• 
• 

NZ On Screen is featuring an exclusive collection of television and film titles starring Kevin Smith to mark the late actor’s birthday on March 16.

Scriptwriter James Griffin says first impressions were unavoidable when it came Kevin. "I have seen grown women go weak at the knees and leave the room when they caught sight of him. But first impressions, as usual, never tell anything near the full story. They don’t tell the story of what a wonderfully down to earth guy he was – modest beyond belief and simply about the politest human being I have ever met. And then there was the talent. By crikey there was talent in that boy.”

NZ On Screen is a new online showcase of New Zealand television and film. The Kevin Smith Tribute is the website’s first featured collection of work.

NZ On Screen Content Director Irene Gardiner said she thought Kevin was the perfect subject for the website’s first collection.

“Kevin was such a hugely loved New Zealand performer, and so talented and versatile. We are featuring his television and film work, but Kevin was also an accomplished theatre actor, singer and comedian.”

As James Griffin says - “He was an actor who could do it all, from the melodrama of a Tennessee Williams play, through the swords and sandals of a Xena: Warrior Princess, to the gentle, romantic lead of something like Double Booking.”

Television titles in the NZ On Screen Kevin Smith Collection include: the tele-features Lawless, with Kevin in the lead role; Marlin Bay, for which he won the 1995 New Zealand Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actor; the one-off TV dramas Love Mussel and Double Booking; Kevin’s gay kiss in the controversial City Life series; and an excerpt from his first appearance in the legendary 1980s series Gloss. The tribute also has excerpts from the feature films Desperate Remedies, Channelling Baby and Jubilee.

Irene Gardiner said NZ On Screen wanted to thank Kevin’s family, the Robert Bruce Acting Agency, TVNZ, the NZ Film Commission, and the many production companies, producers and actors who helped with the compilation of the Kevin Smith Collection.

“Our tribute has been made even more poignant by the sudden death of Kevin’s long-time agent and friend Robert Bruce. Robert and his team helped us with this project and we were still working on it when he passed away.”

As well as bringing together several rarely seen television and film titles, NZ On Screen’s Kevin Smith Collection also features specially commissioned written tributes from colleagues and friends of Kevin’s including James Griffin, Michael Hurst, and Geoffrey Dolan.

The Kevin Smith Tribute Collection is available on www.nzonscreen.co.nz from Kevin’s birthday on March 16, and can be viewed there exclusively for six weeks.

NZ On Screen was launched late last year, with funding from New Zealand On Air. The website is a free online showcase of New Zealand screen culture.

Kevin Smith died in February 2002, at the age of 38, after an accident on a film set in China. He was already internationally known through his work as Ares in the American TV series Xena and Hercules, and was on the verge of further international success as he was about to begin work on a Hollywood blockbuster starring Bruce Willis.

Image credit: New Zealand Film Commission