Don Reynolds: Pioneering soundman turned movie producer...

Don Reynolds is a sound operator turned film producer who has had a big impact on the New Zealand film industry. He was a sound recorder/mixer on many of our classic films of the 1980s and went on to produce movies such as The Quiet Earth, Sylvia, Mr Wrong, and River Queen. Reynolds was also one of the main forces behind the setting up of long-running TV soap Shortland Street.

In this ScreenTalk, Reynolds talks about:

• Working with overseas actors for the first time on the film Beyond Reasonable Doubt
• Investing in hit movie Goodbye Pork Pie  
• Having to drive hundreds of miles a day to make the film 
• Being proud of his gunshot-filled sound work on the classic Utu
• Being treated as a second-class citizen on Savage Islands
• The pressure of facing a funding deadline on The Quiet Earth 
• Delaying the shoot of Illustrious Energy by a year
• Facing huge problems in making the film River Queen
• Being instrumental in getting Shortland Street on air
• How lunch breaks were his biggest contribution to the industry.

This video was first uploaded on 23 March 2015, 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.

Credits: Interview, Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside