Maxine Fleming has been a writer on many of New Zealand’s most-loved TV shows. The beginning of her television career was a baptism of fire as a writer on soap opera Shortland Street. She went on to create or co-create a number of shows including Being Eve, Agent Anna, Burying Brian and 800 Words. Other writing credits include Outrageous Fortune, Mercy Peak and The Chosen. In 2016, Fleming was lured back to Shortland Street as its producer.

In this ScreenTalk, Fleming talks about:

• The steep learning curve of her first screen gig, writing for Shortland Street 
• Learning how to compromise with the network on The Chosen
• Why Being Eve is one of her favourite shows
• Trying to wrangle the Naked Samoans during the making of bro’Town
• How Outrageous Fortune became a “tricky beast” to write for
• The challenge of a one-room set on the drama Interrogation
• How a real life hen’s party led to comedy-drama Burying Brian
• Hearing of emotional reactions to Trans-Tasman drama 800 Words
• Feeling grown-up enough to take on the job of producing Shortland Street

This video was first uploaded on 20 March 2017, and is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via this Creative Commons licence.

Interview, Camera and Editing — Andrew Whiteside