ScreenTalk Legends - Julie Christie

Producer Julie Christie has been called New Zealand's "Queen of reality TV". For decades she has been developing and producing staples of local television, including Celebrity Treasure Island, The Block and The Chair, In 1991 she founded company Touchdown Productions, which exported programme formats internationally. In the decades since, Christie has worked on everything from game shows to documentaries and drama. She is now the Chief Executive and owner of production company NHNZ.

In this extended ScreenTalk Legends interview, Christie talks about:

• Watching an “enormous amount” of New Zealand television while growing up in Greymouth, before studying journalism in Wellington (1 minute in)

• The light bulb moment of discovering her passion for television as a researcher at Communicado, after nine years working for newspapers in London and Auckland (4 minutes)

• Boldly putting her hand up for her first producing role, on rugby documentary Mud and Glory: Great Rugby Stories, despite knowing little about rugby (7 minutes)

• Learning how to "turn almost anything into a TV show in the edit suite" while working alongside Communicado founder Neil Roberts (8 minutes)

• Dipping a toe into drama with a nudge from producer Robin Scholes, with Burying Brian (17 minutes)

• Making tough calls while on the board of MediaWorks — and realising she was a "doer" more than a "talker" (19 minutes)

• Getting back into the production game as owner of company NHNZ (21 minutes)

• Developing television formats for export to dozens of countries (28 minutes)

• Pushing back against "snobbery", and taking pride in making entertaining television (33 minutes)

Interview Rosie Howells. Director/Camera Chris Terpstra/Rocket Rentals. Sound Recordist Craig O'Reilly. Editor Tom Field. Producer Fran Carney. Exec Producer Kathryn Quirk.