Tony Hiles: Michael Smither, Peter Jackson, Jack Brown Genius and more...

Director/producer Tony Hiles worked on everything from commercials to offbeat comedy shows, to TV staples like Country Calendar. Then he left state television to make the films he wanted to, including a long series of documentaries featuring artist Michael Smither. In 1996 Hiles won an NZ Film Best Director award for his debut feature, Jack Brown Genius. Hiles passed away in February 2021.

In this ScreenTalk interview from 2009, Hiles talks about:

• Busy days at state television's Avalon Studios in the mid 1970s
• Founding production company City Associates with his partner Judith Fyfe in 1980, and his experiences making local history documentaries
• Making films with Michael Smither and photographer Robin Morrison, and the fun of small crew, seat-of-your-pants shooting
• Being brought on board as consultant producer on Peter Jackson’s break-out splatstick debut Bad Taste
• Directing Good Taste Made Bad Taste, a documentary on Jackson and the movie
• His friendship with producer Jim Booth and the impact Booth's untimely death had on movie Jack Brown Genius

This video was first uploaded on 19 February 2009, 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.

Direction and Interview - Clare O'Leary, Camera and Editing - Leo Guerchmann