Christopher Bourn: Pioneering entertainment producer…

Interview – 2016

Christopher Bourn was a pioneering entertainment producer who worked on many early Kiwi television shows, from live sports to classic talent quest Studio One. His legacy of live broadcasts included directing the first ever All Black rugby test screened on television, as well as boxing at the 1974 Commonwealth Games, and serving as New Zealand producer for international co-production The Pacific Song Contest.

In this ScreenTalk interview from 2016, Bourn talks about:

Becoming a presentation director at Wellington station WNTV-1, and early days working with Selwyn Toogood
A nail-biting camera meltdown at New Zealand's first televised rugby match
How Night Sky host Peter Read was tongue-tied by an astronomically famous guest
The person who made music from vegetables at auditions for talent show Studio One
The day television began screening in colour in New Zealand
Directing the boxing at the 1974 Commonwealth Games
Creating the multi-country Pacific Song Contest
Enjoying directing the live screens for many big concerts at the Auckland Domain
Never having had a boring day during his TV career

This video was first uploaded on 5 December 2016, 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

I went into this half gloomy control room, and all the people, all the monitors . . . the hair stood up on the back of my neck, and I thought 'That's for me. That's the job I want..'
– Christopher Bourne describes his audition for Wellington television station WNTV-1