Harris was the longtime owner of one of New Zealand’s biggest production companies: Greenstone TV. Harris began in state television as a reporter, and helped launch regional show Top Half. After leaving TVNZ he worked for Communicado, then launched Greenstone in 1994. There he was a producer on a huge range of TV shows, including The Zoo, Epitaph, Motorway Patrol and Neighbours at War. In 2010 Greenstone bought production company Cream Media; in 2013 Harris sold Greenstone to Australian company CJZ.

In this ScreenTalk, Harris talks about:

"Marrying" presenters John Hawkesby and Judy Bailey on regional show Top Half
How a pack of corgis ruined the Top Half set
Producing That’s Fairly Interesting for Communicado
An unforgettable rescue story which he covered on show Heroes
Setting up his own company Greenstone Pictures (later renamed Greenstone TV) — "suddenly it was all on"
How Epitaph showed a unique side of New Zealand history
The reasons why he purchased Nigel Snowden's company Cream Media
The "incredible privilege" of getting to tell other people’s stories on TV

This video was first uploaded on 26 April 2011, 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, Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside

We've made some 90 one-hour documentaries, dozens of programmes like Motorway Patrol and The Zoo . . .a whole lot of things which I think have become quite well-known in New Zealand, and have sold around the world. I don't think I ever had that as a plan; I just wanted to do my own thing, and it just grew and grew...
– John Harris on the explosive growth of production company Greenstone

John's Full Profile