Keith Aberdein: Scripting NZ classics...

From reporting to scriptwriting and acting, Keith Aberdein has been part of some of New Zealand’s biggest television and film moments. His screen career began as a journalist on Town and Around. Aberdein went on to write episodes of pioneering TV dramas Pukemanu and Close to Home, plus colonial epic The Governor. He also acted in classic movie Smash Palace.

In this ScreenTalk, Aberdein talks about:

• Why the time he prolonged an interview with a survivor of the Wahine disaster still makes him shudder
• The challenges of making Pukemanu, and how it changed the face of Kiwi television drama
• Setting out to overturn old ideas about Governor George Grey when he wrote colonial epic The Governor
• The impact of The Governor, good and bad, on Kiwi screen drama
• How soap Close to Home helped make TV One king of the ratings
• Working on the script for Utu with director Geoff Murphy
• Writing a scathing script review of Smash Palace, and how director Roger Donaldson got his own back by casting him in the film
• How making a career in TV can be fun, but can also lead to tears

This video was first uploaded on 20 July 2010, 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